Quick (5) Tips for Shooting Better Product Photos
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September 14, 2022
Quick (5) Tips for Shooting Better Product Photos
Do you know what’s better than a great product? A great product photo.
That’s right: we’re talking about how to take better photos of your products.
Product photos are important for your online store and can also help you build trust with your customers.
It’s no secret that product photography is one of the most important things you can do for your business. If you’ve ever tried to buy a product online, you know how frustrating it can be to see a photo that doesn’t accurately represent what you’ll be getting in the mail—but if you don’t have great product photos, it’s just as bad on your end.
If you’re selling products online, you’re doing so from a distance. While having a great website and customer service are important parts of building trust with customers, sometimes the best way to make them feel confident in their purchase is by showing off your product in all its glory—and we don’t just mean showing it being used or on display.
Product photos are your chance to show off the personality of your brand and the quality of your products. They should be clear and well-lit, but they should also give potential customers an idea of what it’s like to own one of your products: what it looks like when it’s brand new out of the box or how it would look at home on a shelf or in their hands.
Why are these tips important?
Product photography is essential for several reasons. First, it lets you sell your products on marketplaces and social media platforms. If people can’t see what your item looks like, it will be hard for them to trust that they’re buying from the right place and will be confident in their purchase. Second, having higher quality photos means that more buyers will be interested in buying your items – after all, who wants to buy a product that doesn’t look as good as it appears online?
You won’t sell anything unless people can see it because we’re all about the products. But, we’re also about making sure those products look as good as they can in our photos.
Here are five tips for shooting better product photos, so you can be sure your product looks it’s absolute best when showcasing in your store.
1. Positioning
If you’re shooting a product photo, ensure that your product is in an ideal position for shooting. Positioning is everything, my friends.
You can have the best product in the world, but your customers won’t know about it if it’s not in the right place! Yes, we all know that photos matter when selling your products. But have you ever stopped to consider how vital positioning is? Think about it: if you’re a photographer for a clothing company, you’ll want to position the clothes so that they’re looking their best. If you’re shooting a product for a jewelry store, you want to ensure that each item is positioned correctly so the customer can see all of its features and benefits.
If you’re not careful with positioning, you could end up with blurry or distorted photos—and nobody wants that!
Positioning can mean everything from where your camera is placed to how you arrange the products themselves. You want to ensure that your product is visible but not too visible—it needs space around it so it doesn’t look like a floating island in a sea of white space.
2. Lighting
If you’re shooting product photos, you’ve probably heard the phrase “natural lighting is best.”
Well, it’s true: natural lighting is always going to make your photos look better. You can’t beat the softness and warmth of sunlight streaming through a window or the way it illuminates your product in all its glory.
But let’s be honest: sometimes you need to take product photos when the sun isn’t shining. Maybe it’s nighttime and you’re trying to capture a piece for your holiday catalog, or maybe it’s raining outside and you don’t want your nice camera equipment getting wet.
If you must use artificial lighting, set it up so that it doesn’t cast shadows. That said, natural lighting is always best.
3. Backgrounds
So you’ve got a great product. It’s unique and high quality, and you know that if you get the right photo of it, people will be clamoring to buy it.
But then you take your first shot and… bummer. Your background is boring, or maybe it’s distracting from the product itself. You’re not even sure why you chose this background in the first place!
You don’t have to be a photographer to know that bad backgrounds are one of the most common mistakes made by people taking product photos for their businesses. Don’t let your background detract from what makes your product special! If there’s a wall behind it that makes it look dingy or dirty, try using something else as a backdrop–maybe something that matches the color scheme of your business logo? Or perhaps just some white paper?
If nothing else works, consider investing in professional photography services or even just paying someone to clean up your background before they shoot perfect pictures of your product.
4. Props
Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a big difference.
Props can add interest and character to your product photos. But sometimes, more often than not, they’re just distracting.
It’s easy to get carried away with all of the cool things you can do with a single prop—but it’s also easy to forget that your product is the star of the show. So while we do recommend keeping your props minimal in general, there’s no harm in letting them shine through as long as they don’t distract from what makes your product great!
Just like with human models, props can help bring a sense of life to your product photos. The right prop can make your product look more dynamic and interesting, while the wrong one can make it look cheap or cheesy. But no matter what you choose, make sure that you’re using props in a way that supports the brand message you want to send—and don’t forget to use them consistently across all of your images!
5. Multiple Angles
A picture is worth a thousand words, but not if it only shows one angle of your product!
It’s true: shooting from multiple angles can make your products look more appealing, and it’s a great way to highlight your product’s unique features.
You might be surprised at how many different angles you can try! Try shooting the product straight on with a wide-angle lens, or try getting in close with a macro lens. You could even try laying the product down on its side or upside-down so that you can show off its bottom.
The more angles you shoot, the more likely you’ll find something that makes your product pop!
We’re not saying you must shoot your product from every angle possible. But, you should do it right so that it can help you make your product stand out by using props—way more than just a flat photo.
