Ian
Online
retails banks heavily on quality photographs. It doesn’t take a
genius to tell you that bad photographs/no photographs will result in
no buys. Whether you have your own site or you advertise your wares
on eBay/Amazon/Etsy, you need to work on your product photographs. If
you aren’t good behind the lens, hire a photographer. Photos help in
communicating
visually with your customers. Product
display through the visual medium is a critical component of a
customer’s showroom experience.
It
really does not matter if your products are awesome. If your pictures
are bad, no one is going to buy from you! Explore more and see if
videos are the way to go. Videos aren’t just for rental apartment
advertisements. Videos
work as an
excellent medium of getting your brand into the brains of your
customers.
An
eye for detail
Photograph
such that you capture minor detailing. Capture fasteners, hooks,
buttons, seam, brand tag if your product has any of these. Do not
lift pictures from elsewhere and try to pass them on as your own. Go
for pictures that do not bur out when the customer blows it up to
decent proportions. Details should not lose clarity on a higher pixel
range.
Background Matters
Keep
it simple. Remember that the product is what should catch the
visitor’s attention. The background should ideally be non intrusive
and plain. A plain white background works wonders for small dark
products. Also, have consistency when you choose background.
Invest in a white screen and a black screen, at the very least.
Life
Shots
This
adds value to your product photographs. The viewer gets a good idea
of what the product is going to look like on someone. Get the right
models. You can also get your employees to strike a pose for you. You
could do it yourself! As the very last resort, use mannequins!
Right Light
Lighting
can make or break your photograph. Natural light can be the best
choice for some products. But if the product has a lot of detailing,
other light sources might be necessary. Make sure you choose lighting such that your photo color is as close as possible to product color.
Tools of the trade
There
are several tools that would help you improve your picture exactly
for your purpose of online retail product advertisement. Explore them
and find what you can work with. These tools are especially useful if
you tend to play with product photography yourself. PhotoShop is only
the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of tools and apps available
online to enhance picture quality.
Here is a repository of information on this topic.
Show
what you advertise
If
you say your product has a certain feature, photograph it and display
it. If you mention that the shirt you display has a unique collar,
furnish pictures to back that claim. The customer gets a good idea of
what he’s getting!
Name
your pictures right
No,
it is not professional if your uploaded images are named
wurnfyffkdk284637. Give them meaningful names. This would also help
you with file organization and cataloguing.
Image: Photography Practice.
