7 Tips for Taking Professional Product Pictures for an Online Ecommerce Store

by Rabeea Mansoor 5min read
Are you tired of fixing blur product photos? Save your time by practicing these fantastic tips for professional ecommerce photography.

You have built your ecommerce website using ecommerce website creator, and it’s time to upload your products’ images. But you are not satisfied with the current product photos. Or, in another scenario, you have not done product photography for your ecommerce website at all. In either case, you might be looking for product photography techniques that can immediately capture your audience’s attention. 

Do you know sites with attention-grabbing product pictures create a strong sense of ownership in a person’s mind, leading to increased chances of getting conversions as compared to others? On the other hand, inconsistent photos with bad quality and misleading colors may affect your authenticity and damage your brand’s value. This shows how essential it is to take good photos of your products. 

In the world of Instagram filters and photo editing apps, having outstanding product photos is not as complex as it used to be. But if everyone is able to take good product pictures, it also means that your product holds very minimum chances of standing out from the rest of the products in your industry. So, if you have created your own store using Webx Ecommerce, an online shop builder, here is a list  of top 7 techniques to take professional product photographs that will indeed represent the true value of your products

1. Keep Proper Lighting 


You won’t ever come across any buyer who will buy a product without looking at it in detail; if not a detailed look, they would at least look at it briefly enough to decide if the product matches all their preferences. Good product photography always ensures such product clarity that it speaks its value for itself. And this is only possible if there is proper lighting. 

The primary light sources are natural and artificial light. Natural lighting that comes from sunlight is commonly known as soft light. If you are shooting a product outside, or it is something that has to be shot with a person in the frame, natural lighting is the best option. 

On the other hand, artificial lighting, also known as hard light, is best for those products whose physical details should be the highlights of the photography more than any other aspect. Hard light produces a focused light surface to converge light rays on the important details of the product, helping in quickly impressing online buyers.

2. Soften Shadows

Sometimes, hard and soft light can create harsh shadows on your products that ruin their photos entirely. There are two ways to avoid this: 

Fill light

The most basic way to avoid harsh shadows around your product is by introducing less intense light as a supplement to the main light. This additional light, also called fill light, is placed in the opposite direction of your main light with your product sitting in between.

Flashbulb Bounce Card

A flashbulb bounce card reflects the main light to reduce your product’s shadows. Some cameras even come with bounce cards that are attached to the flashbulb of the camera lens, splashing a soft light on the product instead of falling straight at it.

3. Use Photography Studio Software


If you cannot come up with a good background location, you can use Photo studio software. Such software not only allows you to edit your product photos but also lets you choose suitable backgrounds which are designed completely. They also have multiple tools to edit your photos to perfection.

4. Shoot with Tripod 

If you are thinking about using a makeshift setup of using any hard surface to prop your phone or camera on, don't do this. Such setups may give you a quick solution, but they can easily slide around and cause disruption in your photos. 

To avoid this, many people hold the device in their hands, handheld shooting is not an issue when you are doing photography of only one or two products. However, if you have many products to shoot, you will need the proper equipment to avoid shaky and blurry pictures and maintain consistency in the final photos. Thanks to the tripod, you can easily adhere to standard product orientations to ensure high quality. 

When it comes to tripods, there are two types; traditional and flexible. We suggest you use a flexible tripod as it can be manipulated in several ways, giving you a diverse range of motion. 

5. Shoot With The Right Angles 

Ecommerce product photography calls for such shoot angles that could produce compelling and realistic photos. Any product photography aims to give viewers an idea of how the product will feel if they had it in their hands. Such tactical sense is hard to pull off and can only be done if you know which angles are the best ones. 

There are front, profile, three-quarter angles, top shots, and close up to create a vivid image of your product in your customer’s head. But knowing which one to use when is the key. The best way to select the suitable angle and shot is to study what your product looks like, what colors its made of and what are its features -in short its entire profile study your product’s profile and play with the angle until you get one right.

Pro tip: If you have a high-end professional camera, you must set your camera lens to high f-stop and slow shutter speed to bring your entire product into focus. This way, you can produce a crisp look for your ecommerce product photos. 

6. Take Multiple Photos

To give your customers an actual shopping experience, you must produce a variety of your product’s photos. This way, they will be able to get the experience of holding, trying, and using various merchandise in a physical store. 

Suppose you have a clothing store and you are doing product photography. You can shoot the garment separately, on a mannequin, or draped on a model/person with different poses. Such product photography will stimulate a very personal and original experience. 

7. Avoid Filters

While filters may make your product appear perfect and in the best light, they can also misrepresent it. Do not use filters to avoid causing any inaccuracy and discrepancy in your product photo and original product. If your product photography requires light touch-ups, you can use editing to bring the same effects. 

Bottom line 

A good ecommerce product photography requires a right balance of lighting, camera handling, and editing. Once you have a grasp of that balance, the final product photos will not only look professional but will surely increase your sales. 

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