So, lockdown has eased and all non-essential retail shops are allowed to open again.
Only we’ve all been shopping throughout the past year and a bit haven’t we? We’ve just been doing it online. And I’ve spent a fair bit of the last year or so shooting e-commerce photos for clients. It’s sometimes known as ‘eBay style’ – basically, a series of angles of a product, showing how it looks overall, some close ups and details, any special features, and so on. All shot against a white background using clean, unfussy lighting. (The white background is actually so that a designer can easily cut the object out in software and drop it into other images; though it’s become part and parcel of the style).
It’s deceptively simple though.
One of the great benefits of actually visiting a shop is that you can see and touch an item that you want to purchase. By picking it up you get a sense of what it’s made of, how well made it is, whether the materials used will break easily, or scratch, or discolour. So the photos I create for e-commerce have to help you to figure such things out. So, you want detail shots, close-ups of features, shots that show the type of material on the handle (so you know it’ll be a good grip), and so on.
So, while the style seems simple and straightforward, there’s actually a lot of thought that goes into the angle, the close up, and so on.
Here are a few examples of the kinds of things I’ve been shooting recently. Not your run-of-the-mill stuff that you’re likely to put in your weekly shop, but more specialised items. They still need the same level of care and attention too, for the same reasons. (Bonus points for anybody who can tell me what the last device is for).
If you have products for sale and want to improve your sales, give me a call to talk about having professional photos taken for your website or shopping channel.
