The quality of photos plays a crucial role in online marketing. The attractiveness of the product affects whether a potential customer will make a purchase or refuse it. The management of many companies understands this and invests a significant part of the budget in photo content.
But what about small businesses or those who are just about to open an online store and can't afford to hire photographers? The only way out is to take everything into your own hands. It’s difficult to produce quality content, but this approach will be rewarded with high sales. By bringing individual ideas, you stand out from the competition.
Creating a home studio
Even though professional photographers and marketers deny that high-quality images of goods can be made at home, it's possible. If you are a small business, you have no choice. The main thing is to create conditions that will make your pictures the same in quality with studio photos.
Photo equipment is expensive, but it can be replaced with what you have. For example, daylight from a window gives good lighting. If the goods that you sell are small, you can organize a workplace right on the windowsill. Take a large sheet of paper or a few small ones to make the background.
Use a white sheet as a reflector on the other side to remove shadows and highlight small details. Alternatively or additionally, arrange several lamps with one color of light. Turn off the camera flash.
If you don’t have a professional camera, use a smartphone with good photo lenses. Fixing the device is important to avoid blurring the image. Therefore, it is better to buy a tripod that isn't expensive but will help a lot.
Requirements for catalog photos
To correspond to the “catalog pictures” status, photos of your products must meet several criteria. All attention on the photo should go to the product. It seems obvious, but many newcomers add additional elements to the frame, confusing potential customers. Also, the item must be in focus not blurry.
Take a full picture of the product. Add at least a few of these pictures from different angles so that customers get a common concept. The image should accurately convey the texture and color of the object. Pay attention to the details and features of the item.
Use only plain backgrounds. Black, white, and gray are the best colors. You can use other not bright colors like pastel pink or light blue if it suits the theme of the store.
Show the product in action. For example, if you sell clothing, put it on a model or mannequin. If you are working for a knife catalog, take pictures of how they cut fruits. In some cases, make an instruction.
Post-production
Even though you must show the product on the photo as it is in life, editing is necessary. No, you should not add filters or change characteristics. You need to make the picture juicy and realistic at the same time, which is difficult.
Photographers often use Adobe Lightroom for catalog photo editing. This program costs money and can be difficult for a beginner. If you don’t want to spend time studying and editing hundreds of shots, try Retouch Me app retouchme.com. Images are edited manually by professionals according to your wishes and the result looks excellent.
