Product photos convey the idea of the trustworthiness and value of a brand. It will decide whether you will generate sales or lose business. Photographers need to be creative and show the most important part of the products that are displayed to the customers.
In this article, we will be sharing some valuable tips on how you can improve your product photos. We won’t go over the basics. The assumption will be that, you already know how to do product photography and want to learn more about how to improve your skills and knowledge further.
Buy a Tripod
Tripods are great for taking clear and consistent photos. If you are taking photos holding the camera on your hand, then there is a high chance that you will get some sort of motion blur in your photos.
To compensate for it you will need to increase the camera’s shutter speed. But that will mean you are letting in less light in your lens which can cause lighting issues. So, using a tripod will be a great choice.
Tripod will keep your camera sturdy and eliminate motion blur. Simple grains and debris can be easily removed in post-processing, but fixing a blurry image is a very tough job.
You will find tripods at varying price ranges. You don’t need to buy an expensive one. A cheaper tripod will work just fine.
Choose Appropriate Background
The white backdrop is the most commonly used one and is also considered the ideal choice for product photography. It works great in showing the product in its most realistic form. Using different colored backdrops may add shades of color in your products, which will be very difficult to remove in post-processing.
For backdrops, we recommend using a white sweep. These are very cheap and when it gets dirty, you can simply cut it off. It is a bendable piece of paper and the bottom part acts as a base for the product to sit on. Make sure that the sweep is not bent, otherwise, you will get a solid line behind your product.
For more long-term use, consider buying a lightbox. These are very useful when you are doing multiple product shoots. It usually takes no longer than 10-15 minutes to set up a lightbox. These are portable and very sturdy. Try to buy one that comes with a built-in light. It will save you some setup time.
Use good lighting
Lighting is a very important factor in product photography. You could place your setup beside a window to use sunlight. But keep in mind that during the afternoon, sunlight tends to be very harsh and provides a solid shadow on the subject. So, use a reflector to bounce off the light on the opposite side of the shadow.
For being consistent, use artificial light. If your clients ask for a redo or shoot new products, you can use the exact lighting level that you have used before to shoot their photos. You can use artificial lighting to add subtle shadows of your products that may help to achieve a 3-dimensional look and feel on a flat-screen.
Shoot from multiple angles
Remember, customers cannot physically touch the product. They see the photos online and decides whether it will be the right choice for them or not.
Your products need to look pristine and attractive in order to be sold. Taking a flat photo of the product from the front side won’t make it attractive. Shoot from different angles. Try to show the various sides of the product, it will give customers more reasons to consider buying the product.
Look into the details, see what are the key features of the product. For example, if it is handmade, then show how it was stitched and zoom into the texture to show the premium materials used to make it.
Also, take multiple photos. Not all photos might be perfect, look for the ones that suit your need and delete the rest.
Consider using a macro lens
For small products, macro lenses are an excellent fit. These lenses can show in-depth details of a product. Many photographers prefer to use a macro lens for small object product photography. The only problem of using a macro lens is that it can easily capture dust and any minor scratches that are present on the product. Even after properly cleaning the product you might see some debris present, which you will have to fix in post-processing.
Capture multiple variations
Often customers will want to see variations of the same product. So, shoot the same product with all the variations it has. It will increase the chances of the product being sold.
It can be very daunting to shoot the same product multiple times and can be very time-consuming. An alternative option will be to shoot only one product and edit it in post-processing to get different variations.
Use simple props
Props can be an excellent way of showcasing your products. You will see photographers often using props to add interesting character to the images. But don’t try to get very creative with props. Use simple props that acts only to highlight the product. Avoid using shiny objects, it will add unnecessary color shade on the product which will be hard to remove in post-processing.
Platform Specification
If you want to sell your products on any eCommerce store, you will quickly realize that each site has its own specifications on the image dimension that you need to follow. You need to prepare photos to be compatible for use in all platforms where you will be selling the products.
Shooting photos for each site will be very difficult, for this also, the best option will be to take one photo of each product that will be used and edit it to fit the required platforms.
Editing
Editing your product photos will be the key to generating profitable sales. You can make either small adjustments or completely overhaul the image to something completely different.
If you own an ecommerce product photography business then instead of learning editing yourself consider outsourcing. It will save you valuable time, which you can invest on something more important.
You can get your photos edited through our company fix the retouch. We do all kinds of photo editing services.
Conclusion
As a photographer, you need to understand the motive of the business and its customers. The photos you take needs to be synchronous with the company’s marketing schemes and ideas. Try to learn from other’s mistakes and take inspiration from the work people have already done. You need to be hard very working and learn to enjoy the work.
