Hello there super-duper product business owner. Your products are awesome. But that’s not enough! To help your products fly off the virtual shelves, you need to have great product photos to show them off. But what makes for an awesome product photo?

Check out these 8 crucial features for GREAT product photos!

beautiful lighting:

This one is key. You want your products to be beautifully-lit in a flattering manner so that all of their gorgeous features are highlighted.

There are so many badly-lit product photos out there. You know the ones that make your eyes hurt because the flash is so strong and the shadows so harsh. Or the photos that feel dingy and gloomy. Not exactly the inspired mood to sell your beautiful products is it?!

Clean beautiful soft light is my favourite light for inspiring product photography. This can be achieved by natural light if it’s a bright day.

It can also be achieved by a skilled photographer who knows how to use flash lighting in a natural way.

Do not use a flash attached to the camera. Just say “no” to harsh shadows and “flashy” vibe!

background & composition:

Product photography is all about the product. Let your products be the star of the show.

If you look at your favourite brands’ product photos, I bet you will see a recurring theme of minimal, clean backgrounds and considered compositions that allow the products to shine.

tasteful & minimal props:

Let’s steer clear of photos that have an array of props stealing customers’ attention and confusing them.

Say yes to props that enhance and relate to the product in a subtle way (ie. they don’t detract from the beauty of your products). Say no to irrelevant and scene-stealing props.

What about tacky props from Kmart/the Warehouse? Fake items – e.g. fake flowers, fake plants? Um … need I say more … ha ha.

detail:

Attention to detail is everything when it comes to product photos.

It is important for your product photographer to have eyes like a hawk – checking for any little detail that might detract or raise doubt in a customer’s mind.

Customers will be turned off by creases, loose threads, smudged labels or other defects in your products.

Your imagery should answer any questions prospective customers may have about your products. This means showing the product as a whole, any details, and how it is used.

styling:

Products should be styled and photographed in a way that appeals to your ideal customer. So, for example if your product is a homeware product, they will likely be attracted by inspiring images of your product in use in a beautiful home. Don’t photograph it in an uninspiring space.

Customers want to enjoy the lifestyle dreams associated with your products – so indulge them, transport their imagination a little.

consistency:

E-commerce stores need a consistent main image of each product to appear on the website front page. Each product should have at least one photograph in the same lighting, with the same background. Otherwise your front page will look messy and unprofessional.

Platforms like Google Shopping and Amazon require white/light background images for the main image of each product.

Once again, look at your favourite brands’ websites – you will see they generally have white backgrounds for the first image for each product to ensure consistency and a polished look. Additional images for each product may vary, but the first image will have a consistent style.

It is best to use the same photographer for all of your product photos to ensure consistency. Each photographer has their own lighting, styling and editing techniques which are not easy for another photographer to replicate.

clean accurate colours & photo editing:

This one is a given. The colours in your product photos should be clean and accurate, without any unrealistic hues. The colours should be consistent from image to image.

beautiful simplicity:

When it comes to product photography, less is more.

Let the beauty of your products shine.

The simpler your photos appear, the easier it will be for customers to focus on what’s important – the product!

Although the best product imagery may appear simply beautiful, in reality achieving beautiful simplicity is far from easy.

It requires a talented photographer who is skilled in all of the above elements – beautiful lighting, composition, styling and editing.

so there you have it

Those are the 8 crucial features for GREAT product photos.

As a business owner, I know you are super busy juggling all the things. You may know you need to uplevel your product photos but you don’t even have time to think about what you want/need!

I can help you – please read more about my product photography services and how I can help you.

Cheering you on always.

Sarah