How to Take Product Photos for Your E-commerce

Learning to take product photos is essential to start an e-commerce business. Unlike physical stores, customers can't hold and evaluate the items they wish in person, they need to trust your photos and descriptions. 

Customers may lose interest in buying a product if the images provided don’t appear attractive or have good resolution. This makes your shop appear untrustworthy, and it can limit the product’s visibility.

Taking good pictures may be less complicated or expensive than you imagine. Attention to the details and the background is essential, and as most of the popular smartphones come with high-quality cameras, you can likely take high-resolution pictures with the equipment you already have

Using a camera or smartphone for taking photos is a complex subject. If your budget is too limited, our tip is to just use what you have, research for photo references, and train your eye to take good photos

Equipment to Take Product Photos#

Camera#

If you need or can afford to invest in buying a professional camera, there are several good options in the market. It's advisable to research the differences between each model, and the features they offer. Nikon and Canon are popular brands in this niche.

Beyond the camera, choosing good lenses is essential. Each type can provide you with different perspectives of the same image, you need to know what you want. If you are looking for more affordable options, you can opt for a semi-professional camera, which can also provide you with high-resolution images. 

Smartphone#

If you don't have the budget to buy a camera, no need to worry, smartphones such as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy's latest models have cameras that enable you to take amazing photos. 

White Backdrop#

A white backdrop is a must-have when it comes to product photos because a colorful background with many items may take the attention away from the product. You need to make the product details stand out and a clear background will help with that. 

You can buy a roll of white craft paper and build the scenario yourself. Another option is to use a white wall.

Table#

The table gives you a stable surface to place the product on and take as many photos as you want. You can cover it with white paper craft to match the backdrop. Choose a table size that allows you to work comfortably and position the product in different ways.

Tripod#

The tripod is extremely useful to give stability to your camera or smartphone when you are taking photos, so you can avoid shaky shots. You will find tripods of different heights, some models enable you to level the height and take photos in multiple angles. 

Mobile Grip#

You may need to buy a mobile grip to attach the smartphone to the tripod. You will install it on the top of the tripod, and then adjust if you want to use the smartphone vertically or horizontally. 

Light Setups#

Good lighting plays an essential role in taking good photos. You can use natural light to photograph your product, but it limits you to weather conditions, and you will have to work only in certain periods of the day. 

Therefore it's recommended to have a light setup, with at least one softbox, and a reflector. If you want to go further, you can invest in umbrellas, beauty dishes, strobes, and so on. 

Edition Software#

After you take the product photos to publish on your website, social media networks, and other channels, it's time to enhance them digitally. You will need a photo editing software to do that. With it, you can modify lighting, adjust the angle, resize the image, and much more. 

However, it's important to make sure that you won't alter the product's appearance since the image needs to represent the item as close as possible. 

Types of Product Photos#

Individual Shots#

Individual shots are the ones you take of the product alone. This type of photo is commonly used in catalogs and product pages. It aims to show the product as it is in reality and prevent problems such as unsatisfied customers who bought the item thinking it was different from what it is. 

Group Shots#

Group shots photograph more than one product together, and they are used in many cases, for example, to show product kits, and collections, and display the brand's product variety. They are often used in social media and website ads since they enable the customer to see more of what the brand has to offer. 

In-Context Shots#

As the name suggests, in-context shots are photos of the product being used or displayed where it would usually be. For example, shots of people wearing your brand clothes in different scenarios such as a restaurant or a park, are in-context shots. The main objective of this type of photo is to tell a story and connect the product with a specific lifestyle, values, and ideas. 

Scale Shots#

Scale shots aim to show the products’ real size, therefore they are placed on the side of items that have a smaller, similar, or bigger size. 

Detailed Shots#

Detailed shows are taken to show the product details that couldn't be seen without a zoom. This is often used in clothes and jewelry product photos.

Packaging Shots#

If you invest in creating attractive packages for your products, it's worth taking photos of them to put on the product page. Beautiful packages are taken into consideration when customers decide to make a purchase or not. 

7 Tips to Take Excellent Product Photos#

1. Set Up a Scenario#

If you are going to take photos for the product page, you need to set up a clean scenario, without any other objects in the backgrounds. Use white craft paper to cover the shooting table and build the backdrop. It's important to create a scenario where the main focus is the product. 

2. Position the Product Carefully#

After the scenario is ready, you have to analyze how you will position the product on the table to show it entirely. Change the positions along the photo shooting to make sure you have photos that show the item from different angles, in the front, in the back, the sides, up, and down. 

3. Adjust Lighting#

If you are using natural lighting, the whole scenario should be placed near an open window, but not against the light. You may use a light sheet or a paper draped to diffuse the light if it's too intense.

On the other hand, if you are going to use artificial lighting, you should place one light box in front of the product to serve as the key light. Then, use another one as the fill light, which has the purpose of filling the shadows created by the key light. 

You can place this second one in different ways, depending on the effect you desire, and test different positions to choose the best setting. 

4. Take Several Pictures and Analyze Them#

It's important to try different angles and take several pictures in each of them. This way, you have more options to choose from. With time, you will become more experienced and learn what works best for each type of picture and product.

5. Retouch the Photos#

After you choose the photos you will use, you can edit them to enhance the images without making the products look far from what they are. Image edition software offers several features that enable you to control lighting, remove undesired objects, and highlight colors, for instance. 

6. Optimize the Images#

When uploading the images to your website, you probably will need to reduce their file size so they don't slow down the page loading. Try to do that, but also keep as much image quality as possible. 

Keep Improving Your Website With Good Photos#

Learning how to take good product photos has a lot to do with practice, keep experimenting with the equipment you have, and this helps you to develop a good eye for pictures. Researching for references, like photos you find inspiring, is also very helpful. 

Publishing high-quality product photos will help your customers to make better decisions and not get disappointed with your products. Besides, it makes your website design and brand visual identity look much better.