Do you know what determines your online store’s flourishment? Flawless product images. The more beautiful and realistic your images will look, the sooner they will grab the attention of the audience. Once they notice that your product looks exactly the same as the photo, they will purchase more. Hence, it will boost your sales.
So, read our product photography for online stores article to take amazing product photos like a pro and guide the customers to the “Buy Now” button.
How to Do Product Photography for Online Stores
Product photography is an art that you can achieve with some techniques. What are those techniques? Place the equipment, set the camera settings, prepare the product, take the images, and do post-production to give your product a flawless look.
Place the Equipment
In order to get high-quality white background images, you need to use studio lighting.
A Table
In order to do the photography stably, a table is a must. Place it in a room where you will take the images. Keep the backspace free to place a white background.
White Background/white paper
Many online stores prefer white background photos because of their simplicity and only focus on the product. So, to play safe, use a white background.
Place the white background behind the table and if you are using long white paper, use a stand and clamp clips to clip it. Then you can flow the white paper over the table.
Lighting
Use larger soft boxes and light boxes to create soft lights.
If you have a larger softbox, place it over the product. If the products are small like shoes, bags, mugs scents, etc., bigger softboxes will cover the whole product. So, one softbox will do for a photoshoot. However, if you have small softboxes, use 2 or 3 depending on your need. Place two soft boxes surround the table.
And if you are photographing small products, that can fit in a light box, use them. It also works as a reflector.
Reflector
Because of the lighting, the product may produce harsh shadows. So, to reduce it and create natural light shadows, you need to use reflectors.
If you are using only one soft light, place two reflectors beside the light covering both sides. This way, the light will bounce back and create soft light over the product.
If you are using two soft boxes, check which side is producing harsh shadows and place the reflectors on that side.
Set the Camera Settings
Place the camera on a tripod for better stability. If you use a tripod, you can go change the equipment settings and camera settings as you please.
You can also take handheld photos but the photos may come shaky or distorted.
Lens– Use a 50mm or 100mm macro lens to capture the details of the product precisely.
ISO– as low as possible to have noiseless sharp photos.
Aperture– f/12-18 to get razor sharp images. Start from f/12. If you see that the images are not coming out nice and sharp, increase it. Both the surroundings and the product should come out focused.
Shutter Speed- Set it on 1/200 per second. Close the shutter as fast as possible. If you keep the shutter open for a long time, more light will go in. So, to get sharp images, use fast shutter speed.
Clean and Prepare the Product
Now, it’s time to style the product. Know that your product will make you rich so clean the product properly before the shoot. It needs to look spotless or you will have to work harder while retouching the image.
Though online stores prefer only product photos on a white background, you can decorate them to beautify them with relevant accessories. For example, you are selling a party bag and you put things like chains, lipstick, tissue, etc. beside it. However, do not over-decorate that customers do not understand which one is the product. The customer needs to have a clear understanding of the product regardless of the decoration.
Take the Image
Now that all the preparation is done, take the image. Do not be in a hurry and take just one photo of each product. Take images from different angles of each product.
First, take some test shots. For example, after the first shot check if the product is producing harsh shadows, then place a reflector according to the location. Like this, check each photo and make modifications according to that till you get the perfect shot.
Do Post Production Seriously
Before uploading the images to your online store, you need to check thoroughly for any flaws.
- Sharpen the images. Make the edges look refined but remember to keep the realistic look.
- Check for lighting. The lighting needs to look natural. Also, often the lighting and camera settings affect the product colors so check if the image color is the same as the real product.
- Fix the shadows. Naturalize the shadows with the product.
- If the background looks messy and distracting, remove the background by retouching and use only a white background.
- If you have the same product in different colors, recolor them in Photoshop.
- Resize the product according to the platform. Each platform like Instagram, Twitter, and Website have different image size requirement. If the image size becomes larger than the required size, it will be cropped out.
Final Verdict
Product photography for online stores is important because images hold absolute power on the website. If your images look flawless, the audience will stop and look at your photos. They may like the photos and order but the quality of your products will make them stay. So, make sure both the image quality and product quality are top notch and your business will flourish.
