For Itzel Islas, otherwise known as YAY Itzel, fun is good business. Bright colors and happy vibes are her brand, and design and illustration clients love it. She also brings pop playfulness to her online store, where you can buy clothes, cards, keychains, and more.
Itzel not only designs her products; she photographs them, too. She doesn’t need a studio for the professional-looking results. “I shoot 99% of my products with my iPhone,” she says.
Try Itzel’s tips for styling, shooting, and editing product photography.
STEP 1 / 4
Follow the light.
“Lighting is key,” Itzel says. “You can fix some things in editing, but it’s hard to make a really dark photo look good.” She prefers a natural source that’s just strong enough to light the product evenly, cast soft shadows, and make any shiny bits sparkle. Outdoors can work if it’s overcast. On sunny days, she’s more likely to shoot inside, trying window after window until she finds the best illumination. This set-up was in Itzel’s front yard on a day that was surprisingly gloomy for San Diego. The colored background is poster board.
STEP 2 / 4
Capture all the data.
Instead of using her phone’s native camera app, Itzel shot this image with the camera in the free Lightroom Mobile app. She kept it simple by sticking with two defaults: Auto mode and DNG file format. (The other file format is JPG, but don’t be tempted by that familiar name. Unlike JPG, the DNG format’s higher-quality captures give you more options when you edit the photo.)
STEP 3 / 4
Choose an editing platform
If you’re only taking a few shots, you may want to edit them in Lightroom Mobile. Itzel tends to move to the desktop when she has more significant edits. Because the Lightroom Mobile Camera app automatically adds captured photos to your Lightroom catalog, it’s easy to pick up where you left off in Lightroom on the desktop.
STEP 4 / 4
Correct color and crop.
For the shop-ready version of the smiley face earrings, Itzel played with Lightroom’s Highlights and Shadows sliders and selected Auto white balance to correct the color correction. Your product may need different settings; don’t be afraid to experiment with the sliders to discover what works best for your images.
Get Itzel’s advice for breaking into selling your own products.
“If you know you want to make things and you don’t have an audience yet or know what people will respond to, I recommend stickers,” Itzel says.
“They’re so affordable to produce, especially compared to something like t-shirts. The cost of each sticker is low, and the minimums are way lower than other products. And on top of that, they’re the cheapest thing to ship. You can easily ship a single sticker in an envelope, and all you need is a Forever stamp, which is just 60 cents.”
Whatever your product, we hope you tag us on Instagram @adobecreate and show us what you create.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Itzel Islas is a Latina freelance graphic designer and illustrator who grew up in Tijuana, México, and now lives in San Diego, California. Itzel’s mission through YAY Itzel is to create a positive bi-cultural impact through design. YAY Itzel is inspired by Mexican culture, vibrant color palettes, and playful elements of everyday life.
