Setting up an eCommerce store hardly takes mere minutes today. But optimizing your online storefront to deliver the best results is what requires the most effort and time. One of the most important aspects in the eCommerce sphere to achieve this is producing high-quality product photographs. However, even this area is slowly becoming easier with advancing technology and options. Today, smartphone photography is growing to become the future of eCommerce. This makes you wonder if DIY product photography can help you achieve the same results as a professional photoshoot.
Well, the answer is a big yes!
Irrespective of the gear, tech, and setup used, you can use strategically shot product images to improve your customer acquisition. And here’s the interesting part - great product photography does not just increase your conversion rate, but also improves your overall brand exposure. If consumers like your product shots, they are 40% more likely to share them from your social media accounts. So, it’s a win-win!
In this blog, we will discuss how to master DIY product photography.
When you’re starting out, professional product photography can seem intimidating because of the big price tag attached to it.
But we’re here to tell you that product photography doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. You don’t have to invest a huge chunk of your resources to get the best results. The truth is, you can take great product shots even with a very tiny budget. By using a few props and items that are easily available at home, you can take your production value to a whole new level. And it’s not even as hard as one might think!
Got a smartphone, window, and some white sheets? Great! Because that’s all it really takes to elevate your game. This is what DIY (Do It Yourself) product photography essentially is.
Today, we will be discussing how to take product photos at home effortlessly. Here are a few tips and tricks to master this skill and improve your brand persona.
While product photography can be exciting, it can also be quite confusing if you’re an absolute beginner. Yes, we said a smartphone camera should get you going. But how you plan your shoots, figure out the basics like your phone camera settings, and learn to optimize it, is what is going to make all the difference.
Just taking a random blurry product shot in a messy and loud background with hardly any lighting is not going to help your conversion rates. To become a pro at DIY product photography you don’t have to burn a hole in your pocket, yes. However, you do need to know the right methods and tips to master this skill and boost your eCommerce sales.
This guide has been carefully curated to help you produce excellent, high-quality product shots with minimal effort and resources.
You obviously need a great camera to produce high-quality product photographs. However, these days, most smartphones are equipped with high-end cameras that can serve the purpose just right. In fact, smartphone photography is growing to become the future of eCommerce.
And more often than not, in photography, it’s less about the equipment and more about the skills of the person. So yes, you can work your way around without a fancy DSLR at your disposal, but you will have to learn the basics of adjusting your phone camera settings, understanding the angles, and lighting, among many other simpler things.
Clean product photography does not just mean showcasing the product in the best light. It’s also a lot about the setup around it. You can create a lot of simple DIY backdrops for product photography by using common objects at home and/or workspace.
The easiest way to have a great setup is to use a plain sheet of paper for beautiful flat lays. You can also fold it to create a sweep white background. A sweep is a sheet of paper that is bendable and helps improve the overall quality of your images. A portion of the sweep is usually beneath your product and the other half curves up behind it.
Using a neutral background lets your product take the spotlight. It helps you take aesthetically pleasing pictures that are not loud and are easy on the eyes. It enhances your product and grabs your website visitor’s attention from the get-go.
Lighting is everything. It’s a game-changer, really!
The right lighting can either make or break your pictures. While most of the light glitches can be fixed during the editing process, a poorly lit picture will still be a bad picture. Plus, editing it would require lots of effort and time.
You can instead use the right lighting from the very beginning to improve your DIY product photography. The best and easiest source of all is to use natural light. You can build your setup near a window for the best results. Additionally, you can also play around at different times of the day to find the best mood light that suits your brand aesthetics. Natural product photography can reduce your load tremendously and also produce amazing pictures.
Reflectors can be a powerful tool in improving your photography. Take your DIY product photography lighting to the next level by intentionally illuminating your subject using foam boards as reflectors.
Place your foam board opposite the light source until it reflects the light back onto the subject. This is going to create a very nice and soft effect. It easily amplifies any poorly lit setup. Interestingly, it can even be used to block any unwanted light sources as well. Furthermore, you can also use it to fill in shadows to take professional-looking pictures.
Your product photography has to be creative and interesting to persuade the website visitor to actually make a purchase. Adding a captivating element to your photographs can enhance the overall shopping experience of your store.
One interesting product photography hack is to make your subject look like it’s floating. However, do note that levitation images are usually easier to execute for smaller-sized products.
Here’s how you can create amazing floating product shots -
And that’s that! It’s that simple.
Over the last couple of years, flat lay photography has found wide popularity. While you can use any surface to take these pictures, marble or tile adds an elevated flair. It enhances the overall look and feel of the photo.
If you have gorgeous marble countertops in your house or workspace, you’re quite in the luck! Use these surfaces to accentuate your product photography. You can also use tiles! The colors and patterns that you can play with tiles are endless. You can pick the right variant to suit the aesthetics of your brand and you have a professional-looking product shot ready.
Source: Created on DoMyShoot
Plan your shots strategically. You can know the best camera setting for product photography, and master how to use light and angles, but if the overall scene isn’t right, you will not be able to connect with your consumers. Think about the mood, light, and colors of your product photography and ensure that it aligns with your brand aesthetics. You also need to think about the target audience and the use case of your product. You can accordingly plan creative product photography ideas at home!
For instance, you can add shots where the product is being used. So let’s say, you’re a ceramics brand, consider adding pictures with the items used in a dining setup. This adds life to your products and makes them seem more appealing.
How you plan these scenes for your DIY product photography is going to depend on your industry and consumers. Get creative and use your pictures as your sales pitch. Make it as persuasive as possible that it compels the user to place an order almost instantly.
Today, setting up an eCommerce store takes mere minutes. However, optimizing your online store can be quite tricky and troublesome. From ensuring that your branding is consistent throughout to using the best product photographs - it all plays a huge role in the likeability and success of your eCommerce brand.
Nevertheless, product photography doesn’t have to be that complex either. We are sure the tips mentioned in this blog will help you improve your DIY product photography tremendously. Additionally, with tools like DoMyShoot, you can now easily take control of your eCommerce images. This all-in-one solution for custom outputs of your product photography can help you improve your conversion rates with just a few taps and clicks.
You can book a demo today and take the first step towards enhancing your eCommerce product photography.
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