Running your own online store is very exciting! You are in charge of every aspect of it and enjoy every minute of your adventure. You collaborate with the graphic designers on your store look, the product lineups, and have invested in stock, or have your suppliers on standby. Now all you need is product photography that will help you sell your product.
If you feel a little bit lost in all the looks and layouts – let’s go over the steps together, so that you can plan better for your online success!
The minute your potential clients click on your website ad or follow the link they know what your store is all about. Streamline product presentation, crisp, and well-lit images not only will sell your product better but will add a feeling of confidence and will create a memorable shopping experience.
Learn from the industry leaders. After browsing your favorite brands you will get a great idea of your online store should look like! But do not keep track of what is real. Those brands do spend thousands of dollars to create that effortless look.
The images have to show off your product at its best. It can be photographed on its own or on a model. Of course, product photography on a model always looks great! It gives a much better idea of the clothing line’s quality and shows how it works for your client’s lifestyle.
100% white background product photography.
Of course, photography with a 100% white background always looks great! The visual creates no seams between the product box and the rest of the website. But it does come with a bit higher price. As you know, there is no 100% white color in nature, so no matter how well metered the light for photography is you will see a tonal variation on the background. If planned carefully it will create a pleasant light gray tone that you can get away with.
But if you do need 100% white it has to go through a graphic designer’s touch. In this process the product is isolated and sometimes a shadow is added to the bottom so that your product does not look just hanging in the air.
Using Solid Colors for Background
Another great solution – is to use a solid light shade background to compliment the colors of your product. This solution works best for clothing lines. It is important to keep in mind that it should work well for your entire product lineup, or some products might simply “disappear”. To achieve this look the outline tracing was made and white background replaced with a solid tone.
What Are Other Product Background Options Ideas?
For one of my clients, we did not want to go into the expense of isolating and retouching the images and simply used a light brick background. It simply worked great! The additional benefit – it worked well for the Instagram and social media accounts – as that particular line of clothing relied a lot on those! In fact, you should never forget about selling directly on social media. Read up more on the benefit of those in one of my other blog posts.
If you are planning to do something along these lines – keep in mind that the background should be light and not very distracting. I have seen planks of dark wood used, it was taking too much away from the clothing.
Finding a suitable environment that will help to show off the product, will not be too busy, and will look great on your Instagram feed is a bit challenging, that is why I have created areas in my studio that look just perfect for it!
How Many Angles do You Need per Product?
Remember, your client can not try or even touch the product. In most cases, they will be uncomfortable ordering if they are not sure. The product competition is overwhelming it is easier for them to browse on than ask a question, or deal with returning items. If you are selling on Amazon, you will have a list of recommended angles.
Usually, these are recommended angles for online stores:
- Front
- Side
- 45% degree
- Back
- Bottom or top
- Product in use
- What the product comes with
As always, it is best to think of your client’s convenience and try to foresee what might be not quite clear about the product. Of course, show off all the benefits and best features!
The pictures are selling 24/7!
Throughout my career in product photography I have worked with different budgets and will always find a product photography solution that will work the best for your store!
