The Ultimate Guide to Product Photography for E-commerce Success

In a time where online shopping has taken over, posting amazing photos of your products is as important as having a high-quality product for sale. It’s not just about offering the best deals but ensuring that what you sell looks appealing. First impressions matter, and the best way to make an impression is to ensure that whatever you have to offer, looks appealing.

Big brands spend a lot on flashy ads, photos and even colors just to “trick” consumers into buying. Think about it, merely looking at a burger photo makes you feel hungry. The sight of fancy sneakers strikes a chord in the mind that makes you want to buy. These all show that looks sell, and that’s why product photography is important for making it big in e-commerce.

Product photography is an art in its own class. It’s not just about whipping out a phone camera, but playing around with lighting, color grading, and some other photo fine-tuning skills. With the right amount of editing, you can evoke an emotional response to whatever product you offer. And when you connect with a viewer emotionally, getting them to patronize you becomes easy.

What Do You Need For Product Photography?

To create high quality photos of your product, you’ll need the right tools and mindset. Note that you don’t have to break the bank to take amazing product photos. With the right lighting, angles, and editing, even a mobile phone’s camera can take excellent shots.

Here are the basic tools your need:

• Camera: it goes without saying that you need a camera. If you can afford a high-end DSLR camera with a macro lens, it’ll be great. Alternatively, you can use a smartphone with a high-end camera like an iPhone or a Samsung.
• Lighting: you’ll need both natural and artificial lighting. Light boxes, ring lights, and lamps can be used in place of natural light. You can go for a simple lighting that gives you a clear shot, or play with your light sources for a more creative result.
• Background: whether it’s a plain white or black background, or a grassy background, you’ll need something that makes your product standout.
• Photo-editing Software: you can either work with PC softwares like Adobe Photoshop, or use mobile-friendly apps like Snapseed to work on your product photos.

How To Shoot Excellent Product Photos

Shooting amazing products photos is more about your creativity than your budget. While you can pay an expert product photographer to handle the shoots, you can also work with your imagination. The great thing is that every smartphone comes with amazing photo filters that you can work with.

To shoot excellent photos, here’s what you need to do:

• Seek Inspiration: visit photo-sharing platforms like Pinterest, Pexels, and Pixabay. Spend some time going through the product photos on these platforms to get an idea of what yours can look like. You’ll need a website that matches your feel. These simple drag-and-drop website builders can help.
• Setup Your Background: once you have an idea, it’s time to create the right background. Most product photos opt for a plain white or black background to avoid dividing attention between the product and the background. It’s also simpler to work with compared to adding other characters to the background.
• Setup Your Lighting: for clarity and removing odd shadows, you should set up lights on opposite angles of the product. But you can play around with different lighting styles.
• Take Close-up Shots: to avoid blurred shots, position your camera reasonably close to the product. Ensure that the camera is focused on the product and snap.
• Play With Angles: to get better results, take shots of your product at different angles. You can even adjust the positioning of your product for more flair.
• Edit: amazing product photos are as a result of excellent shots and editing. If you’re not sure of how to edit the photos using professional software, try out the filters on your mobile phone’s photo editor.

Once you’re done taking photos, always save them in high resolution formats. This way, when you’re uploading online, they won’t turn bad from being compressed by the platform you’re uploading to.

What’s more? Create thoughtful captions and subtle product descriptions. The idea is to sell your product through emotional appeal. You can always build a landing page for other technical details as product description.