Product Photography for E-Commerce
Many of my clients are looking for clean and crisp pictures to help sell their product on Ebay, Amazon, or a similar site. I recently simplified my pricing for this type of product photography, making it easier to understand how much a set of product photographs will cost. In this post, I take a closer look at what’s involved in creating what might at first glance seem a very simple photograph of a product.
Typically, product photography for e-commerce sites requires straightforward, clear imagery of each item for sale. This will usually include a few different photos - the main product on its own, any accessories that come with it, perhaps a photo showing the packaging, and any detail shots that help highlight or explain particular features of the product. This way, customers can click through a set of photos and get a good overall idea of what the product will be like when they receive it.
In most cases, all the photos will be on a plain (usually pure white) background, as this is considered the best way to present the product with the fewest possible distractions. One thing many people don’t know is that it’s almost impossible to create a perfectly white background in-camera, and in most cases the product is digitally cut out and the pure white background is brought in as part of the edit. This is a time-consuming process, but doing it properly is very important in ensuring the end result looks as good as possible.
Photographers often use “light tents” for product photography. These are white fabric or thin plastic boxes that can then be lit from outside once the product is positioned inside. The sides and top of the tent act as diffusers, creating soft, even light that wraps around the product. Although light tents are a very efficient way to shoot a product, I feel that the images they produce can seem flat, as the light hits the product from all directions and this reduces the impact of any shadows. Some products will look fine shot in this way, but often you really need a bit of shadow to properly demonstrate the three-dimensional shape of something.
I prefer to set up lights individually in my studio, controlling the angle and shape of the light sources to best suit the product. A good example of this is the rose quartz roller shown below. I wanted to show the curved shape of the two rollers, so I used a “stripbox” (a long, thin light modifier) positioned behind the product, so that it was reflected in the upper surface of the rollers. The curved highlight this produces demonstrates both the highly polished finish of the quartz and the gently curving shape, and it wouldn’t have been possible to produce the same look with a light tent. This is why I like to design a bespoke lighting scheme for each individual product — to make sure it looks its absolute best.
Of course, not all product photos have to be on plain white, and if you are looking for distraction-free, catalogue-style images on a coloured background, perhaps to tie in with your brand’s colour scheme, that’s no problem either. The effect can either be achieved with a coloured background, or if a specific colour is required it can be added digitally.
If you’re looking for product photography for e-commerce — whether for Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, or any other selling site — please get in touch. I’d be very happy to talk through your requirements and provide a quotation for a shoot tailored specifically to your product.
