Product Photography To Build A Trustworthy Brand
I love photography!
But when I first began food blogging back in 2011, my photography left a lot to be desired.
Yet, before long, simply through trial and error of sharing recipes multiple times a week and 100’s over the course of a few years my photography improved dramatically.
I have since developed and photographed recipes for multiple brands.
But it’s not just food, many friends and colleagues have enlisted my skills to shoot their products - from candles to stationery (and on occasion their brand and headshots too!)
The part of photography I love the most is the layout and styling way more than the tech and editing… which is good news for you as you don’t require expensive camera kit of editing software to set up a great shot.
That’s not to say those things wont help too (they definitely will) but they are no means essential and I promise you, you can take great shots of your products simply with a phone and very basic in-app editing.
Whilst shooting food is my first love, there is a huge overlap with the skills required to shoot a plate of food and shoot a small product (we’re taking things that fit on a table top rather than something large like a vehicle)
Styling ‘lifestyle’ photos tell a story of the product, whereas product photography (for example for a commercial product listing) is typically a simple clean photo on a white background. Both can be important to know how to capture well and have very different purposes in your sales and promotional materials.
Very simple shooting set up.
Engaging photography is a key part of building a trustworthy brand.
They say a picture speaks a 1000 words. So it’s critical that your website imagery and promotional graphics are always working hard to deliver your message and story to sell your products.
However, a professional product brand shoot is often beyond the scope of a new business.
Or it may be that you are in the early stages of evolving your style or product collection and forking out for professional shots is not practical or desirable as this early stage.
Maybe you have an ongoing catalogue of products that you need to be able to shoot yourself, or you want to capture a variety of high quality images for social media.
Photography can be overwhelming.
So It helps to know what kind of shot you need for what purpose…
Let’s break it down, so you can decide where you want to put your attention. If you feel like you could do with some more assistance, take a look at my new training - we go into each of these elements (and a whole lot more) in much greater detail.
White background photos
The white background product shot is more common than any other background, primarily because it’s so versatile. It creates a ‘knockout’ of the product where it appears to be floating on the background. This can be captured in camera against a well lit white background, or in post-production using an editing app to remove the original background and replace it with a white backdrop.
White background shots are typically used for listings in online stores and catalogs and can also be useful for promotional shots where you want to include text in the image.
Multi-product group shots
These can also be white background, and most often used for product kits and to showcase collections of similar products. Group photography displays the variety of your products and gives the customer a more complete and contextual view of your range.
These types of images are great for social media posts and advertisements, as they give shoppers a taste of your brand as a whole, rather than just one product in isolation.
Flat-lays
These are a common photography technique due to the quick setup and pleasing aesthetic. Flat lays often work well for lifestyle shots and to create visual variety in the shot for social media.
The camera angle is from directly above looking down. It allows you to position each product and any associated styling elements as desired. It’s also useful if shooting with a phone that can have a tendency to distort the perspective of a shot taken from an angle.
What can be lacking with the flat-lay approach is the three-dimensional appearance of the item(s) itself.
Lifestyle photos
This is where you show your products in context to demonstrate the product used in the way it’s designed for. Lifestyle shots help tell the story behind your product and illustrate to your customers how they can use them in their daily lives.
They’re also perfect for social media and promotions because they catch the eye and make your products feel more personal to a potential customer.
For a sense of scale, lifestyle shots can help your customers get a better idea of the actual size of a product by comparing it with other everyday items in the shot. This will increase their confidence when purchasing online as they can visualise the product in use.
Detail photos
Best used for products with small intricacies or textures that require a close-up e.g jewellery or embellishments and other small items. Detailed shots help highlight specific product features that a zoomed out of the whole context photo might not capture well enough.
When shooting details, pay attention to quality of light, focus and depth of field (how much of the product is in focus) to ensure the details are showcased to its full potential.
Packaging photos
From browsing your website to making a purchase and receiving their product in the post, customers are looking for a shopping experience from start to finish. You may have a wonderful product, but the presentation and packaging also matters too.
If your products come with beautiful looking, branded packaging, make sure you capture it to give your customers a taste of what to expect as the full experience.
What do you need to focus on focus on first?
Or where are you struggling?
When it comes to lifestyle shots you may find that the photos you customers tag you in on social media could be repurposed (with permission where necessary).
Sometimes all it takes is cropping the image to create the best balanced composition, a tweak to increase the brightness and a little extra saturation to make the colours pop.
Think outside the box and repurpose as many images as you can to help save time and money.
Want to know more?
I bring you Product Photography Like A Pro. A 60 minute training that gives you the insights and techniques to shoot your own high quality product imagery, lifestyle shots and promotional graphics… easily, with no special tools or equipment.
Make sure you are representing your brand and products to their full potential!
Who am I and why can I help you?
I’m Jo Hodson. I've been shooting food and product photography for brands, my blog and my biz for almost 10 years.
I am a blogger, health food business owner and website designer so I have the huge advantage of seeing behind-the-scenes from all angles.
When it comes to photography for your website, products and brand I like to keep things simple, tech free... and a lot of fun!
After this masterclass you'll come away with new ideas, insights and strategies to apply to all your website and social media imagery without needing to understand any special tech or complex camera settings. So, whether you shoot with a phone or a dSLR this masterclass is designed for you!
In the moment... 'silenced by a mantra'
Oh dear.... i've done it again, this time I missed a Sunday. No idea how that actually happened, since I had a photo in mind to post taken during my mini-break over the last few days.
Well, to make it up to you, i give you a double whammy.... a 'silent' and a 'mantra'. Instead of one photo I'd like to share with you a few photos of my trip and in particular my beach run on Saturday morning, not least because the stillness, the wind in my face, the miles of sand between my toes (thank you Vibram fivefingers) and the lack of people made for a stunningly beautiful space.
I also made a mini video- my first go at using the Instagram video tool... it's far from a great video and i was looking rather dishevelled having already run 8k of my 11k run...but it sums up how i felt in those very moments....ALIVE!
Click the photo itself below (taken directly on my phone mid run) to see the video.
Tell me, what brings you alive? I mean truly alive...
Inspired in July
Summer sunshine… trail runs through the fields in the early morning sun… working outside… eating dinner in the garden enjoying the evening warmth.
July has been a feel good month. There is something about the sunshine that soothes the soul, maybe literally massaging away all the stress of life under the warmth of the rays. It's hard to be down when the sun is in the sky and this month has seen the bluest skies so far the year.
That also means this month has seen a lot of coconut water drinking… particularly my banana coconut smoothie. The shorts and strappy tops have made appearance and it's lovely to be able to take a trip out for the day without having to worry about taking a jumper of a raincoat.
Long may the sunshine continue!
Follow me on Instagram to keep up with random daily happenings and inspirations!
My Inspired summary:
- My sisters graduations day...eating berries in the park
- Homegrown blueberries are beautiful
- Recipe testing a paleo breakfast mix for the Real food Source
- More new feet
- Coconut milk powder....new product i'm enjoying in my oatmeal
- Lentil balls for lunch bought from Spitalfields Market
- The magnificence of London Kings Cross station
- green smoothie or coconut banana smoothie...hmmm...both!
- Real foods mostly homegrown- best dinner in the sunshine
- Yes, even more quinoa cookies....!
- Loving my homemade TRX for outdoor workout
- Loving outdoor runs in the early sun
- Lollies!
