All The Basics Of Product Photography You Need To Know
Basics of product Photography play a crucial role in the era of e-commerce and digital media marketing, Proving product photography is the Backbone of a brand’s success. A smartly planned and well-executed product image has the potential to grasp customers’ attention, evoke emotions, and is able to bring a sense of connectivity with the brand, and ultimately give sales-driven results.
If you’re an evolving entrepreneur planning to showcase your products on social media, e-commerce, personal websites, or a freelancing digital marketer working and aiming to enhance your brand’s online presence, excelling in the basics of product photography is vital.
In this informative beginner manual, you will dive into the necessary principles and techniques that will help you upgrade your product photography game to the next level and will let you rule the competition. We are gonna see why product photography is important, what you need for product photography, its types, and finally how to do it. So, let’s get going!
Why Product Photography is so Important?
The human brain can process images in only 13 milliseconds which means you don’t have much time to make a memorable first impression of your brand on your customers. Online shopping is majorly dependent on what the shopper is seeing in the first place on the website or any social media, a product’s image is a deciding factor that will decide whether the viewer will convert into a customer or he/she will lose interest.
So it is imperative to invest in an impressive product photography shoot that will enhance your brand’s tone and aesthetics.
What a compelling product photograph does
- Grabs Attention: In the vast ocean of online content and multiple brands racing in the success race, head-turning product images are more likely to catch the sales you are looking for and will stamp an image in the minds of new viewers.
- Builds Trust: fine-tuned, good quality, and detailed photos help consumers understand what the product is and what they’re buying, building up confidence in the product and the brand.
- Showcase Features: Well-planned product photography focuses on the key features, specifications, benefits, and unique selling propositions of your product, making them more appealing, attractive, and compelling to potential customers.
If you wanna know more about the importance of product photography, read here: 7 Reasons Why Product Photography Is Important
What You Need for Product Photography
Here are the 3 things you need to keep in mind before you begin your product photography journey.
Space
Your designated place for your shoot can be anything from a vast hall to a small room or even a tabletop, as interruptions are not welcomed in the frame of the shoot, your designated place should be free from interruptions. Using backdrops can be a good option to get rid of interruptions.
Lighting
Lighting is the most important thing a photographer has to keep in mind when setting up a shoot, lighting has 2 main options artificial light and natural light. If your product is more intended to be used outdoors you should plan to shoot it in natural light to make it more relatable, else if your product is intended to be used indoors artificial lighting is your ultimate solution.
Editing Your Photos
Editing is a crucial activity that is a part of the post-production phase, this phase is brought into action after the shoot is done and you have selected the final photos that work the best for your brand it includes important background edits special effects, and many more.
That’s not all but you can learn everything you need for product photography here: What Do You Need For Product Photography?
Types of Product Photography
Product photography is a multitasking and disciplined activity that includes a vast range of angles, styles, and techniques, each of which is executed to focus on the stand-out features and characteristics of diverse products.
To Start Learning and Practicing Product Photography, any beginner should start with these 3 crucial types of product photography.
Individual shots
Individual shots are the most common in the product photography industry, individual shots provide the product with a more singular feel and attract consumer attention to the product and its design language, colour psychology, and product specifications.
Group shots
As the name suggests, group shots are a technique used to showcase more than one product in one frame. These types of shoots are planned for product kits, color options, and collections.
Packaging shots
Customers are becoming more aware in today’s era, believe it or not, customers do care about the packaging and the content written on the packaging. It becomes more crucial if you are listing your products on e-commerce, as the customer is not interacting with the product which increases the responsibility of a brand to state all the relevant information on the label of the product. And all the information should be visible on the product image clear and readable enough to help the customer in deciding to buy the product.
How to Do Product Photography: Tips and Process
If you are a beginner who is not aware of what brand’s camera is better for professional photography then you have a lot to learn about, or else you own a small-scale business and are not ready to spend much on professional product photography then having a basic knowledge of angles, props, and lightning will help you a lot in starting your product photography journey.
Here we’ve thrown light on some tips and practical options for a true beginner.
Set up your Background
Getting the right background not only keeps the customers focused on the product you’re photographing but also helps in simplifying the editing process when it comes time for post-production. In setting up a mini studio at home you should order a white sheet and Other solid colours for using it as backdrops.
Light Tent
Another affordable option for a backdrop is to build your light tent, also called a lightbox. This is a wireframe box with translucent side walls which helps in creating the light dispersed evenly around the Products and objects which are in focus.
Set up your Product
This phase in product photography refers to the process of arranging and preparing your products for the photo shoot. It may seem simple to just put the product under the light, click a photograph, and publish it onto your e-commerce, moreover getting your product ready for your social media or e-commerce can take a few tries to get the perfect angle, lighting, and position.
Use a tripod
A tripod is an essential tool in any kind of photography as it is responsible for maintaining the perfect angle and motion-proof photographs. To get the perfect sharp photo that shows every detail of your product, you’ll have to get a high depth of field, which ultimately decides the sharpness and quality of your final image. However, if your device runs on a slow shutter speed it is nearly impossible to get that perfect crisp image, where in the tripod plays the role.
We don’t have enough space to tell you the complete process here, but no worries, read the complete process of how to do product photography in easy steps here: How To Do Product Photography In 8 Easy Steps
Conclusion
Mastering the basics of product photography is a journey that requires patience, practice, and a keen eye for detail. By understanding the importance of product photography, investing in essential equipment, mastering lighting techniques, refining composition, and styling skills, and applying post-processing and editing techniques, you can uplift your product photography to the ruling heights.
Whether you’re showcasing a single product or planning to create an entire product catalog, impressive product photos have the power to gather your audience, drive engagement, and ultimately boost sales. So grab your camera, let your creativity, and start capturing stunning product photos that leave a lasting impression!
Wanna learn complete product photography professionally? Start learning today with FDS Masterclass, an online product photography masterclass taught by industry experts with more than 20 years of experience. Learn practically the secrets and insights of the industry from basics to creative photography and how to start your own successful photography business eventually. Start here: FDS Masterclass
