How to take excellent product photos for your ecommerce

One of the most important parts of an ecommerce sites are the images of the products that you are showing. Even with operational systems and good reach, it’s very possible that a visitor to your virtual shop will lose interest in buying a product if your image doesn’t appear attractive or is of poor quality. This makes your shop appear untrustworthy, as it can limit the product’s visibility.

On the other hand, it can be complicated, and expensive, to get good photographs, considering the cost of buying equipment or using professionals. Considering the funds that someone who is starting up a virtual shop has, it is hard for them to find the money to finance this. But this doesn’t mean that taking excellent photographs is impossible. Check out our tips below for taking killer photographs, even if you don’t have the necessary equipment!

Camera or smartphone?#

Using a camera or smartphone for taking photos is a complex subject. If your budget is too limited, our tip is to just use what you have. The camera isn’t the only key to taking a good photo, so you can get good quality even if you don’t have equipment that’s designed for taking professional images. What’s more, these days all kinds of phones have good cameras built in.

If you need to or can afford to invest, we recommend you use a digital camera, which comes in various different price bands. It’s also not necessary to buy the most current or professional one, as second hand or semi-professional cameras can do the job. If you prefer to use a smartphone, most of the recent iPhone and Samsung Galaxy releases have great cameras and are perfectly usable. As a last resort, smartphones that are one or two generations old can also take good photos.

How to use the camera#

More important than the equipment you choose is the way you use it. Look for lenses that let you adjust the focus manually. On smartphones, you can download apps that let you adjust this. On the iPhone, the Camera+ application has this feature. For Android devices, we recommend the Camera360.

It’s a good idea to take photos in a well-lit environment without using flash, whatever equipment you’re using. We also recommend avoiding effects that can distract clients from the main focus, which is the product.

Background, surface and light#

This won’t come as a surprise: use a white background to take photos of your ecommerce products. Using other colours or any effects will end up distracting people or making it hard to see the items you have on offer.

The surface should ideally be a flat table. This lets you take photos from different angles, making it easier for your visitors to get a good impression of it.

For the lighting, you can use natural light, but it’s very unstable and impossible to predict. That’s why we recommend that you use a stable light directly over the table where your merchandise is placed. It’s worth remembering that you should use a space that’s as close to windows as possible, especially if you opt to use natural light. Remember to turn off other sources of light too.

Tripod#

Even if you’re on a tight budget, it’s a very good idea to use a tripod to take the photos of your products. This is one of the cheapest pieces of equipment you’ll need. Using a tripod means your photos won’t be blurry, saving time.

5 steps to taking excellent photos of your products for your ecommerce#

1. Adjust the lighting - Try to set up in a well-lit area, without direct exposure to the sun’s rays, which could harm your products or equipment.

2. Set up - Keeping the tip above in mind, it’s time to set up your table, white background and tripod. Try to place your product in the centre and take its size into account when you’re positioning the tripod, placing it further away the larger the product is, so that the photo captures the whole product, with space around the edges for editing.

3. Try to remove imperfections - Check that everything is okay with the adjustments and positioning. Try to avoid anything unnecessary in the photo. Small details can be edited after the photo, but try and make sure that nothing more major is wrong, to save time when it comes to editing.

4. Configure your camara or app - Configure your camera or smartphone to optimize the photos. Remember to activate the zoom, turn of the flash, adjust the focus and make sure the photos are of the highest possible quality. Focus on the product so it doesn’t end up blurry.

5. Take the photo and start editing - When everything’s ready, just click and take the photo. Check carefully if it fits your standards and start editing it. Remove things such as dust, add more of less illumination if necessary, and crop the photo to focus even more on the product.

Take photos like a professional, and provide customer service that’s as good as your photos#

The quality of your photos is directly linked to how attracted visitors to your shop will be to your products, and how trustworthy they will consider your business to be. That’s why you need to set aside a good amount of time and choose the right place to get the best possible results. To direct visitors to the products you’re selling, make sure you use an online chat platform like Jivochat. Find out more about the platform on the features page, and check out our pricing.