Did you know that 65% of online customers purchase a product based on the image? Are you one of those people? I know I definitely am! I’ve purchased items online, and the items with beautiful photography caught my eye more than the others. If they are a similar price, the product with the good image wins out every time. And that is not just because I’m a photographer – although I am definitely biased haha. 53% of customers found images more important than reviews, and 63% said that good images are more important than descriptions. As you can see, product photography is so important! It’s my passion to help business owners get beautiful photos for their brand. That’s why today I’m sharing some tips on how to prepare for your product photoshoot!
How to Prepare for Your Product Photoshoot
Understand Your Product
The first step to every product photoshoot is understanding the product itself. What makes your product great? Is it the beautiful design? The ease of use? That it’s eco friendly or healthy? Why does a customer want to buy your product?
Knowing the answers to these questions is the first step to great product photography! You’ll know what aspects of your product are the most important to highlight in the photos. You’ll also know who you are trying to attract – so you can plan the photoshoot to best appeal to them!
Identify Your Photography Needs
Next, think about what your photography needs are. First and foremost are product images! These are the images on the product listing where the customer looks at the product, and makes the decision to purchase or not to purchase. Good quality, simple images here are important! It can literally make or break a sale. The best photos will show the details of the product, simply and clearly, so the customer understands what their getting and likes it.
After this, think about where else you need photography. Let’s start with your website. You probably need marketing images for slideshow headers, to further highlight your product. Lifestyle images are great for this! What are lifestyle images, you may ask?
Lifestyle images are photos that show the product being used in it’s natural environment. For example, if your product is a high end makeup line, the lifestyle imagery will probably show beautiful models wearing the makeup, or putting on the makeup. Lifestyle images help customers understand your product. They help create an emotional connection with your client, and helps them envision how they would use the product in their own lives.
Lifestyle images are perfect for websites and marketing! They are very useful for Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and more – all powerful marketing tools for online businesses.
Find a Photographer
After understanding your product, this is probably the most important step of the process! Here are some tips for finding the best photographer for you:
1. Find a photographer who has the style photography you want for your business. For example, if you want light, bright studio images, then find some who have those images in their portfolio. If you want dark, contrasty, dramatic images, the same thing applies!
2. Contact them! Send them an email, and explain what kind of images you’re looking for. If you don’t know, just tell them – that is perfectly ok! They can help you find what you’re looking for. Tell them your budget, where you’re located, and an idea of how many images you need. This will help them help you!
Special tip here: Even if you think that their out of your budget, don’t be afraid to contact them! Lots of times photographers can find some way to help you. And if they can’t, they usually have referrals they can give you instead!
Communicate Beforehand!
Communicate, communicate, communicate! If you find a good photographer, this is the best way you can get the most out of your product photography session. Don’t be afraid to tell the photographer what you want and don’t want! And be specific. This will save both of you time and stress, because the more your photographer knows what you want, the better they can create that for you. In the past, clients have shown me inspiration images, inspiration editing, inspiration colors, ect. and that can help a lot!
Sometimes, clients will even come to the product photography photoshoot to watch the images being made. I have a tethering cord, so they can sit and watch the images come up on the screen as I’m shooting them. This is so helpful, because sometimes a client doesn’t know what they like or don’t like until they see the image!
I hope these tips of how to prepare for your product photoshoot helped you!
As always, if you’re interested in learning more about getting product photos for your business, feel free to contact me here!
