Taking great product photographs that sell
Many photographers who are interested in promoting their own products or making a small business out of their passion embrace product photography. The majority of them take product photography courses to learn exactly how they can do it in a professional way so that they can actually charge for this service and create the compelling and descriptive photographs that every online store wants and needs.
Photographing products is time consuming and a lot of gear is involved. The camera obviously needs to be as good as possible, but you`ll also need artificial lighting beyond the on-camera flash, which will not be enough. Look to acquire some strobe lights, umbrellas and even a basic tent or try to rent out a studio in order to take photos that stand out. Use consistent exposure on your photographs and try to avoid shadows in your pictures, although shadows can sometimes give the impression of realism. Invest in a tripod and a 50mm lens should be enough in most cases as you will not shoot from afar.
One thing that you will learn at Photoion School - photography courses and which is fairly ignored by most photographers and business owners is to offer a frame of reference and show some scale. When people buy a product they want to know how big or small it is. The lack of this information is often detrimental and will hurt sales. You can add a ruler in the vicinity of the product or, even better, is to include another product with a fairly standard size like an apple or a coffee mug. It does not have to be too accurate, but to give a general feeling of the dimension of the main product.
Consider the setting and the story of the product. The white background can be boring sometimes and will not make the potential buyer feel anything in particular. That is why clothes sell better if they are presented on a model and tea, coffee or wine tells a story when presented on a classy wooden table or in a social context. View things from the point of view of a consumer and you won`t be wrong. Also, remember to take multiple photographs from different angles. Show the consumer how the product looks from all sides and what hidden amazing features it might have. It is also a good idea sometimes to place the product in nature, for example you can place a bottle of water on a park bench surrounded by roses or you might place a keg of beer near a mountain spring. Be creative and add bold photos next to the “safe” ones shot in the studio.
One important thing you will learn in product photography courses is how to touch up images and correct the minor flaws that appear during the photo shoot and during handling. Things like dirt, dust or unwanted shadows are not always noticed when you are taking the photographs, but can easily be corrected afterward. A little Photoshop goes a long way in fixing these problems.
You need to practice before starting to take photographs that are meant for an ecommerce website. Try photographing your phone, coffee mugs, toys and even clothing items that you have in the house. Take multiple photos and compare the results. Having a mentor to explain what settings to use, what gear you need, what you can improvise and how to present a certain product will be of great help.
Learning this craft will make you pretty valuable on the job market and as a business. Plenty ecommerce websites want excellent photographs and that`s not going to change too soon.
