Product Photography: It's in the Details!

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When it comes to product photography for online store fronts and e-commerce businesses it can very easily become all about the details. We know the main goal (other then making money) for an online store is to provide the shopper with an experience similar to one they can achieve in a physical store. And the most powerful way to do that is with your photography. You want to make that product feel as real as possible for the shopper and before you know it, they'll be buying it! But how do you go about creating product photography that makes the online shopping experience as "real" as possible you might ask? The Details!

It's all in the details! When putting together an online store, most businesses feel they only need one photograph of their product, a photograph that shows the item overall and what will show up at the shoppers doorstep. But when your shopping at a physical store, do you just look at that awesome looking cell phone without picking it up?! Or is your first instinct to grab it and check out all it's cool features and details? I would be willing to bet the more options you have to examine the details of the item the more likely you are to buy it. Whether your actually holding the item in a store or just checking out detailed pictures online, the more informed you are about the product the more comfortable you'll become with the idea of purchasing the item.

So how do you go about presenting the product details online? Well there are really 3 options.

1: Allow your shoppers to zoom in on the image of your product. This is something that involves a little more involvement on the development side of your online store. Not all store fronts have the ability to zoom in on a products picture in great detail in order to see the details of the product. But if your site does allow you to do so, you'll still need multiple shots of your product. After all it is a 3 dimensional item and has more to it then just a "Front." So lets say you sell Iphones. We all know Apple pays tremendous attention to the design and details of its products, so the ideal gallery for your store would show possibly the 4 different sides of the phone and then allow for the shopper to zoom in on the "Details."

2:Photograph the details. If your store front doesn't allow for the shopper to zoom in on the product picture, your best bet is to have your photographer photograph the details individually. You may be spending a little more for your photography, but you'll be providing a priceless comfort for the shopper. So, typically you'll have anywhere from 3 to 8 photos of your product. One overall shot of the front and back, and then your detail photos. The actually number of detailed photos will naturally depend upon the product, but its a valuable opportunity for generating sales.

3: 360 degree photography. This is a much newer technology and therefore much more expensive. It's slowly becoming more and more popular and as time goes by will become more cost effective, but for now it's an option that you'll only want to consider if you can afford too! 360 degree photography involves the photographer basically taking several hundred photos of your product and then putting them together in an interactive environment for your shopper. The resulting product is an interactive image that allows the shopper to navigate the picture angle around the product. Again, very effective but very costly option.

So, remember, it's all about the Details. You want to create an online shopping experience as comfortable as possible for your shoppers. A shopping environment that is as real as possible. The easiest and most effective way to do so is to give your shoppers the details. Allow them to "hold" and see the details of the product they are about to buy from you. The more informed your shoppers are the more likely they are to buy your products.

It's in the DETAILS!

Happy Selling From Products on White.

We recently had to photograph some Iphone cases for an online store called x-doria. Notice how the client asked us to photography this angle twice, once for an overall view of the Iphone case and then another closer image to show the detail of the case and how it fits the phone.

apple iphone apple Iphone product photo

OVERALL SHOT DETAILED SHOT

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Tags: product photography web design website development

Feb 04, 2012
Paul Zimmerman

Comments 4

Mine

Mar 04, 2012

One shot, One Kill is a good theory/philosophy to work with. I aylaws tell people we have to get it right the first time because we won’t get a chance to do it again. (We also probably won’t get another job/assignment from that client, either.) I agree with the idea that you should do the best photograph you can and not rely on photoshop to make something not good into something better, but I do believe that Photoshop is a very valuable creative tool to add to your bag of tricks as a photographer. Don’t get me wrong, by all means as a photographer we all must do the best we can when shooting, but not to shy away from using all of the tools at your disposal just remember to use the right tool for the job.
Chioma

Mar 04, 2012

Hello,I completely agree that cipalng is so much important in terms of SEO. We should put first H1 then H2 and then H3 tag. Not like First H2 or H3 and then H1. GoogleBot reads content as per Google’s guidelines and it can only crawl your website when things are proper in place. Like Header text, Alt tag and some other optimization is also important as per Google’s point of view.
Fares

Mar 03, 2012

One shot, One Kill is a good theory/philosophy to work with. I lwaays tell people we have to get it right the first time because we won’t get a chance to do it again. (We also probably won’t get another job/assignment from that client, either.)I agree with the idea that you should do the best photograph you can and not rely on photoshop to make something not good into something better, but I do believe that Photoshop is a very valuable creative tool to add to your bag of tricks as a photographer. Don’t get me wrong, by all means as a photographer we all must do the best we can when shooting, but not to shy away from using all of the tools at your disposal just remember to use the right tool for the job.
Thor

Feb 04, 2012

Great article about product shots. You’re right about the multiple angles – I can see the case clearly. The shots look great.