E-commerce product photography guide for a beginner

In the world of e-commerce, product photography is crucial. High-quality images can significantly boost your sales by making your products look more appealing and professional. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to improve your skills, this guide provides practical tips and examples to help you master e-commerce product photography.

Why Product Photography Matters

Before diving into the how-to, it’s important to understand why product photography matters. High-quality product images play a crucial role in capturing customer attention, conveying the value of your products, and ultimately driving sales. A proper high-quality product image carousel can:

• Increase perceived value of products
• Build trust and credibility with customers
• Improve conversion rates
• Reduce return rates by setting accurate expectations
• Relife staff pressure to explain items

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”       ― Ansel Adams

First Step - Armed with Proper Preparation

To achieve perfect product photography, good planning and preparation with the right equipment, tools, and potentially professionals are vital. For those with a big budget, hiring a professional photographer or outsourcing to a photography studio is a great choice. However, beginners have more affordable options. While there are many equipment available with various fancy functions, it’s crucial to research and choose a right one based on your specific needs and priorities before making any purchase

Invest in a Good Camera

While smartphone cameras have improved significantly, investing in a decent DSLR or mirrorless camera can make a big difference in your photos’ quality. These cameras offer better resolution, depth of field, and overall image quality.

• Smartphone Camera: May struggle with dark light and lack depth.
• DSLR/Mirrorless Camera: Handles brightness better and provides a professional look.

Recommendation: For beginners, entry-level options like the Canon EOS Rebel T7 or Nikon D3500 are user-friendly, affordable, and provide excellent image quality. Ensure you can learn and understand the new camera functions before making a purchase.

Use a Tripod or Gimbal

A tripod or gimbal is essential for keeping your camera steady and ensuring sharp shots, especially on uneven surfaces or at special angles. These tools are particularly useful for long exposure shots in low light conditions. For motion graphic shooting, a gimbal is invaluable, helping to capture dynamic motion while maintaining a steady screen.

• Handheld Shot: Can result in blurry images due to camera shake.
• Tripod Shot: Ensures a stable and sharp image.

Recommendation: The AmazonBasics 60-Inch Lightweight Tripod is affordable and versatile. For more dynamic shots, the DJI RS 3 Mini Gimbal is a small, lightweight stabiliser with a powerful payload capacity.

Set Up Proper Lighting

Good lighting is key to high-quality product photos. While natural light is great, it can be inconsistent. Natural light is more suitable for promotional material photography, providing a natural and real-life application environment. For indoor shooting, artificial lighting ensures consistency. If you need to upload these product images as part of a product collection display, we recommend using artificial lighting to achieve a clean and unified look, enhancing your branding impact.

• Natural Light: Soft and flattering but can be inconsistent due to time and weather.
• Artificial Light: Consistent and controllable.

Recommendation: For small to medium products like toys or phones, use a lightbox or softbox lighting kit, such as the Neewer 2-Pack Dimmable 5600K USB LED Light with Adjustable Tripod Stand. For larger products like furniture or office supplies, consider a photography backdrop stand kit. Position the lights to eliminate shadows and highlight your product’s features, and use the same lighting setup for consistency.

Choose the Right Background

A clean, uncluttered background keeps the focus on your product. White is a popular choice because it’s neutral and makes editing easier. However, for white or light-coloured products, consider a contrasting background to make your products pop.

• Cluttered Background: Distracts from the product.
• White Background: Keeps the focus on the product.

Recommendation: Use a white sweep (a large sheet of white paper or fabric that curves up behind the product) to create a seamless background. For products that require background removal, use a green background to simplify editing. The Savage Seamless Paper Background is an affordable and popular option.

Use Reflectors 

Reflectors help bounce light onto your product, reducing shadows and enhancing details. They are especially useful with natural light but can be omitted if you have an indoor lighting kit and don’t need to show tiny details.

• Without Reflector: Shadows may obscure details.
• With Reflector: Even lighting enhances the product’s features.

Recommendation: If budget allows, try a 5-in-1 reflector kit, which includes silver, gold, white, black, and translucent reflectors to manipulate light for the desired effect.

Summary

Proper preparation is crucial for effective product photography. Investing in a good camera, and using a tripod or gimbal ensures sharp, professional shots. Consistent lighting is key, with natural light suitable for promotional materials and artificial lighting ideal for product collections. A clean background and reflectors can enhance your photos, making them visually appealing and aligned with your brand's image. Research and plan carefully to make informed decisions.

Second Step - Loading Up Your "Weapon"

Armed with the right equipment, you can now start building your product image collection. While we may not be professional photographers, with basic techniques and creativity, we can capture beautiful shots of our products. These images are crucial, as they convey important details to our customers, helping them appreciate the quality and uniqueness of what we offer. Focus on clear, well-lit, and thoughtfully composed photos to showcase your products effectively. Remember, each image represents your brand, so take the time to ensure every shot is perfect. Happy shooting, and let your products shine!

Master Your Camera Settings

Understanding your camera’s settings, such as aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, is crucial for capturing the best photos. Take the time to read the manual and function explanations thoroughly before you start shooting. This preparation will help you effectively utilise your camera's features and produce high-quality, professional-looking images.

• Automatic Mode: Limited control over the outcome.
• Manual Mode: Full control to adjust settings for optimal results.

Recommendation: Set your camera to aperture priority mode (A or Av) to control the depth of field. Use a low ISO (100-200) to reduce noise, and adjust the shutter speed to avoid over or under-exposure.

Focus on Composition

Composition refers to how you arrange elements in your photo. The rule of thirds is a basic principle that divides the frame into nine equal parts using two horizontal and two vertical lines. Placing your subject along these lines or at their intersections can help create balanced and interesting shots.

• Centred Composition: Can be boring and static.
• Rule of Thirds: More dynamic and pleasing to the eye.

Recommendation: Use leading lines to draw the viewer's eye toward the main subject of the photo. Leading lines can be anything from roads and paths to patterns and shadows. Align these lines to guide the viewer’s attention naturally to your product, creating a more engaging and visually appealing image.

Take Multiple Shots

Don’t settle for the first shot you take. Experiment with different angles, distances, and settings to find the best representation of your product. Keep the different angles in your product collections for future editing and website display. Showing different perspectives and detailed close-up shots can boost user confidence by providing comprehensive views of your products.

• Single Shot: Might miss the best angle or detail.
• Multiple Shots: Offers a variety of perspectives and options.

Recommendation: Shoot from above, below, back, and front at eye level. Capture close-ups of important details and featured functions, and take wide shots to show the product in context. Displaying how your product can be used in real-life scenarios or specific environments also helps in providing a thorough understanding.

Keep Backup Photos

Don’t forget to keep backups of your photos during the shoot. This precaution ensures that you don’t lose any valuable images due to technical issues, accidental deletions, or hardware failures. Maintaining backups is a crucial part of your workflow, providing peace of mind and protecting your hard work.

• Cloud Service: Real-time syncing and remote access.
• Local Drive: Offers fast access without internet dependency.

Recommendation: Implement both cloud and local backup solutions for maximum security. Regularly upload your photos to a cloud service to take advantage of automatic syncing and remote access. Simultaneously, save copies to a local drive for quick access and redundancy. This dual approach ensures that your images are safely stored and can be easily accessed when needed, providing comprehensive protection against data loss.

Summary

Start building your product image collection with the right equipment, focusing on clear, well-lit, and thoughtfully composed photos. Master your camera settings, experiment with different compositions, and take multiple shots to capture your products from various angles. Each image should represent your brand, ensuring a professional and engaging visual presentation.

Third Step - Polish Your “Bullets”

Editing is a crucial step in product photography. Basic adjustments such as cropping, colour correction, background clean-up, and brightness/contrast enhancement can significantly improve the quality of your photos, making them more appealing and professional to potential customers. Use editing software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop. For beginners, free tools like Canva or online editors like Fotor and PicMonkey can also be effective and user-friendly options for enhancing your photos.

Create a Consistent Style

Consistency in your product photos helps build your brand’s visual identity and makes your website look professional. Ensure your product images align with your brand tone and style, reinforcing a cohesive and recognisable look across all platforms. This consistency enhances brand recognition and customer trust.

• Inconsistent Style: Looks unprofessional, confusing, and a massy branding impact.
• Consistent Style: Cohesive and long-term branding recognisable.

Recommendation: Put your branding tone and target audience first. Don’t overly chase a high-class display if it doesn’t fit your brand. An unclear branding tone can significantly affect your brand’s position and confuse your audience, leading to a weaker overall brand identity.

Crop and Straighten

Cropping and straightening are fundamental steps in photo editing that ensure your product is centred and the composition is balanced. These adjustments remove any unnecessary background elements, enhance the visual appeal, and draw attention directly to your product, making it the focal point of the image.

• Before: The product is off-centre and the horizon is tilted.
• After: The product is centred and the horizon is straightened.

Recommendation: When cropping, make sure to maintain the aspect ratio to avoid distortion. Always check the horizon line and adjust until it’s perfectly horizontal or vertical to keep your product looking professional and balanced.

Adjust Exposure and Brightness

Proper exposure ensures that your product is neither too dark nor too bright, while brightness adjustments can make your photos more vibrant and easier to see. Adjusting the exposure and brightness highlights the product's details and colours, creating a visually appealing and professional-looking image.

• Before: The image is underexposed and lacks brightness.
• After: The image is properly exposed with enhanced brightness.

Recommendation: Use the exposure and brightness sliders in your editing software to achieve a balanced and vibrant image.

Correct Colours

Accurate colour representation is crucial in product photography to ensure customers see the true colours of the product. This helps in setting the right expectations and builds trust with your customers, as they will receive a product that looks exactly as depicted in the photos.

• Before: The colours are muted and do not accurately represent the product.
• After: The colours are vibrant and true to life.

Recommendation: Use the white balance tool to correct any colour casts. Adjust the temperature and tint sliders until the colours look natural.

Summary

Editing is an essential step in product photography. Focus on creating a consistent style, cropping and straightening, adjusting exposure and brightness, and correcting colours to make your photos look professional and appealing. Proper editing enhances visual appeal, reinforces brand identity, and builds customer trust.

Last Step - Trigger Your Shooting “Gun”

Now that you have beautifully edited product images, it's time to upload them to your e-commerce website. This final step is crucial for showcasing your products in the best possible light, ensuring consistency across your site, and enhancing the overall shopping experience for your customers. Properly uploading and organising these images will help attract and retain customers, driving sales and building brand loyalty.

Optimise for Web

Ensure your photos are optimised for web use to prevent slow loading times while maintaining quality. Check your website's operational platform standards for product images and avoid uploading overly large files that could slow down the site. Properly optimised images enhance user experience and keep your site running smoothly.

• High-Resolution Image: Might be too large and slow to load.
• Optimised Image: Balanced between quality and file size.

Recommendation: Save your images in JPEG format for a good balance between quality and file size. Use tools like TinyPNG to compress your images without losing quality.

Use Consistent Image Dimensions

Consistency in image dimensions ensures a uniform look across your e-commerce site, enhancing the overall visual appeal and user experience.

• Before: Product images with varying sizes and aspect ratios can look messy and unprofessional.
• After: Uniform image dimensions provide a clean and cohesive look.

Recommendation: Choose standard dimensions for all product images, such as 1000x1000 pixels or 1500x1500 pixels, and stick to them. Most e-commerce platforms allow you to set specific image sizes, ensuring consistency across your site.

Optimise Image Names and Alt Text for SEO

Properly naming your images and using descriptive alt text can improve your site’s SEO, making your products easier to find in search engines. Alt text also helps visually impaired users understand your website while using voiceover functions, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity.

• Before: Images named “IMG_1234.jpg” with no alt text.
• After: Images named “red-wool-scarf.jpg” with alt text like “Red wool scarf for winter.”

Recommendation: Use descriptive file names that include relevant keywords, and add alt text to each image that accurately describes the product. This not only helps with SEO but also improves accessibility for visually impaired users.

Preview Images on Different Devices

Ensure your product images look good on various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. This is crucial because customers may use different devices to browse your site. High-quality, responsive images provide a consistent and enjoyable user experience, which can significantly impact your site’s usability and customer satisfaction.

• Before: Images that look good on desktop but are cropped or unclear on mobile devices.
• After: Images that are optimised and clear on all device types.

Recommendation: Use responsive design techniques to ensure your images adapt to different screen sizes. Test your images on multiple devices and browsers to make sure they display correctly and maintain quality.

Summary

Uploading your edited product images to your e-commerce website is a critical step. Ensure your photos are optimised for web use, maintain consistent image dimensions, and use descriptive names and alt text for better SEO and accessibility. Preview images on various devices to ensure they look good everywhere.

Practice, Practice, Practice

The key to improving your photography skills is practice. The more you shoot, the better you’ll understand your equipment and develop your style. Steady improvement and polished skills. Set aside time each week to practise photographing different types of products. Experiment with new techniques and review your photos to see what works and what doesn’t.

Remember, every professional photographer started as a beginner. Don’t get discouraged if your first photos aren’t perfect. With each shoot, you’ll learn and improve. Keep experimenting, stay curious, and most importantly, enjoy the process of capturing your products in the best light possible.

High-quality product photography is essential for e-commerce success. By following these tips and practising regularly, you’ll be able to create stunning product images that attract customers and boost sales. Ready to take your e-commerce product photography to the next level? Keep trying, stay creative, and soon you’ll see your efforts reflected in beautiful product photos and increased sales. Happy shooting!

—--------------------------------------------

‍

Are you unsure if your e-commerce site’s product images are displayed correctly? Not confident in your user flow and how it showcases your items? Let us help you! Contact DigiPulse Studio today for a comprehensive website audit. Discover how your digital marketing, SEO, user experience, and user interface are performing, and get detailed insights to improve your site. Worried about budget or unclear services? Don’t worry—our charges are fully transparent, and we custom-tailor the plan to best fit your budget and brand.

‍