Buyers decide from the photo. For a duck the size of a palm, the face has to be sharp and the light has to be dull enough that silk filament does not turn into a white blob.
Light
A window on an overcast day, or a lamp with a white sheet in front of it, is enough. Put the light to the side so the bill and the eye socket get a shadow. Flat frontal light erases the capsule eye, which is the detail that makes a Duck Heroes face a Duck Heroes face.
Avoid a hard lamp aimed at silk PLA. If the highlight hides the eye, move the light, not the saturation slider.
Background
Use a plain paper sweep in white, warm gray, or a pale color that is not the same as the duck. A busy desk makes a 6 cm figure disappear. Sweep the paper up the wall so you do not get a horizon line through the hat.
Camera
A phone is fine. Tap to focus on the eye. Step closer, then crop, rather than using a digital zoom that goes soft. Shoot a few frames: front, three-quarter, back, and one with a common object or a ruler so size is obvious. The ruler shot can be the second image, not the first, but it should exist.
What to show, and what not to hide
Layer lines are part of a printed object. Hiding every line with blur teaches the buyer to expect a molded toy. A clean, sharp photo is more trustworthy than a heavy filter.
Do not photograph a different duck and upload it for this listing. Do not use a render as if it were the print, unless you label it as a render and also show the real one. When you sell, the listing should match these frames.
A series
If you collect or sell a row, use the same paper, the same distance, and the same light for each theme. The set will look like a set. That consistency matters as much as any single hero shot.
Duck Heroes does not have product photos in the catalog yet because the catalog is not open. When you print a file, these photos are yours to take. They are also the photos you should keep, rather than lifting someone else’s picture of a similar duck.