Ghost Mannequin Photography Tips for Ecommerce Business

Want to give your products a professional look on your eCommerce website? Read on to know what is Ghost Mannequin Photography and some tips to get the best results for your business.

If you are in an eCommerce apparel business, showcasing your products on your website can be intimidating. The photographs on your websites must allow the customers the look and fit of the products.

While hiring models for the product shoots looks promising, it is expensive and can be distracting for your customers. Ghost Mannequin Photography is a simple and cost-effective technique for apparel photography on an eCommerce website.

What is Ghost Mannequin Photography?

A ghost Mannequin is a specially designed mannequin having removable body parts like chest, arms, legs, etc. During the shoot, the product photographer takes multiple photos of the product on the mannequin. The photographer then combines these photos and removes the mannequin during post-processing. As a result, your customers can check the fitness of a realistic human shape.

Now that you are aware of the technique, here are some tips for the Ghost Mannequin Photography to boost your eCommerce business.

Let’s Discuss Each Point in Detail

1. Select the Right Mannequin for Your Product:

Proper selection of the mannequin is crucial for eCommerce product photography. Here are some of the most recommended tips to help you in selecting the perfect mannequin for your product.

• Choose a mannequin that fits your product perfectly. A good fit highlights the detailing and brings out the best of your garment.
• It might not be practical to keep different sizes of mannequins for each product. In such cases, use pins or clips to ensure the best fitting possible.

2. Plan the Photoshoot:

A little bit of planning can be time-saving in the long run. Imagine the shoot visually in your mind and make sure that you have everything you need. Cameras, tripods, and lights are some of the most basic equipment for taking professional product photos.

• For general apparel photography, maintain the symmetry of the garment on the mannequin. For example, keeping the shoulders at the same level is a simple yet effective tip to increase the visual appeal of the product.
• Don’t forget to shoot the garment at different angles and distances as your customers can get the idea of the garment’s fabric from its close-up image.

3. Set Up the Camera and Equipment:

Most amateur photographers fail to set up their camera parameters according to the requirements of the scene. Here are some tips on how to choose the most basic camera settings.

• Aperture controls the lens focus and must be set to higher values (f/8 to f/12) to highlight the detailing of the product.
• If you are using artificial lights, go for high ISO settings (~600) to reduce noise and grey spots in the photographs.
• Similarly, adjust the shutter speed according to ambient lighting and the color of the garment to allow sufficient light on it.
• Natural light is the most inexpensive and top-quality light source for taking garment photographs. If natural light is insufficient or unavailable, you can use the equipment for key-lighting, fill-lighting, and hair-lighting.

4. Take Photographs:

Now that everything about the shoot is in order, it’s time to take the photographs. Keep these tips in mind to ensure that your photographs look professional and are akin to the Amazon Photography Service.

• Position the camera at the chest level or hip level of the garment.
• Make sure that your camera points the product at the correct angle. If the camera angle is too high or too low, the apparel looks skewed and asymmetric.
• No matter how experienced you are, use a tripod to stabilize the camera.
• Take close-up images to highlight the details like zips, cuffs, embroideries, and other designs of the garment.

5. Edit the Image:

Finally, it’s time for some post-processing techniques to give a professional look to your photographs. As explained above, the Ghost Mannequin Photography requires combining two or more images and removing the mannequin subsequently.

Powerful post-production software like Adobe Photoshop gives you plenty of tools to achieve the task. For example, you can create different layers containing the background and the product. You can now select the product and remove the background layer and unnecessary parts by masking. Additionally, give some depth to your photos by adding shadows.

Ghost Mannequin Photography to Boost Your Business:

You can either follow these DIY tips or hire a professional firm to give an edge to your business over your competitors. Leading professional product photographers offer commercial photography rates at competitive prices. From photographing your product to post-processing, these experts take care of every aspect of the photographs on your website.