When customers shop online, they cannot hold, touch or try your products before purchasing. Your photographs must help them understand exactly what they are buying.
Professional product photography can make your online store appear more polished, explain important product details and give customers greater confidence when making a purchase.
Whether you are preparing for your first e-commerce shoot or updating an existing website, these product photography tips will help you get more from your session.
Create a Product Photography Shot List
Before your shoot, list every product, colour, size and variation that needs to be photographed.
For each product, consider capturing:
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A front view
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A back view
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Side angles
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Close-up details
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Packaging
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Labels
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Important features
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Scale or size references
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The product being held or used
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Styled lifestyle images
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Vertical photographs for social media
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Horizontal images for website banners
A complete shot list will help your photographer plan the session and reduce the chance of an important product or angle being missed.
Prepare Every Product Before the Shoot
Cameras can highlight dust, fingerprints, wrinkles, scratches and damaged packaging that may not be obvious in person.
Before arriving at the studio:
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Clean and polish products
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Steam or iron garments
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Remove loose threads
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Check labels and packaging
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Remove price stickers
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Match lids and accessories
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Charge electronic products
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Bring spare products where possible
Pack delicate items carefully and keep cleaned products separate from products that still need preparation.
It is often quicker to correct a physical issue before taking the photograph than to remove it later during editing.
Maintain Consistency Across Your Online Store
Consistent product photographs can make your website easier to navigate and give your brand a more professional appearance.
Try to keep the following elements consistent:
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Background colour
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Camera angle
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Product position
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Lighting
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Image crop
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Scale
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Editing style
If you are adding new products to an existing website, show your photographer examples of your current images. They can then plan how to create a similar crop and presentation.
You may also choose to refresh the entire collection if your existing photographs no longer represent the quality or style of your brand.
Capture Clean and Styled Images
Clean product images and styled lifestyle photographs perform different jobs, so it is useful to capture both.
Clean images allow customers to see the product clearly. These are generally used on collection pages and individual product listings.
Styled photographs communicate the personality and lifestyle surrounding your brand. They can be used for website banners, social media posts, advertisements, email marketing and product launches.
For example, a beauty brand may photograph a product individually and then capture it with ingredients, textures or bathroom accessories. A fashion business may photograph a garment clearly and then show how it looks when worn and styled.
Show Important Product Details
Ask yourself what questions a customer may have before purchasing your product.
They may want to understand:
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The product’s texture
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Its true colour
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How large it is
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How it opens or closes
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What is included
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How it looks from behind
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How it fits
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The quality of its stitching or finish
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How it is packaged
Close-up images can communicate details that may be difficult to explain in the written product description.
For clothing, include front, back and detail photographs, along with images showing the garment on a model. For homewares or accessories, consider including an image that clearly demonstrates scale.
Use Lighting That Represents the Product Accurately
Lighting affects the appearance of a product’s colour, texture and finish.
Soft, even lighting is often suitable for e-commerce images because it reduces harsh shadows and makes products easy to see. However, reflective, transparent or highly textured products may require a more specialised lighting setup.
Let your photographer know if colour accuracy is especially important. Providing a physical colour reference and checking sample images during the shoot can help avoid inconsistencies.
Customers may view photographs on different screens, so an exact match cannot always be guaranteed. However, consistent professional lighting provides a much better starting point than mixed household lighting.
Plan Images for Your Website Layout
Before the shoot, check the image dimensions recommended by your website platform or designer.
Consider whether you need:
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Square product images
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Portrait images
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Full-width website banners
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Mobile-friendly banners
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Transparent or plain backgrounds
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Images with space for headings
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Category page images
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Thumbnail images
If website text will be placed over an image, tell your photographer whether the text will appear on the left, right or centre. They can position the product and leave suitable negative space.
Capture Video During the Same Session
Short-form video can help customers see how a product moves, functions or looks in real life.
During your product shoot, consider filming:
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Product demonstrations
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Unboxing videos
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Packaging orders
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Close-up details
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Different product angles
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Before-and-after results
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Products being worn or used
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Behind-the-scenes footage
These clips can be used for product pages, Instagram Reels, TikTok, advertising and email campaigns.
Preparing a simple video list before the shoot will help you capture this content while each product setup is already in place.
Organise Files for Easy Uploading
Decide how you would like the finished photographs named and organised.
Clear file names can make uploading products much faster. You might use a structure that includes the product name, colour and angle.
For example:
product-name-black-front.jpg
product-name-black-back.jpg
product-name-black-detail.jpg
Keep clean e-commerce images, lifestyle photographs, website banners and social media content in separate folders. Always retain a full-resolution copy of your final files.
Book a Product Photography Studio in Lilydale
72 Studios offers a dedicated product photography space in Lilydale, within Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
Brands can create clean e-commerce photographs, styled product images, website content and social media videos in one convenient location. The wider studio also includes photography backdrops, styled content rooms, makeup stations and change rooms, allowing you to combine product, model and brand photography within the same session.
Whether you are launching your first product or refreshing an established online store, thoughtful planning will help you create a professional and versatile image library.
Explore the product photography space and book your next e-commerce shoot at 72 Studios.