We are a little too proud to use ChatGPT to write our blogs, but we did ask them how they would define “E-commerce photography”.
Here’s what the AI said:
“E-commerce photography would refer to the specific, clear, and unambiguous photographic representation of products used in e-commerce settings. This type of photography aims to provide potential customers with a precise depiction of the product's appearance, features, and quality, leaving little room for interpretation or confusion.”
That is a lovely, sterile, very ChatGPT description. It also includes important information, like providing a ‘precise depiction’ of the product. This is important in every type of e-commerce photography - fashion, beauty, CPG, etc.
When a customer clicks on a product on your website, they should see an accurate depiction of what they will receive after purchase. This is particularly important as it relates to clothing, rugs, furniture, and other things that could be returned if the product photography doesn’t match the product.
Ways To Avoid Blundering E-Commerce Photography
1. Shoot all of your e-commerce photography in the studio.
The problem with natural light photography is that while it is beautiful, it is constantly changing. The color temperature coming through a window at sunrise is dramatically different than the light coming through in the afternoon. And if you’re trying to avoid nightmares in post-production editing, it is wise to be consistent.
2. Use simple lighting setups that are scalable and repeatable.
It makes sense that you want a simple lighting setup for your images. The main reason is, if you have to switch studios or want to eventually add additional SKUS to your storefront, you’ll want the images to look like they belong to the same shoot.
3. Document the production “settings”.
Make a note of the position of your tripod, the camera settings (f-stop, focal length, ISO, etc.), the distance from the lens to the product, and the output/color temperature of each light being used.
To be honest, straight-up white background e-commerce photography can be tedious work. While the plain images on white are a requirement for most e-commerce storefront platforms, they aren’t the ones that move the needle in terms of conversions.
Our Method
When we provide our clients with an e-commerce photography session at our studio in San Diego, we always include some upgrades. Given that we have been featured by Shopify and Meta Business for our success at increasing our client’s sales and conversion rates, we know that our strategy is effective.
Ways To Spice Up Your E-Commerce Photography
Experiment with harsh shadows
You can still keep an accurate depiction of your product while making it trendy and engaging. If Glossier is doing it, you should too. Keep in mind, that these hard shadows can always be removed in Photoshop quickly.
Go beyond the white backdrop
After you’ve got your safety shots, experiment with color. We recommend monochromatic or color-blocked sets to help your products stand out in the crowd. This also lets you tell your brand story a little more effectively in an e-commerce environment.
We love hands-in-frame
The impact of adding hands in the frame for e-commerce photography is astounding. It brings life to the shot and creates more engagement with your customers.
Spill the beans
We are starting to stray away from true “e-commerce photography” but deconstructing your products and featuring key ingredients whenever possible communicates the quality and experience your customers will have. If you don’t have “ingredients” we recommend showing use cases.
Simple use-case images go a long way
If you’re selling a sleeping supplement but can’t figure out a way to showcase a key ingredient we recommend throwing in a cosy blanket, a pillow, or even a sleeping mask to help create a context that brings the imagery to life. In a perfect world, you'd have talent with your product in an environment where it would be useful.
How We Approach E-Commerce Photoshoots
We work with a lot of clients who sell on their websites as well as a major e-commerce platform like Shopify and Amazon. For that reason, we focus on more than just the white backdrop basics. We want to tell a story, compel an audience, and help you sell your products.
Our e-commerce photoshoots break down like this:
White backdrop photography.
We make sure to get these with and without hard shadows. And we shoot up to 3 angles per SKU to get coverage.
Styled tabletop photography.
This is where we bring in some color, ingredients, props, and unique lighting setups to make the content quality exceptionally high.
In-situ/lifestyle/use-case photography.
Bringing talent and some environments into the equation only helps increase engagement and conversions. It makes your brand a real thing that people can see themselves using.
15-30s product videos.
We would be heartbroken if we did all the work to set a client up for a shoot and didn’t deliver a fully edited, brand-specific video to showcase their products. We include all the unique selling points with brand-specific text overlays to help tell the story.
Infographics.
Adding text callouts and additional information to simple images helps relay key information like product dimensions, assembling instructions, and much more.
Our Packages
To learn more about our E-commerce photography packages, check out our services page.
If you want to see our work in the wild, read our case study on client Grace Homewares, highlighting how we helped them build out a beautiful and robust Amazon storefront -
Interested in seeing how we can help your brand grow? Send us an email or schedule a 15-minute discovery call.