Excellent product photography can convert casual visitors into buyers. The better the product photography strategy, the higher the conversion rate of your product page, demonstrating the power of an image in eCommerce. A product photography strategy can help increase conversions, improve image quality, and showcase your product in a new light. Product photography isn't as straightforward as pointing and shooting. Even the most basic products require the right equipment, lighting, and space to create stunning images that entice customers to buy right away. However, this article isn't about hiring a professional to shoot and edit product images for you; rather, it's about doing your own product photoshoot and the benefits that come with it. You'll find product photography tips for beginners here. You'll also learn about product photography setup that can help you improve your images.
Product Photography Tips for Beginners
Of course, product photography can intimidate those who don't know the difference between a Nikon and a Kodak. Investing in expensive photography equipment is simply not an option for small businesses on a tight budget. Fortunately, taking high-quality photographs is far more accessible today than ten years ago. Given that most of us already carry a 12-megapixel iPhone camera in our pockets and that many top-tier editing software packages are becoming more affordable, improving your eCommerce photography is probably easier than you think. In this guide to product photography, we've compiled a list of different product photography tips for improving your product photos in this article!
1. Create Your Background
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Choosing the right background not only keeps the focus on the product you're photographing but also simplifies the editing process during post-production. Using a white or light backdrop will make removing unwanted objects and retouching photos easier.
2. Configure Your Product
It's now time to put your product in the spotlight. Although it may appear simple, setting up your product may require a few tries to get the angle, lighting, and position just right. Place your product in front of the backdrop, centered on a flat, stable surface like a table or chair. For items such as jewelry and other accessories, use a bust that better displays the product, and for items with labels or unique designs, you might need to spend some time adjusting the product until it's precisely centered. Here are a few more tools that may be useful for smaller, more intricate products in these product photography tips.
- Glue dots and tape for securing minor items such as earrings or necklaces
- Clothing and accessory mannequins
- Hangers or a visually appealing flat lay for displaying products from various angles
- A friend or team member to model clothing or create fun lifestyle shots
3. Change the Lighting
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Having perfect lighting is one of the most important product photography tips for capturing a quality product photo. Although it may be time-consuming to adjust, good lighting can make or break an image, and you'll definitely thank yourself later in the post-production process when you have fewer edits to make. Fortunately, there are only two light sources to choose from when photographing products: natural light and artificial light. Natural light is the most cost-effective option for those on a tight budget. However, this less expensive option does not imply lower quality. Natural light is ideal if you're shooting a lifestyle photo with a model or if you're shooting outdoors. Make sure you shoot when the sun is brightest to get the best light during the day.
If you're shooting a product indoors, position your backdrop and shooting table near a window that gets a lot of natural light. Try diffusing it with a light sheet of paper draped over if the light is too intense for the window. Once you've nailed down your lighting setup, document the positioning and camera settings so you can recreate a consistent look from one photo shoot to another.
4. Make Use of a Tripod
To get that crisp-looking photo that captures every detail of your product, you'll want to use a high depth of field, which ultimately determines the image's sharpness. To accomplish this, set your camera to a low aperture (a high f/stop) and a slow shutter speed. This is one of the top product photography tips. When your camera is set to a slow shutter speed, it's nearly impossible to hold it still enough with your hands to avoid a blurry photograph — which is where a tripod comes in handy.
5. Select the Appropriate Camera
This may seem obvious, but selecting the right camera is critical to successful product photography. Of course, if you're not planning to do photoshoots regularly or on a tight budget, don't feel obligated to invest in a high-end DSLR camera. Fortunately, smartphone technology has advanced significantly, so if you already have an iPhone in your pocket, you'll be fine. You can always dress up your photos with a backdrop or experiment with lighting to get that perfect shot.
6. Take Several Photos and Evaluate Them
It's finally time to put your best product photography tips to use! When you're ready to snap, keep in mind that the first few may be a little rusty, so take several. Take shots from various angles, distances, and positions to determine which works best. Once you've taken enough pictures, upload them to a computer to see how they turned out, as the tiny screen on your camera is unlikely to provide an accurate representation. A program like Adobe Lightroom may be useful to organize your photos and begin editing.
7. Retouch Your Photographs
It's now time for post-production. Even if you've already captured a few images you like, retouching your photos is still a necessary step. This will transform your photos from mediocre to professional, and it will ensure that all product images on your site have consistent quality, lighting, and positioning. Retouching, color correction, removing unwanted objects, and lighting adjustments are all possible. Of course, it may appear tedious at first, but after a few practice sessions with the photo editing software, you'll be able to breeze through post-production in no time.
8. Improve Image Quality
Sadly, the larger the image on your eCommerce website, the slower the page load speed. Increasing your SEO can degrade the quality of your image. Time is money, and many customers are unwilling to wait for an online store to load quickly enough. As a result, optimizing your images for the best possible quality while keeping the page load speed in mind is critical. Fortunately, free minifying tools are available to help you optimize your photos and find that balance. Finally, as one of the top product photography tips, ensure that you correctly name your product photos and include metadata and keywords that will help improve your search ranking.
How to Upload Product Images to the Strikingly Simple Store?
If you choose Strikingly as your website building platform, all you have to do is sign up for a free account and select one of the ready-to-use templates to serve as your ready-made web design. After choosing a suitable template, you can begin entering your website content right away without writing code. On Strikingly, we provide a Simple Store section that you can add to your site and upload your products to sell online directly from the website. You can also accept payments from your customers by using one of the payment gateways that we provide. Add products to your site's store section to create product pages.
- Adding a product to the Simple Store is a breeze! Begin by including the Simple Store section on your page. Select the green "Add New Product" button after clicking "Store."
Image is taken from Strikingly
- Fill out the Product Name, Description, and Image fields in the product editor to add your product information.
- Select images from your local disc or "UPLOADED IMAGES" by clicking the "UPLOAD IMAGE" button. For each product, you can upload up to ten images.
Image is taken from Strikingly
After you've finished adding product images, Set a competitive price for each item and provide a detailed product description. The more descriptive you are about your products, and the higher the quality of your product photos, the easier it will be to sell online. It is best to include multiple product shots for each item you intend to sell. Visitors to your website will be more likely to purchase if they see the products from various angles.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it — a guide to product photography tips and resources to help you revamp your product photography and reap the benefits. You do not have to implement these changes at once. Creating consistent, high-quality product photos does not happen overnight, so some trial and error may be required to achieve the desired results. However, once you've gotten the hang of it, you'll be able to use these best product photography tips to create not only beautiful product photos but also a visually compelling brand and a successful e-commerce business.
