10 Tips To Ace Product Photography For your E-Commerce Website
On : July 25th, 2014By :
What people see is what people perceive. That sounds kind of obvious. But the point is people judge the quality of the product by the quality of the image. If they don’t like what they are looking at, well then no buying here! Move on! Welcome to business, folks: where every book is judged exactly by its cover!
And e-commerce is pretty much the rising star in the entrepreneur league. It will be silly if you have an ecommerce business and don’t focus on product photography at all. After all, it’s about people liking your stuff. And that will happen only when it looks great. So product photography is like a whole new level of photo shoots that you have to focus on. Of course, hiring experienced professionals saves you from all the drama. But in case you are doing this by yourself; product photography is a thing for you to really work your head on. Here are some sage words of advice to the rescue!
1. Use A Natural Setting
Ever seen a picture of a delicious hot dog and on a chair in a lonely room? That is not very mouth-watering is it? Take pictures of products in an environment that compliments the product and relates to it. In fact, adding some insightful depth to the product photography enhances your sales in more ways than you can imagine. Selling jewelry or T-shirts donned by a model is the best eye-grabber. Even electronic equipment accompanied by some good punk posters in the background look great.
2. Round The Mulberry Bush
I would be stupid to say that the back and front pose are the two most important phases in your product photography. In fact they are almost extinct nowadays replaced by the side and tilted poses. Yes. People get the all-round poses in your pictures! Nothing is a better than getting up close pictures with variety of unique points of views.
3. That Scaling Problem
You might want to highlight the absolutely slim and sexy mp3 player you intend to sell! And with quite some enthusiasm when you upload its pictures; people ignore it with comments like “Whats new? It’s the model that was three years ago.” Now you can’t take it to the heart and say “It lost some pounds, man! Its slim and amazing”. Instead you could place a coin next to it to let people judge that it is slimmer for better! Even shoe wear that models sport let people judge the height and fitting better. Next time instead of screaming the details of the size; subtly place something to let people grasp the dimensions themselves.
4. A whisper of Graphics Genius
People always want to be re-assured that they are dealing with professionals. You don’t ever want to appear sloppy or laid back in any outlook of your work. If your pictures look any less appealing than the right amount of glamour and polishing; you can say bye to more than half of your targeted audience. Do not underestimate the power of the visual effect. Invest in a high performance DSLR for the light to distribute well over the product. Or maybe, you could go for a light box since that will help soften the shadows and enhance the quality of the product (yeah, no insta-pics; this needs thinking and work).
5. Photo Editing Skills
While I was talking about the need for a light box; it’s important to understand the best way to instantly enhance the true colors and textures. For instance; use Photoshop to brighten the color of the chocolates you are selling. Give it a creamy texture with a little touch up to perfect your product photography. You can even use editing for vivification of lip gloss shades that girls give a deep thought to. If the light messes up the color you intend to showcase, the buyer confidence is bound to blur. We don’t want that, do we?
6. All The Details
It’s the little things that count. You want to highlight the feather-ish tail of the sundress. Or the tips of the shoelaces that are of a bright neon color. The “macro” feature or the “close-up” setting is what will let you take closer pictures. That changed narrowed-down perspective might enhance and enlarge the audience exploring your store!
Now that I think of it; if you are going for smaller stuff than your “macro” feature can compensate; use an extension tube. It’s a level up in your product photography skills, but hey, brace yourself! Advanced tools are going to be your best buddies now.
7. It’s The Thought That Counts!
What more should you do but be smart about the product photography? Now how do you advertise the stuff that is not physically there to be clicked? Like video games; you could use the screenshots or the game cover or someone excited posing with the game CDs. Anything that sells well and carves its mark in the buyer’s mind. Or stuff like mobile apps; where in you could click people using it on the phone. Look up the stuff that requires a little thought to make it look really elegant art work!
8. The Background
This is obviously the first thing to worry about during product photography. It sets the mood of the product you are selling. Plus it woos the user to the product if it appeals on an inter level. And that’s what we want. Use the insanely famous (because it’s so perfect) background for product photography: the Infinity Curve. It’s a pleasant view with your product the center of attention. Make sure you highlight the product; which is what you basically want to do.
9. Color Themes
This might seem menial and you may be tempted to ignore this point, but frankly don’t. Firstly because I put in quite some effort into it; so you know please read it. And secondly; the color combinations, contrasts have a huge impact on whether a person will like your stuff. If you are selling a bag with absolutely frantic screaming colors in the background; it’ll be hard for people to look at your product without cringing. Product photography requires those fashion skills too! Time to call the shopaholics!
10. The Lights Call You Home
This one demands your attention to the lighting. The hard or light shadow is completely for you to decide. Do you want the lighting spread evenly over the product or do you want it in its natural shades; with edges to the product? The first option is obviously better since the diffused light makes the photograph look more wholesome and smooth. For that you need a flash diffuser! It’s basically a white sheet or tape attached to the flash of the camera. This really makes the product more highlighted and easier to focus on!
And on an ending note; product photography is a big deal. I hope you will tackle the same with more efficiency with the aid of these tips! Of course if you think this not your call; then there are always professionals who can do a great job at the product photo shoot. Freelancers to the rescue! Choose well and good luck!
