A customer browsing your product online or in a catalogue can't pick it up, turn it around or look at it closely. The photo does all of that for them. Good product photography shows the product in the right colour, at the right scale and with a quality that builds trust; a poor photo makes even a good product look ordinary. This guide covers what to watch for, from choosing a backdrop to delivering the files.
White background or lifestyle shot?
Product photography has two main types of shot, and you usually need both. White or plain-background shots show the product without distraction; they are the backbone of product listings on online stores, marketplaces and catalogues. When all your products are shot on the same background, with the same light and angle, your pages look tidy and professional.
Lifestyle shots show the product where it is used: a coffee machine in a morning kitchen, a skincare product on a bathroom counter, a dog lead in the park. These images help customers picture the product in their own lives; they work well on social media, in campaigns or on your home page. In pet products, shots with a cat or dog are very effective, but working with animals takes patience and a flexible schedule. When planning the shoot, decide early which type each product needs.
Light: the real raw material of a photo
In product photography, light determines the result, not the camera. An expensive camera in poor light often falls short of an ordinary camera in good light. For most products, soft, diffused light is the safest start; a softbox, a diffuser or indirect daylight from a large window softens harsh shadows. A white reflector on the opposite side lifts the surfaces in shadow.
Common lighting mistakes include:
- Mixed light sources: Combining daylight with ceiling lights shifts colours. Stick to one type of light.
- Ignoring shiny surfaces: Metal, glass and glossy plastic reflect everything around them. Large, soft light sources, a light tent or a polarising filter make these products easier to shoot.
- Not setting white balance: Fixing white balance with a grey card at the start keeps the product's colour true to life.
- Skipping the tripod: A steady camera improves sharpness and keeps the same framing from product to product.
Angle set: standard shots for every product
One of the biggest time-savers in product photography is defining an angle set for each product group. It lets customers see the product from every side, and it keeps visuals consistent even when the photographer changes or new products are added. A typical angle set might include:
- Front view and three-quarter view
- Side and back views
- Top view (especially for flat products and sets)
- Close-ups of texture, material and key parts
- The product with its packaging
- An in-use shot, or the product in a hand or a setting
Turning the angle set into a written shot list makes product photography more than a one-off job and lets you repeat the same standard for new products.
Scale and detail: show what customers can't ask
On screen, every product appears the same size. Customers can only tell whether they are looking at a ring or a coffee table from visual clues. Showing the product in a hand, on a model or next to an object of known size is the easiest way to convey scale. Don't forget to list the dimensions in the product description too; when photo and text complement each other, no questions remain.
Detail shots answer the questions on customers' minds: the texture of a fabric, the neatness of the stitching, the surface finish of a part, the connection points of a machine. Showing the consistency of a cream, or the zip and filling of a pet bed, builds trust and reduces the chance of returns.
Small products and industrial products
Small products
With small items such as jewellery, cosmetics, electronic accessories or spare parts, every speck of dust and fingerprint shows. Clean the product before the shoot and handle it with gloves. A macro lens captures fine detail; when the whole product must be sharp, focus stacking, which merges frames shot at different focus points, does the job.
Large and industrial products
Machinery, furniture, moulds or production equipment often can't be moved to a studio. In that case, industrial product photography takes place on site at your facility. Tidying the area, clearing background clutter and cleaning the equipment beforehand makes a big difference. Shots of the machine running and images with an operator beside it convey both scale and trust. Following workplace safety rules and having a responsible employee on set should also be part of the plan.
Restaurants and cafés need a different approach for dishes and interiors; for that, see our venue and food photography page.
Marketplace rules, retouching and file delivery
Marketplace and platform rules
Each marketplace has its own rules on image size, background colour, how much of the frame the product fills, and the use of logos and text, and these rules change over time. Before the shoot, check the current seller guidelines of the platforms you sell on and plan your framing accordingly. Images that don't follow platform rules may be rejected or pushed down in listings. Your own website has no such limits, so you can be freer there; for the other steps on the site side, see our online store guide.
Retouching
In product photography, retouching is done to show the product at its best, not to make it look like something it isn't. Removing dust and scratches, cleaning up the background and adjusting colour and exposure are reasonable. Changing a product's colour, shape or flaws in a misleading way leads to unhappy customers and returns.
File delivery
Photos are used in many places, so agree on the delivery format from the start. For web and social media you need files in the sRGB colour profile, optimised so they don't slow your pages down; for print you need high-resolution files, usually suitable for 300 dpi. Ask for the raw files to be archived too, so you can work on a different crop or edit later without reshooting. Naming files by product code and angle makes them easy to find among hundreds of images. We explain how print images are used in our catalogue design guide.
Final check before the shoot
Product photography that delivers starts with decisions made before the shoot day. Go through this list before you meet the photographer:
- Which products will be shot on a white background, and which in a lifestyle setting?
- Has an angle set been defined for each product group?
- Are the products clean, with labels straight and complete?
- Are the samples, accessories and props needed for the product photography ready?
- Have the current image rules of your sales platforms been checked?
- Have file formats, sizes and naming been agreed?
Take a look at the product and industrial photography work we do in the studio or at your facility, and if you would like to put together a shoot plan for your products, get in touch with us.