Professional Product Photography employs particular methods for sports products in an appealing way to draw buyers’ attention and make them strongly consider purchasing the product.
Things Needed for Product Photography
There are certain pre-requisites to amazon product photography service, and the right equipment can make it or break it in terms of quality and finished good.
The bench setup up for most Professional Product Photography is a light tent, a tripod, micro-lens, a cove, and some studio lights. Especially for Jewelry Product Photography, a color of contrasting hue is recommended.
Now that you are all set with the inputs, here are the tips and tricks to taking stunning and sellable product photos.
Ecommerce Product Photography Tips
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- Tripod is the Key to Consistency
- Choosing Between Natural and Artificial Lighting
- Filling vs. Bouncing Effect of Light
- Using a Smartphone Camera and Some Extra Tools
- White Background and Realistic Backgrounds to Save the Day
- 360 Degree View
- Do not Stick to One Type of Photo
- Models Provide a Perspective
- Photo Editing, Optimizations and Post-Processing
Let’s Discuss Each Point in Detail
1. Tripod is the Key to Consistency
To make sure there is uniformity in the product photos, the tripod is your best friend. On one hand, there is the traditional tripod which comes with extendable legs and on the other; there is the flexible but shorter tripod with legs that may be bent as per the preferred angle.
2. Choosing Between Natural and Artificial Lighting
There are two types of lighting businesses can choose as their product’s source of light.
Firstly there is natural light-the sunlight, or “soft light”. It has a wider spread of light but less sharp focus than a lamp. Natural light is appropriate for those eCommerce products which belong to the following categories:
- Product placement is outside.
- If people are used in product photography, for jewelry, makeup, or apparel brands.
- When the surroundings of the product play a role in accentuating some details about the product.
Secondly, there is a studio or artificial lighting which means the source of light might be fire, light bulbs, or lamps. This is known as “hard light” because as opposed to natural light, its range is smaller and consequently the focus, sharper. The focused light of this setup is fit for products whose details need to be emphasized. This is recommended for Jewelry products Photography and other accessories brands.
3. Filling vs. Bouncing Effect of Light
Shadows are the natural enemy of any product photography and one needs to know all the ways they can lessen the effect of the shadows. There are broadly three ways to do this.
Filling light is one way which means involving another less bright light in addition to the main one. This extra light source is called the fill light and is used to create equilibrium. It is generally placed behind the object and opposite the main light. The product then is placed ideally between these two sources. The method is best suited for makeup photography.
A bounce card is another method. It is a small card that reflects the main light into the plane below the product to eliminate shadows. This method is perfect for Jewelry Product Photography. Finally, a standalone bounce card is for those times when you are using a phone camera to photograph the product.
It is recommended that only one type of light be used per photograph. The product photo looks much better when there is one type of lighting.
4. Using a Smartphone Camera and Some Extra Tools
It is no surprise that today most good smartphones are equipped with cameras that give stunning images. For certain products, it is fine to use a smartphone for product photography. These days cameras on smartphones operate on more than 8Megapixels and come with varied types of filters and hues to edit the pictures.
Therefore, costume or casual jewelry product photography or if you know your lighting right, even makeup photography can be done simply with a smartphone.
5. White Background and Realistic Backgrounds to Save the Day
Most companies prefer to use a white background due to the binary contrast that white as a color provides. But white is also the color which is susceptible to blemishes or stains especially when it’s subject to photography. To fix this problem a “sweep” is used.
A sweep is simply a bendable sheet of paper that should be bent like a white wall behind the product. This curve is never visible in the photograph, but it allows the product to show all its details.
Realistic backgrounds give a lively look to the product when the products have peculiar utility or are worn by models. The caveat in this tip is to take care of focus, as the real world behind or around the product can take the focus away from it.
6. 360 Degree View
Single angle photographs of products can only show so much about the product. Although the source angle should be the same as explained in the first point, the angle concerning the product can be varied.
Items like jewelry, watches, apparel, or gadgets require to be seen from all sides for customer satisfaction. Thus when it comes to jewelry photography, it is advisable to give a glimpse of all sides of a product.
7. Do not Stick to One Type of Photo
Product photography allows a spectrum of creativity so it is only unfair for the product to be displayed in one style. If it is a pendant and chain, shoot as many ways as it can be shown-Front display on white background and pendant on a contrasting piece of cloth, zoomed-in image for the features, and the pendant on a model for sizing purposes.
This trick not only helps the consumer get an idea of the specifications of the product but also increases the chances of purchase by the buyers.
8. Models Provide a Perspective
When product photography includes people as an element of the product, it gives a perspective to the buyer about how a product would look like on a person. Customers like seeing familiar faces so celebrity-based product photography makes for a good PR strategy as well.
9. Photo Editing, Optimizations, and Post-Processing
The importance of retouching product photos cannot be stressed enough. It helps in giving the product a fine and polished aura.
Optimizing the images is another important rule to follow for product photography.
The best practice followed by an Amazon photography service> is the one that sticks to showcasing the product as it is. Accentuating the product in a photo is an ethical practice but photoshopping a new feature is not. Such methods might earn you the first round of purchases but will also snatch away a lifelong association with your customer base.