10 Product Photography Tips That Every Beginner Must FollowÂ
With the e-commerce industry experiencing unprecedented growth, your company can’t just rely on how good your products or services are; you must also consider how to convey your legitimacy to your audience.
The first step in improving your marketing, branding, and customer outreach efforts is to provide high-quality product photos to your customers. Through product photography, you will be able to successfully convey to your target audience what your product is and how they can use it. Consequently, by showcasing your product or service on websites and social media platforms, you can increase your sales.
Today, product photography is one of the most important factors determining the success of product marketing. As a result, as a business owner, you must understand product photography and how to take high-quality product photos.
Alternatively, if you do not have the time or resources you can always outsource the post-processing tasks to a professional and experienced photo-editing firm like SmartPHOTOeditors who are dedicated to using their collective knowledge and capabilities towards transforming your photos and images.
Now, if you are truly considering learning more about product photography, I have prepared a selection of tips and techniques that you must follow to enhance your knowledge about the process. Â
1. Stage the productÂ
It may appear simple, but positioning your product correctly may require several attempts. Staging is an important part of product photography because it not only improves the image but also conveys emotion.
For staging, experiment with different ideas and make sure to use simple props that add visual appeal without distracting from the product. Also, take multiple shots and ensure that your lighting is perfect.
For example, hanging products for a better view is not an unusual practice in and of itself. You can also include a one-of-a-kind background and props while keeping the main product in the foreground.
2. Use high-resolution equipment
Taking high-quality product photos necessitates high-quality equipment; fortunately, there is a wide range of advanced tools available that provide some unique product photography features.
To begin, you’ll need the best digital camera for Product Photography with features essential for taking good product photos, such as optical zoom lenses, synchronization with a separate light source, multiple camera modes, and larger storage capacity and file sizes.
Moreover, to get the perfect shot, you may also need a lighting setup, props, mannequins, hangers, flat lays, and a tripod.
3. Be watchful of lighting, reflection, and shadows
Perfect lighting is one of the most important aspects of capturing a quality product photo. You can use natural light by shooting outside, or you can be more flexible by setting up artificial lights indoors. Whatever you decide, make sure your lighting is fantastic so that even the smallest details stand out.
Reflection, like lighting, can add a lot of depth to an image. If your photo lacks reflection, you can edit it later to bring it out and improve the image.
Finally, pay close attention to how the lighting interacts with the product to cast shadows. Your goal with product photography should be to cast light evenly while keeping the shadow as soft as possible.
4. Apply color theory
Color theory is a set of rules and guidelines used by designers to communicate with users through visually appealing color schemes in visual interfaces. The theory explains how humans perceive color and how to combine different colors to balance an image or elicit emotional responses from viewers.
Color theory can help you see where different hues and saturations sit and understand which colors work well together to create a pleasing palette. It is a powerful visual communication tool that revolves around colors and their applications in creating aesthetically pleasing visuals.
5. Give context to your product
The context in an image is the quality that connects and conveys a product’s position and purpose without requiring the viewer to explain themselves. The audience has no insight into the creative process and can only look for clues within the photo to formulate a subjective understanding, which is why context is so important.
Essentially, providing context allows your customers to imagine what it would be like to use your product in their daily lives, resulting in a more personal connection with your brand.
6. Keep the background in focus
Even though an off-focus background helps to keep the focus on the main product, keeping your product slightly in front with the background in focus not only gives it better context but also promotes it amongst other similar products.
Keeping the background in focus will assist you in replicating a real-life setting or scenario, allowing potential customers or consumers to envision themselves using the product, potentially increasing sales.
7. Use a tripodÂ
To capture every detail of your product, you must use a slow shutter speed, which makes it difficult to hold the camera still enough with your hands to avoid a blurry photograph.
A tripod will make a significant difference in the clarity and quality of your product photography at this point. They stabilize your camera to ensure that the quality of your photos remains consistent. This is essential if you want your product photos to look professional and high-quality.
When shooting at a slower shutter speed, a tripod reduces blur by lowering your camera’s sensitivity.
8. Apply the rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is a set of guidelines in photography that divides your images evenly into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, resulting in compelling and well-composed shots.
When taking product photos, using this rule can help you balance your main subject with negative space in your shot. This results in an effective photographic composition that will catch the viewer’s attention.
The goal of the rule of thirds is to position your product along the lines, ideally at the point where two lines intersect. Viewing a subject placed at an intersection is naturally easier than viewing a subject kept in the center.
9. Shoot from multiple anglesÂ
Taking multiple shots from different angles helps to show what your product looks like in its entirety. The best part about taking product photos is that you can take several shots and then choose the best one strategically.
High-angle shots involve tilting your camera down to face the subject, overhead shots involve positioning the camera directly above the product, and low-angle shots involve tilting your camera up to face the subject. However, shooting from unusual angles should be avoided because it can distort a product.
10. Edit your photosÂ
Practicing as a photo editor can help you create professional and artistic images. This will not only improve the quality of your photos but will also ensure that all product images have consistent lighting and positioning.
Color correction, adjusting the exposure, adding clarity, and even removing unwanted details are all possible with editing tools.
However, keep in mind that editing skills require a significant amount of time and practice. Plan ahead of time and use editing only to enhance an already beautiful piece of work.
Finally, as I explained earlier, outsourcing your product photo editing tasks is also an efficient way to ensure that your images are consistent and of the highest quality.Â
