1. Natural lighting is best! Your pictures will turn out so much better if you take them in the daylight, instead of under artificial light.

2. Clean your nails with a polishing wipe before taking photos! It makes your nails look shiny and clean.

3. Use a white background! I use a white desk pad, available at any office supply store (I got mine at Staples) to take my photos on. If you’re really crafty, you can make your own using white foam board and aluminum foil! The white background will make sure that the focus of your photo is on the polish and not the background.

4. Use a low-resolution camera setting! Every time I try to take nail photos with my DSLR camera, they never turn out well because of the high-resolution settings I use for other pictures. So if you don’t have a good point and shoot camera, use your cell phone or webcam to take nail pictures!

5. Take multiple angles of your nails! You want to make sure that you get every side of your nails on film so that viewers can see what your nails look like from all angles.

6. Make sure there is no shine on your nails before taking pictures! Shine from top coats or oils

People always ask me how I take my nail photos. I have been taking them for almost three years, and have finally figured out a way to get beautiful shots that are crisp and clear, even if you’re not a professional photographer. As long as you have an idea of what to do, with practice you can take amazing pictures of your nails.

These tips apply to all cameras, including your cell phone camera. If you do use your cell phone, be sure to disable “location data” before posting the photos to any public website or blog. You don’t want people tracing back where you live using your EXIF data!

1. Always use natural lighting if possible! The best time to take photos is between 10am and 4pm, when the natural light is bright but not too harsh. Take photos in front of a north-facing window for best results. If you don’t have any north-facing windows available, use indirect sunlight from an east or west facing window instead. Avoid taking photos after 5pm or on cloudy days when there isn’t enough light to capture detail.–

1. If you’re taking a photo of your whole hand, make sure that you have enough light on it.

2. If you want to take a close-up picture of your nails, try to get as close as possible so the camera won’t cut off anything.

3. Try to take your pictures in natural light if possible.

4. If the sunlight is too bright, try putting your hand under a shade or near a window with a sheer curtain.

5. Make sure that the surface that your nails are on isn’t too dark or too light compared to your nails.

6. If you can see the reflection of your camera or phone in the nail polish, try moving around to find an angle where it isn’t visible anymore or cover it up with something like paper or fabric.

7. If you want to take pictures but don’t have any polish on, use clear nail polish and some glitter instead! You can also add decorations like rhinestones for extra bling!”

1. Find the best lighting

This is a no-brainer, but it’s the most important step to getting a good photo. I usually take my nail photos near a large window or outside in natural light. The brighter the better! I’ll typically stand near a window in my apartment and use the sun to illuminate my nails. If you’re outside, make sure your back is to the sun so that you don’t cast a shadow on your nails.

If you take nail pictures late at night like I do, then you’ll probably want to invest in some extra lighting. I have this lamp that I really like and use all of the time for photography (this would also be great if you’re into makeup videos!). It comes with different colored light bulbs, so if I want to warm up my hands with a yellowish tint, I can do that, or if I want to brighten them up with a white light, that’s an option too!

2. Make sure your nails are clean

This may seem like common sense, but there’s nothing worse than seeing specks of dust or gunk stuck under your polish in your photos! You can use acetone or rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab to remove any excess dirt from around your cuticles

Take a solid colored background. I prefer pink, but a black or white solid will work too!

I used these pink and gold nails for my tutorial on how to apply nail vinyls but the photos came out so great that I decided to use them here as well.

Have good lighting. Natural lighting is best! I take my photos by a large window in my living room with the blinds open and the curtains pulled back. If you don’t have a window nearby, try going outside or go into your garage with your door open. This way you can get some natural light.

If it’s dark, try using an artificial light source like a lamp instead of turning on your overhead lights, which may wash out your picture or make it yellowish looking. You could also try turning on your flash (but no more than one flash – otherwise you’ll get multiple shadows). Using artificial lighting will be fine too if you don’t have any other choice but make sure that the light isn’t too harsh by diffusing it with tissue paper or something similar before taking the photo.

Try taking pictures from different angles so that you can choose which one looks best later when editing! This will give you more options for cropping and editing later on so that’s always good

1. The perfect lighting.

2. Use a plain background when possible.

3. Go for a unique angle.

4. Crop your picture if need be.

5. Show off more than just your nails!

6. Use the flash sparingly (if at all).

7. Use props to help tell a story!

8. Make sure your nails always look their best!

9. Have fun and experiment!

10. Take lots of pictures!

1. Use natural light: use the natural light that is coming in through your windows during the day!