It All Comes Down to Great Photography
Clothing, jewellery, electronics, art … It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, it’s important to display your products in a way that a) shows off your products and b) makes people want to buy them. Believe it or not: there is a right and wrong way of taking product shots.
When you’re in the business of selling products to consumers, particularly online, corporate photography is your best friend. But it’s not as simple as pointing, shooting and ‘fixing it in post’. For the best results, shooting high-quality product shots starts in the preparation stages. Here are our top tips for getting the best out of your products when taking product shots.
Setup
The point of product shots is to highlight the product itself. Keep the focus on the product and away from distractions by using a white or pale background with no obvious harsh lines or edges. You could invest in a mini set for your products, or you could do a little DIY and make one yourself with a few rolls of craft paper, some clamps and a bit of space. Roll the paper down a long and wide surface (think table or floor), and fix the paper in place at one end to something above the surface to create a smooth ramp with no bumps or edges. To avoid creases in the paper, place your product on the paper just after it touches the surface.
Lighting
As with video production, lighting is corporate photography’s best friend. Once you’ve created your photography set, complement it with a simple lighting set-up with lights and diffusers. Your lighting set-up should eradicate shadows, and highlight all the best bits of your product, whatever it happens to be. If you’re buying lights, think about multi-purpose lights and tripods that can also be used for shooting video.
Camera
Once you’ve established a great environment for product shots, it’s time to think about your camera. There are many models of smartphones out there that have acceptable cameras, however if you’re really looking for a professional result, it’s important to use a professional camera. Fortunately, ‘professional’ doesn’t have to equal ‘expensive’ anymore. In fact, you can often pick up a great camera with lots of accessories for a couple of grand – a no-brainer investment if you’re planning on using it a lot. Mix and match your lenses, too, and do your research on which ones will give you the effect you want.
Tripod
For stable photos with zero blur, use a tripod – especially if you’re going to shoot photos with a long exposure. Photos should be crisp and sharp and show your product in the best light imaginable.
Selection
Once you’ve created the perfect photography environment and you have the right gear, it’s time to get snapping. But don’t just take one photo then move on; give yourself lots of options by experimenting with distance, position and angle. The more options you have, the more you can do with them.
If you’re still a bit stumped when it comes to shooting great product shots, your best bet is to hire the professionals. Onepost Video Production’s corporate photography department has years of experience in product shot photography – we even have our own studio. If you’d like to invest in a selection of high-quality flawless product shots, give the friendly Onepost Video Production team a call. We’d love to help.