If you own an E-commerce product shop, the appearance of your store holds significant importance. Customer purchasing decisions are greatly influenced by product images. Customer expectations have evolved due to technological advancements – they now anticipate a 360-view of each item before making a purchase.
Your store’s conversion rate and revenue are directly impacted by product photography. Hence, this article aims to provide you with a comprehensive comprehension of the essence of product photography, and its significance and outlines 10 best practices for eCommerce product photography that you should adhere to.
Welcome to the world of Types of E-commerce product photography, where products come to life through captivating visuals. In this realm, we specialize in capturing the essence of items in ways that not only showcase their features but also tell a compelling story. Our goal is to elevate your online shopping experience by presenting products in their best light, making each click an enticing step towards making them yours. Join us as we blend artistry and commerce, transforming ordinary products into extraordinary visual narratives.
What is product photography?
Product photography involves applying photographic knowledge and skills to eCommerce images, showcasing them attractively, and encouraging potential customers to purchase products. Product photography is a specialized genre of commercial photography that focuses on capturing images of products in a way that showcases their features, details, and aesthetics. The primary goal of product photography is to present products in a visually appealing and informative manner, making them more attractive to potential customers. It is commonly used in various industries, especially in e-commerce, advertising, marketing, and print media.
We incorporate product photography into various online and offline marketing activities, such as:
- Creating brochures
- Designing leaflets
- Developing flyers
- Compiling catalogs
- Crafting digital ads
- Designing magazine ads
- Building websites
- Creating landing pages
- Especially in eCommerce stores
In the present day, product photography for eCommerce has evolved into a sub-industry that employs advanced techniques to achieve the highest possible product quality for online stores. Ideally, each item should be presented with a variety of images offering 360-degree views. A store image of superior quality can significantly enhance the customer experience on your website.
We offer two main types of E-commerce product photography
- Product-only images: These images present products on a white background. They serve as the optimal choice for showcasing your product from all angles in the best possible light. By featuring your products against a predominantly white backdrop, this type of image ensures consistency in the store’s appearance while effectively highlighting various item colors and styles. Additionally, the white background minimizes distractions, allowing your products to take center stage.
- In-context (lifestyle) images: These images depict products being used in real-life situations. This style is the most popular option when your brand aims to showcase collections of items that complement each other. It also serves to captivate customers by demonstrating practical applications of your product catalog while emphasizing the unique selling points of each item.
For instance, you can exhibit your luxurious summer collections by portraying models lounging on the beach, surrounded by high-end accessories. Furthermore, this approach enables upselling opportunities by illustrating how your products can harmonize with one another.
In the realm of eCommerce product photography, utilizing in-context images assists in effectively upselling your products. Your brand must decide between opting for product-only shots or embracing in-context visuals, depending on your item’s characteristics. For instance, if your focus is on selling home furniture, incorporating a backdrop into your images becomes crucial to establish context and evoke a sense of longing in your customers. Conversely, for products characterized by intricate patterns or exquisite details, opting for product-only shots illuminated with optimal lighting emerges as the superior choice.
Why is product photography important?
Pictures shape customers’ initial impressions, motivating them to continue scrolling through your stores and ultimately purchasing your products.
In the present era, an increasing number of brands grasp the significance of product photography in the realm of eCommerce. On one hand, product photography validates the product’s quality; on the other, it operates as a window into your eCommerce store, fostering transparency and instilling trust in your brand.
Irrespective of your product category—be it books, clothing, accessories, machinery, or hardware—utilizing product photography becomes imperative to present customers with an accurate depiction of their potential purchase. This approach also curtails the return rate by aligning product expectations.
Elevated-quality images enhance the overall customer experience across various touchpoints. The visual representation showcases your product’s worth and intricate attributes. Visual appeal stands as the driving factor behind 93% of consumer purchase decisions. It convinces the intended audience to make purchases, transforms your content into a visual experience, and imbues a heightened sense of realism into your entire online store.
Enhancing customer experience is a direct outcome of employing top-tier images. The images function as a pivotal element of brand identity. As the foremost element that captures customers’ attention, images foster trust and motivate further engagement. Across all platforms—social media posts, websites, and every facet of marketing collateral—images personify your brand’s appearance. Through meticulous attention to image components such as theme colors, quality, subjects, text, and editing, your brand communicates with the target audience authentically and consistently.
Every brand must establish a lasting connection with customers, and achieving that goal crucially involves images.
Branding heavily relies on images, and one of the primary recommendations for anyone aiming to capture high-quality product images for their eCommerce store is to invest in good tools for product photography. This initial investment in tools is a forward-looking step that will yield returns in the form of increased revenues.
Camera (or your smartphone)
What’s the best camera for E-Commerce product photography?
Equipping your photographer with a DSLR camera enables them to configure parameters tailored to your products and campaigns. The DSLR camera boasts a manual mode that empowers you to personalize settings like ISO, white balance, shutter speed, and aperture. A professional DSLR should feature an auto-focus function and possess a minimum of 12 megapixels.
In parallel, smartphone cameras are progressively advancing in quality. On occasion, they can outperform even professional cameras in capturing images. Hence, when paired with proper lighting and backgrounds, iPhones or Samsung smartphones can deliver exceptional results.
Essential tools for proficient product photography encompass a reliable camera and a tripod. A tripod becomes indispensable as it ensures stability, effectively circumventing the risk of capturing blurred images, regardless of the camera’s professionalism. This 3-legged support system maintains the camera’s steadiness throughout the shoot.
A tripod’s significance amplifies especially when shooting at low ISO settings, which mitigate graininess in images. Employing a tripod becomes pivotal to mitigating blur while concurrently minimizing graininess.
Remarkably affordable at a mere $15, a tripod proves to be a judicious investment for both DSLR cameras and smartphones. The realm of eCommerce product photography dispels the notion of requiring an extensive crew wielding high-end professional cameras to yield top-notch images.
In essence, a tripod, a camera (be it DSLR or smartphone), and your products constitute the fundamental arsenal for a photography session. However, the outcomes can be elevated further through adept manipulation of lighting and backgrounds.
Tools for product photography:
Tripod, Lighting
Types of E-commerce product photography. One of the most crucial elements that determines whether you take a decent image or not is lighting. You have two choices:
It’s daylight
in a studio
The best and most affordable choice may be natural light. When the sun is out and a window is present in your location, you will have access to all the lighting sources you require for photography. You could have to deal with clouds or strong light during the day, which is a drawback.
You may shoot regardless of the time of day or the weather using studio lighting. With studio lighting, you could take consistently well-lit pictures.
Lighting is crucial when photographing products for online stores.
Natural light is a low-cost option that is simple to manually set up, saving you money, trouble, and time. The first step when using natural light or direct sunshine is to position your camera, objects, and window so that sunlight can illuminate them while keeping your camera from going blind.
If the natural light is too harsh or if shadows are appearing, you can reduce the light by placing a white paper or curtain over the window. Turn off all electric or artificial lights since they don’t have the same color as sunlight. Using only natural light will result in consistent, well-lit shots.
For products with dark colors, employ a white corkboard or bounce card to reflect lighting onto the products. Position your products between the window and the corkboard.
Instead of waiting passively for the ideal sunlight, you can actively work with the sun by adjusting the lighting to achieve the desired brightness or dimness for your product.
In product photography, natural lighting is key. Another option is using studio lights. If you’re aiming to manipulate your shoot, studio lights are ideal. You’ll need at least 2 lights to cast shadows properly. These lights are available on Amazon for around $60.
One of the lights serves as the key light, directed at the product and placed in front or slightly to the side of the camera. The other lights can be used for fill light or backlighting, depending on your products and desired outcome. Here are some strategies:
- Cover the lights with white material (paper or curtain) to soften harsh light and create gentler shadows.
- Adjust the distance and angles of the lights to achieve the softest shadows.
- To maximize lighting and further minimize shadows, use white cardboard or plasterboard.
Studio lighting offers the flexibility to control the entire shooting process, especially when capturing multiple products over an extended period. With the setup done correctly, your team can capture a consistent series of images.
Studio lighting in product photography
When engaging in Types of E-commerce product photography, the first essential purchase is a shooting table.
The size of the shooting table varies based on the dimensions of your products. The optimal selection is a standard folding table with a width ranging between 24 and 27 inches.
For smaller products, an alternative can be a chair-mounted sweep. In this case, you would attach a roll of craft paper to the chair’s top.
Necessary tools for product photography
- Shooting table
- Light tent A light tent is a box-shaped device enclosed by transparent walls. It evenly distributes light onto the product, helping to soften it and reduce reflections, especially for reflective items.
- Image editing tools Before uploading your photos anywhere, remember to retouch them. While photo editing is crucial, it can also be time-consuming. Fortunately, various free tools are available to simplify your work: Canva: User-friendly, suitable for non-professional editors, and apt for marketing campaigns. Snapseed: A fully functional mobile app that’s free to use. Pixel: Offers numerous settings akin to Photoshop, all of which are free. Footer: A user-friendly smartphone app compatible with both iOS and Android.
- Photography guidelines for consistency Photography guidelines play a pivotal role in maintaining brand consistency. Although compiling checklists and details may require initial effort, it ultimately saves time spent on training photographers and editors about your brand. Be sure to document all aspects related to your brand, encompassing:
- Consistency
- Saturation
- Composition
- Shadows
- Color palette
- Location and context Photography guidelines for maintaining consistency offer invaluable insights into conquering various aspects of eCommerce product photography effortlessly. Below, we provide a list of the top 10 tips that can empower you to master this art with minimal exertion.
- Invest wisely in lighting. Lighting stands as the pivotal factor influencing image quality. Employ a minimum of 2 lights for your setup, discerning whether natural or studio lighting suits your products best.
- Employ high-resolution imagery. Remember, the essence of product photography is to present intricate product details vividly.
- Master the art of size optimization. Standard eCommerce product images usually span 500 x 500 pixels. Tailor your images to meet platform specifications, such as Walmart’s preference for 2000 x 2000 pixels and Amazon’s recommended 1000 x 1000 pixels for optimal zoom functionality across devices.
- Craft a floating product effect with finesse. Utilize a sewing thread to suspend the product, later employing Photoshop or similar tools to seamlessly erase the thread during image retouching.
- Enhance your images with acrylic glass. Placing acrylic glass beneath your product can yield captivating reflections, elevating the overall visual appeal.
- Stabilize with a tripod. Ensure product stability during the shoot with the consistent use of a tripod. Even the slightest imbalance can have a tangible impact on the end quality.
- Opt for PC-based image editing. When editing images, a PC surpasses smartphones in terms of display size and detail visibility, regardless of your smartphone’s cost.
- Comprehensive product coverage is key. Capture multiple shots from diverse angles—top, bottom, front, back, and sides—to distinctly exhibit your product to potential customers.
- Embrace the power of the 360-degree image. Creating such an image necessitates the use of a tripod-mounted camera while your product rotates on a turntable. This innovative approach offers customers a holistic view of your product.
- Prioritize SEO optimization. Elevate your online shop’s visibility with optimized images that load quickly and incorporate relevant keywords.
By assimilating these guidelines and strategies, you’ll adeptly navigate the challenges of E-Commerce product photography while maintaining a consistent and appealing visual presence for your products.
CONCLUSION:
Types of E-commerce product photography have become an increasingly important tool for increasing sales as it helps to upgrade the impression of your store. You can easily find all the tools to take product photography with a very wide range of costs, depending on your products and your goal. This article gave you a complete guide about all the necessary techniques and tips about how to create a 360-degree product image for your eCommerce brand. Now you can take action and see how it impacts your revenue in the future.
