Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Product photography is a huge part of online business. Consumers judge products by how they look, not by the description text. You must invest in professional product photos to convert visitors into customers and sales. For many people starting a new eCommerce business, this can feel like a difficult task, and they often look for shortcuts.
Here are a couple of ways that can help make your product photos look more appealing:
Set Up a Photo Studio
A photo studio is a place where you can take photos of your products that are high quality, attractive and consistent in style. It’s also an important part of creating professional-looking photos.
If you don’t have access to a studio, don’t worry! You can still get great results with natural light and a few simple tools. You can even find the tips below helpful:
Find a clutter-free area in your home or office that’s well-lit by natural light. Set up your product on a clean background and use a tripod to ensure the camera remains steady and doesn’t move during shooting. If you don’t have a tripod, prop your camera against something sturdy like a stack of books.
Use a white sheet or fabric as the background behind the product you’re shooting so it will blend seamlessly into the image when uploaded onto your website. You can also use poster boards or foam core boards, which are inexpensive and easy to find at most craft and office supply stores.
Use natural light from windows rather than artificial lights because they produce less glare on shiny surfaces such as jewelry or glassware. Make sure no shadows are falling across your subject matter.
Don’t Forget to Edit the Images
If you’re using a camera or phone, chances are it will not take great photos on its own. Even if you get lucky and get a good shot, there’s still room for improvement.
Ensure your images are edited, so they look as good as possible. This means editing out any dust or scratches, cleaning up shadows and highlights, making sure that the colors are consistent across all products in an image, and adjusting contrast and brightness if needed. You should also remove any logos from the photos, except those on items that you’re selling.
You can edit these images in Photoshop or Lightroom, which comes with most image editing software packages.
There are lots of things you can do with editing software that will make your product photos more attractive:
Apply Layer Mask
If you’ve tried editing a photo in Photoshop, you know what layer masks are all about. This tool allows you to change specific parts of your image without affecting any other parts. In this case, one can apply layer masks to product images to look more appealing and realistic.
The goal of using layer masks is to preserve details so that one can maintain the sharpness of the product and, most importantly, shadows. There are times when your subject may have a very dark surface or areas that exist in the background. In these cases, you will want to use layer masking techniques to ensure that the details from these areas are not lost in those areas where you are applying your edits.
Take Pictures From Different Angles
The easiest way to improve your product images is by taking multiple shots from different angles. This will give you more options when editing and uploading photos to your website. You can take them with a DSLR or smartphone camera.
The more angles of the products you can shoot from, the better. Try standing directly in front of your product and taking pictures from above, then from below (if applicable). If multiple sides of the item need to be shown clearly, try shooting them separately and combining them later in Photoshop or another image editor.
If you’re selling products online, you’ll want to have professional-looking images that sell. Product photos are an essential part of showing your products. If you take better pictures, it will help increase sales.
Remember that when it comes to product photography, some basic techniques can go a long way in tricking the brain into thinking you’ve got a far better product than you do. We are drawn to bright, vivid colours—whether we know it or not. It’s just the way our brains work. So with this in mind, if you’re interested in reaching more customers with your product photography, follow these tips.
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