In 2017, there were 1.66 billion digital buyers; it’s predicted that number will soar to 2.14 billion in 2021. As more consumers turn to online shops to buy their much-needed items, the more important product photos become.

While we can touch, feel, and pick up things in brick and mortar stores, all we have to rely on in eCommerce shops are the images and specifications. Because of this, product photography is so much more than just pointing and shooting—it’s bringing an item to life so the consumer can easily imagine using it themselves.

If you’re struggling to take good pre-edit images, then you’ll want to keep reading. Below, we’ll give you some of the top product photography tips to help you nail those photos and increase conversion.

Use a tripod

This may seem like a painfully obvious tip, but you’d be surprised at just how many people try and snap pictures without a tripod for stabilisation. While you may have a top-of-the-line DSLR for the shoot, it won’t mean a thing if all your photos are blurry and you have to redo them.

By using a tripod, not only does it provide clearer pictures, but it also gives you more choices for angles. Most come with adjustable legs and rotating heads, which means you have options you possibly couldn’t humanly get, even by contorting your body as much as possible.

Another benefit of using a tripod for your product photos is you have a standard product orientation that you can replicate for all future pictures. If you try and take all your eCommerce images by hand, there will be slight inconsistencies between each one because of the human factor.

Use the right lighting

There’s no one right type of lighting for product photos; you can use both natural and artificial light to bring out the features of your items. However, there’s always a time and place for everything.

For instance, if someone’s modelling outdoors with a white dress with intricate patterns on, natural lighting should be enough, given that the images are shot in bright daylight. If you try and add artificial light, the details can become washed out, and the model’s facial features can look harsh.

But if you’re taking closeups of a diamond ring inside a studio or office, this is where artificial lighting can be hugely beneficial. Not only will it illuminate all the details, but it’ll also literally make the jewellery light up and look incredibly vibrant and attractive.

Keep it simple

If you have an excellent DSLR camera, you may feel tempted to mess around with its fancy lenses. But using them can distort your images, which can give people the wrong idea about your products.

For example, if you use a wide-angle lens , it can make your model appear like she has extra-long legs. This can lead to consumers giving your jeans a “no” if they feel like they don’t fit the average person.

For product photos, you’ll want to keep it simple and use a standard lens. This lens will give you the best images since they closely match the perspective of the human eye. Consumers will get a good idea of what you’re selling and won’t get a disappointing surprise when they receive your product.

Blur the background

To give it some life, you may want to include a real-life background for your images to help consumers relate to your product more. But this can backfire since the objects in the background can take the focus away from the main product and also clutter up the image.

A simple solution is to blur the background and force the focus of your camera on solely the product; it helps to place your product in the foreground. By using background blur, you’ll kill two birds with one stone: consumers can see your product’s real-life applications while it remains the main focus of your picture.

Shoot, shoot, shoot

Taking product images isn’t a “one and done” deal. Perhaps you have many product photo ideas floating around in your head; then that’s great! Put them to use by staging and photographing each concept. Even taking pictures of your product from various angles is a good plan.

Remember, your customers can’t try out the products themselves before they commit to a purchase. Help push them towards that decision by providing them with everything they need to assess what you’re offering.

For example, if you’re selling a blanket, don’t just take a photo of it spread out on the floor. Fold it up, drape it across someone on a sofa, and take a closeup of the threading. If you give your customers a wide range of product photos to view, it’s almost guaranteed to drive your conversion rates up.

How you can achieve top-notch product photos with Pheditor

Once you’ve gotten grade-A product photos by using our tips, the next tip is to send them into Pheditor so we can polish them up for you. Simply upload the images, and tell us what you want to be done. Our expert team can do deep etching, hair masking, shadows and reflections, skin retouching, cropping , colour correction, teeth whitening, and more!

Within a few business days, you’ll get your photos back, just the way you want them. By utilising services such as deep etching, you can then use your images on any eCommerce platform. You'll be able to insert any background into the files easily.

If you want to get started on product photos that’ll wow the socks off of your customers, then try Pheditor out. We’ll give you up to 3 images for free!

Resources:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/251666/number-of-digital-buyers-worldwide/

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/product-photography-tips

https://expertphotography.com/12-beginner-tips-better-product-photography/

https://www.howtogeek.com/309826/what-is-a-wide-angle-lens/

https://pheditor.com.au/blog/get-up-close-with-pheditors-expert-image-cropping/

https://pheditor.com.au/start-editing/