Product Photography for Your Pet Business
11/10/2021
At the request of a few of my fellow business owners...I’m sharing a few tips to improve your product photography! Photos are so important for the branding, feel, and identity of your business. You can use well curated photos for your website, postcards, newsletters, ad campaigns, social media, menu, and so much more.
One golden rule to keep in mind… the better your photos... the better your sales. If people cannot touch, smell, or feel... make sure they can see all the angles of your products very well! I’ve listed below a few quick & dirty tips for busy entrepreneurs. I’m not a professional photographer but took a few semesters of photography in college and currently only use my iPhone camera. Although I see a mini photo studio in my future… I’ve always used a corner of my store or business that works well when needed to take some quick snapshots for business.
I’m a huge fan of hiring professional photographers for your business and have done so in the past. Having your business and or large collections of products or lifestyle photos photographed is highly recommended. You can use those shots for all the aforementioned platforms above. For everyday social media posting and quick “behind” the scenes pics... the tips below will help improve your everyday photo game for your business.
- Use as much natural light as possible by getting close to a window. Place your item as close to a window as possible, free of shadows for the best possible light conditions.
- Speaking of lighting... if it’s not bright outside and you don’t have a professional studio set up... take the photo when the lighting is good. Don’t take photos on a grey day or at night in front of the window because no filter exists that can fix your product photo to look as good as it should with good, natural lighting.
- For a closeup detail on my phone... I like using the photo app “SMO” below. It’s free & gives a lot of product detail like the nonpareils above!
- Try to get your branding and or “lifestyle moment” in the shot (when possible) so that your brand is easily recognizable wherever you post.
- Buy a white photography filter online and put it between the light/window and your product. This helps minimize the shadow from the light. It also gives the shot a nice, dreamy glow.
- Edit your photos to take everything out of the shot that doesn’t belong so that the focus is the product (aside from lifestyle photos where the items make the product an instant “lifestyle.”)
- Try to minimize editing time by doing a sanity check and making sure the photography area is clean. This will minimize the need to edit those things out later.
- Take/use several shots of your product. An overall, a closeup, a lifestyle (Example: dog eating cake,) packaging, and as many angles as needed to give your clients a complete picture of your products.
I hope this sets you on your journey to taking better photos! Until next time...
Leel Michelle,
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