Recognize The Brand
You must comprehend the brand before you can begin to develop or shoot a product. What must the visuals communicate about the brand?
A discussion with the customer and possibly a creative brief should be the first step in figuring this out. A paper that the customer fills out is called a creative brief. It provides answers to queries intended to aid a photographer or designer in understanding the desired outcome.
It might be challenging for customers to articulate their needs. They could use ambiguous adjectives like “bold” and “fun,” which could imply something quite different to you than it does to them.
The probability that you’ll produce something they’ll be delighted with increases with the amount of information you have at the outset.
The following should be addressed in the creative brief:
- Which perception would you prefer?
- Who is your target market?
- Who poses the greatest threat to you?
- What words would you use to characterize your company?
- How will the photos be put to use?
A mood board is another excellent way to learn what the customer is searching for. This is a board that was made using a Pinterest– or mood-board-like app. You can pin examples of photographs that, in terms of color, tone, style, etc., are consistent with the client’s brand.
It’s a terrific communication tool in addition to ensuring that you and the other party are on the same page. The most effective approach to explaining concepts visually is through visuals.
Investigate The Market
You must be aware of the target market for the brand before you shoot. Does it appeal to ladies in their twenties or a diverse group of people in the older age bracket? Is it an expensive item or is it reasonably priced? You’ll be able to deliver the proper message if you know who your audience is.
Businesses lack the resources necessary to communicate a product message to everyone. By defining a target market, they may concentrate on the people who are most likely to buy the product. As a consequence, the highest profit-potential clients are attained.
Remember that the product’s buyer could not be the final consumer. For instance, women often purchase items for males. Since women rather than men are the intended audience in that situation, it has an impact on how the product should be advertised.
Prepare For The Product Shoot
However, while working for a client, you should do as much preparation in advance as you can. Rummaging about and putting items together for picture styling is a fun and creative process that may provide unique results.
This includes planning out the objects you’ll use for product photography, the overall look you want, and other crucial aspects for the shoot.
You must have a compelling narrative to provide about the company or the item.
For your picture shoot, make a list of everything you need to remember. You’ll need the answers to the questions raised in this article in addition to the necessary props. Yes, it is your responsibility as a photographer to be creative, but it is also your responsibility to provide photographs that will successfully communicate particular themes about a business.
This might not always fit with the imaginative concept you have for a given product.
I also advise performing a lighting test before your shot. Here, you decide the type of lighting you’ll employ, its placement, and the appropriate camera settings. Artificial lighting is required for this, especially if the customer will be present throughout the shot.
Avoid adjusting your light source when a customer or creative director is tapping their toes. It could give the impression that you lack experience.
Before every session, I test the lights and make sure that everything is in working condition. It will save you a tonne of time and make you feel and appear more certain before a session.
What Color Scheme is This?
The color scheme has a significant role in the overall aesthetic and in communicating a particular message.
Start with the feeling in general. Are you seeking something breezy and light? Then perhaps a lot of pastels and white will be effective. Or do you wish to make a strong statement? The props may have vivid colors with a grey or light blue background for background.
The customer may already be using a certain color scheme for the whole brand. In this situation, you should stick to those colors or colors that go well with them.
Be Consistent
Each component of your picture must make sense in the context of your tale and function as a whole.
The things that are being shot must all make sense when placed next to one another and match in terms of color, height, form, etc.
For instance, you might use a wooden backdrop and some pine cones, twigs, and leaves as props to photograph a body wash with a woodsy aroma. Together, these components would convey to the client a visual message regarding the product’s smell, which might be a major selling factor.
Purchasing Props For Product Photography
Because they give an object context, product photography props are crucial. They depict the intended use of the object, draw attention to important characteristics, or offer other significant visual statements about the product.
For instance, the picture below shows a bowl of amaranth, which is a key component of infant food for a campaign I photographed. The customer requested photographs showcasing the product as well as images emphasizing some of the key components.
Since it wouldn’t make sense to photograph a single bowl of amaranth, we decided to use some baby toys instead. Particularly when compared to the website’s real product photographs, this provided context.
Olive oil was another component. I employed side backlighting, which is more effective than side lighting, to draw attention to the shine in the oil and the surface roughness of the amaranth. Additionally, it gave the image a bright, airy quality, which was what the client wanted.
Think about the color, shape, and size of your props while selecting them. The props have to be neutral or colored according to the brand. I utilized the colors green and white from the baby food brand in all of my images. As you can see, I opened the book to a page that included a picture of a tree with green leaves.
This kind of attention to detail is necessary for product photography.
Avoid using logo-containing props if possible, or Photoshop the logos out! Keep in mind what you are marketing. Props shouldn’t obscure the items that are for sale.
Consider The Scale
In any form of still life or product photography, scale is crucial. The camera has a propensity to make objects appear considerably bigger. In terms of how big they look next to one another, to the camera, and about the product, scale is the selection of items.
They will dwarf the product and draw the eye, and subsequently the focus, away from it if they are too enormous or appear too big. Any props you utilize should ideally be on the smaller side.
Use A Suitable Backdrop
Just as crucial as the objects in the background you pick. It needs to complement the product and convey the same style and message. A wooden background, for instance, can work well if your product is something handcrafted or rustic.
You might use colored poster board or craft paper, wood panels, marble pieces, cloth, or even wallpaper for making lifestyle photographs.
It’s usually better to use plain backdrops. The idea is anything with a neutral color and maybe some texture. Modern and sleek objects look fantastic against a background with a concrete appearance. For e-commerce photography, a plain white backdrop works well, but for lifestyle photos, white background with some roughness will seem more intriguing.
An assortment of blues, greens, and neutral colors is seen in the image below, which depicts a range of stoneware plates. To add some texture and a hint of the natural world without being overbearing, I photographed the items with a small branch of leaves.
I painted the background I utilized using colors from the items. The tablecloth and the background’s texture both contributed interest without taking away from the meals. The overall somber vibe of the photograph complements the hefty pottery.
Present The Product
Keep in mind that the goal is to highlight the product. Props and other components that go into making an appealing image might be used carelessly. But they should never overshadow the goods and should never be the main subject of the photograph.
There are several methods to display a product. If it is visually pleasing to style your items that way, you may hang them or put your product in various locations, such as the outdoors, for a distinctive viewpoint. You may also display examples of the product in use.
The superfoods product is used by folks in the image below. A potential customer can see how to utilize the goods from the photo. It conveys a sense of health to the observer by being shown next to several fruits and vegetables, which also adds color and interest to the picture.
Compared to a straightforward product photo on a white background, this gives the image more life.
When choosing a venue for the shoot or considering the environment you want to create, consider where your product is utilized the most. For instance, a marble or tile backdrop might link the product and a natural environment for usage, as spa and bath items are utilized in bathrooms.
Also keep in mind that when customers explore the internet, they will examine a detail more closely if it seems novel or intriguing. Make careful to draw attention to any special characteristics in a natural way.
Balance Through Composition
Creating balance while highlighting the goods is the most challenging part of designing product photos. Consider supporting aspects that do not take away from the product itself, such as props and other elements, including color.
Make sure to explain the size of your goods in addition to making sure your props don’t obscure them. The fact that the goods don’t match the picture or are less than expected in quantity is one of the major complaints customers have about internet shopping.
You may place your items in a composition by using certain composing tools. According to the Rule of Thirds, for instance, the human eye is compelled to look in the region that is roughly two-thirds of the way up from the bottom of the image.
Think of the image you are capturing as being divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically. The picture is divided into nine sections: three across and three down.
The grid’s lines intersect at four different locations, as you shall see. The four intersections in the image are where a viewer will naturally focus their attention. Instead of focusing on the image’s center, we frequently start by looking at one of these crossing spots.
The Rule-of-Thirds is supposed to make your shot more appealing and properly balanced. You should arrange your themes or points of interest in these crucial locations to employ this compositional technique effectively.
Rules can be broken, though. None of this implies that you can’t create a picture that functions outside of these constraints. It’s only a rule to assist you in positioning your items or focus of attention in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Place the goods or other crucial components along diagonal lines for another simple compositional idea. A composition may be given life and vitality by using diagonal lines, which is an easy and exciting approach to do so.
To entice the viewer’s eye into the image, diagonals function as leading lines. The viewer can follow this path to get to the subject by following it through the picture. Additionally, diagonal lines can imply perspective and provide depth to the image.
Diagonal lines can be used in a variety of ways. For instance, off-center inside the frame or from top to bottom.
Left to right eye movement is how our eyes naturally scan a picture. The spectator is naturally led through the image by a diagonal line starting in the bottom left and proceeding up and then right. Try setting up your items and accessories in this way.
When constructing your images, you may use compositional overlay tools that you can overlay your image with in post-processing software like Lightroom.
Conclusion
Selling a lifestyle is ultimately what product photography is all about. Your pictures should inspire the consumer to want the goods themselves. You’ve completed your task if you’ve done that.