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The main thing that helps sell a product online is its image: users browse so many different sites a day that they often don’t have time to go into the description. The decision is made by the photo. And that’s not only about actual items but also about online products, like games at Canada casino online, which are mostly chosen by their covers.
That’s what product photos in a marketplace or online store should be, so that the audience buys more often and more.
Help Users Quickly Understand What You’re Selling
The main purpose of photos in a marketplace, social media or online storefront is to help customers make a buying decision faster. So, photos should be good at conveying the features and quality of the product. Follow these basic rules:
- Put one product in one photo. This way it is easier for the customer to understand what is being offered for the indicated price. For example, don’t take a picture of the whole set of dishes if the price is only for a cup. Don’t rely on the description either – it’s not the first thing you look at.
- Demonstrate the size of the items. It’s hard to decide to buy a product when you don’t know what size it is. Ideally, place familiar objects next to the item – dishes, pencils, or simply hold the item in your hands.
- Take pictures from different plans and angles to show the item from different angles. If it’s a box, bag, or other object that has internal content, be sure to show that as well.
Show the Product in Action
If you’re selling bouquets, let them be in a vase or in the hands of a model, for example – and it would be strange to show clothing and accessories in any way other than as a person. Don’t take photos of objects on the ground, asphalt, car hood, stairs, bench or even a green lawn in the park. Such photos may be stylish and artistic, but they will probably cause unpleasant associations for the buyer.
Other objects in photos should be less large and bright than the main one, and also clean and in the same style. Try not to combine more than three textures and colors in a frame, so that users’ attention is not blurred.
In photos where the product is in the hands of the model, frame the hands just above the joint lines, so as not to get a “severed hand effect”. If there should be a person in the frame, make sure that his appearance does not distract the client’s attention from the product. Exceptions are possible if the bright image of the model conceptually supports your products. For example, if it is photos of ethnic backpacks, which is tried on by a girl with colorful dreadlocks.
Follow the Basic Rules of Working with Light and Background
The background on which you shoot your subjects should contrast with the overall tone of the subject, but by no means be brighter than the subject itself. You can photograph against the background of other subjects – as long as they don’t distract from the main subject.
It’s better not to use:
- Shiny backgrounds, such as tile – they are difficult for a beginner to work with.
- Your home interior – walls, cabinets, wallpaper, windows. Usually such photos are replete with unnecessary details and textures.
- A white background can create a feeling of emptiness.
You can use:
- A smooth canvas in a neutral muted shade.
- A light matte wall in a pastel shade with a discreet texture.
- A heterogeneous background with different objects is acceptable, provided they are all less bright than the product itself.
If you have no professional equipment, lightboxes for instance, it’s better to shoot in daylight, because this is the most favorable light that allows you to depict the color of objects accurately. All other options inevitably distort it: fluorescent lamps enhance cold shades (blue and green), and yellow light enhances warm shades (red, orange and yellow itself).
To faithfully convey the proportions of the subject, the item must be at lens level or eye level. Often, photos taken from above seem spectacular to entrepreneurs – but such photos distort proportions and don’t help create an accurate representation of the product.
Try to shoot so that objects in the image are at the same distance from the lens as users typically interact with them. For example, a person’s clothes are best seen from a distance of 2-3 meters, and a small candle or tableware on a table from 30-50 cm.
