ecommerce Photography

 

What is ecommerce photography?

If you think ecommerce product photography is simply putting a product on a table, throwing in some props and snapping away, you’re in for a surprise. 

While you can certainly shoot some product images that way, when it comes to getting the perfect shot for online store use, there’s a lot more complexity and skill involved. 

Our 20 years’ experience means we understand the power of crisp, clear visual imaging for ecommerce photography.

 

Why is ecommerce product photography important for my online store?

Product images play a big part in customer’s buying decisions. Did you know visuals influence buying decisions for 93% of customers?

When potential buyers are browsing your ecommerce store, product photography is the closest they can get to the in-store experience. 

Being able to zoom in and examine alternate angles of high quality product images is the digital marketing equivalent of being able to touch items while wandering around a bricks-and-mortar shop.

In ecommerce, the online shop window is crucial, whether you’re selling books, clothes, homewares or hardware. Every ecommerce store needs to create a long-term connection with customers, and high quality images are vital to achieving that goal.

Ecommerce photography is an opportunity for online stores to showcase a product as it actually is, building trust. That means crisp, quality images on a white background, with several angles to display every detail, so potential customers know exactly what they are looking at.

As well as enhancing the customer experience and generating loyalty, it goes without saying that a quality product image can also positively impact conversion rates, sales and brand revenues. 

Ecommerce photography often provides the first impression of a brand to customers visiting an online store. 

It is important that a business speaks to its target audience in a transparent and consistent voice, encouraging them to continue scrolling and browsing and buy their products.

Ecommerce product photography helps showcase and validate a product’s quality, detail and value. It also brings transparency and trust to your ecommerce store, increasing the likelihood that customers will return, enhancing sales.

 

 

Types of ecommerce photography

Brands seeking to showcase their ecommerce products have an array of photographic services to choose from. 

Product Photography

Ecommerce product photography seeks to present a product in the best possible light. 

It is one of the most important factors when it comes to increasing sales on ecommerce sites and social media platforms and building a brand following.

Model Photography

Ecommerce model photography is the ideal way to show customers how clothes will fit the body. 

Model photography can be used to demonstrate your products’ range of sizes and colours, helping represent the lifestyle you are selling to your customers.

It can also help boost engagement among your target audience and enhance or cement your brand’s identity. 

 

 

Independent vs full-service photography studios

While there are lots of independent photo studios out there, not many specialise in product photography.  

Chances are, they don’t have the studio capacity and equipment to handle such projects. Even worse, inexperienced photographers using incorrect camera settings could result in blurry images or conduct a shoot in the wrong light, significantly impacting the image quality. 

It’s also unlikely they will offer access to web-based image production management software, enabling clients to review product images and ensure they are getting the high-quality product photography they want.

That’s not the case with ec2i. 

As a full-service commercial photography studio, we offer a complete range of still-life, model and 360 product photography services. We have the capacity and equipment to handle everything from stripped-back to large-scale projects, across all product types. 

We also provide our clients access to image production management software for sample tracking, monitoring project progress and to review product imagery.

 

 

Our team and equipment

Photography

Our highly experienced photographers manage and adjust all the equipment to guarantee they get the best product photography results on set or in the photo studio. 

That includes ensuring the white balance is checked and adjusted to products so the colours are balanced on the raw photography output.

This ensures a consistent starting point before getting colour matched during the retouching stage. If the white balance stage was skipped on set, greens could look brown when images are published to an ecommerce site, while fluorescent, neon and metallics are especially difficult colours to balance and capture accurately in post-production.

The focal length on a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera is also an important element to adjust, as it will differ depending on the product photography subject. 

A macro lens with a higher focal length is great for taking in more detail, especially for single products on a white background, and helps keep the proportions of a subject in check. 

However, a wide-angle lens with a lower focal length of between 14mm to 35mm is used to enlarge the subject. It’s most commonly used to capture room sets and large-scale objects, such as rugs.

Manual mode gives our photographers the opportunity to refine the settings and make adjustments on the fly, as required. Shutter speed is adjusted depending on whether the subject is a model, product or in specific light conditions.

The end result: we create breathtaking product photography images. 

 

 

Lighting 

Lighting is another key ingredient in the recipe for a successful shoot, moving beyond the pure white background or the use of natural light. 

The choice of light can create a mood, set a tone or even generate an emotional response.   

Our skilled photographers understand the variety of quality effects that can be created from different types of light sources, whether it’s natural window light, diffused or harsh light, or a set illuminated by studio or artificial light.

For small products, such as jewellery or accessories, our team uses light tents to create a 360 degree even spread of light and reduce reflections. 

Stunning product photography is created using this relatively simple system. A camera is positioned in a small hole in the light tent to ensure anything in the surrounding studio doesn’t bounce off and reflect on to the product.

 

Backgrounds

Brands looking for more than the traditional white background for their images rely on our huge variety of colorama backgrounds, 

They come in all colours of the rainbow but we can also source specific shades to fit a client’s particular brief.

White sweep - AKA scoop - may sound like a light term, but in fact it creates an infinity curve on the set: a continuous expanse of floor and wall.

This background is often deployed on styled set ups and enables greater freedom for movement and angles, whether the subject is large or small, propped up products or models moving between poses.

We can also source and install wallpapers or backgrounds for room sets, creative or lifestyle shoots. 

The imaginative and creative opportunities are endless and we will always do our best to exceed every client’s needs. 

 

How are ecommerce product photography services charged?

We understand no business or product photography requirements are the same. That’s why we provide a personalised, competitive quote based upon your brand’s image needs. 

 

Here’s our complete guide to ecommerce photography rates and how they are calculated;

Ecommerce Photography Rates - product rate

Under this method we charge on a per-product basis. ‘By the product’ projects usually have the same product styles briefed with the same shot requirements, and the total number of shots needed is also consistent.

Each product category will have its own per-product rate. For example, in a project for a fashion brand, clothing could be charged at a different rate than accessories, due to different levels of styling involvement and photography requirements.

Images over and above the original brief will be charged at an additional, specified rate. 

Ecommerce photography rates - studio day rate 

If your project includes specialised image requirements and freedom for creative interpretation, or set changes from product to product, it would be a challenge to estimate and provide an accurate quote up front. 

Under these circumstances, we would apply a day rate charge, and there are two options. 

If you have your own team, you can hire just the studio space. Or, you can choose a day rate that includes our photography and key lighting equipment, as well as one photographer and one stylist. 

Depending on your needs, you can hire additional studio team members for an additional cost, such as a hair and make-up artist or a digital assistant. 

To avoid hourly or daily arrangements, we recommend refining your image requirements to the point where we can understand exactly what images you need for each product category. 

That way we are more likely to be able to quote your project by the product or by the image.

Ecommerce Photography Rates - image rate

This is the most common pricing structure and generally preferred by both parties, as it is completely transparent and simple to understand. 

If the brief doesn’t change, the cost will be exactly as quoted, and the client will be charged for each image produced.

Here are several ways you can receive a per-image quote.

1. Categorise the products you need images for

Put them in product categories if you have a complex and varied brief which differs from product to product.

OR

Put them in photography categories by matching up products with the same number of shots and photography brief.

2. Total the number of products you have in each product or photography category

3. Determine the number of images you require for each product or photography category

4. Total the number of images required in each product or photography category by multiplying the number of products in each category by the number of images required for the category

5. Add up all the images required in all the categories. This will give you the total number of images you require for your entire project 

When a client knows all their product or photography categories and the number of images required for each, we can generate an accurate “per image” cost for each category and the total cost for the project. 

What additional charges should you anticipate?

Product preparation

Some products can be removed from their box or packaging and placed on a table for photography with minimal preparation. Others require extensive cleaning or even assembly before being photographed. 

For the most part, basic product prep is built into the price but if extensive prep is required there would be an additional charge.

 

 

Product Styling

Many products require styling before they can be photographed. For example:

Clothing that requires steaming, special folding, and/or pairing with other apparel on a ghost mannequin.

Food products that require special layout on a cutting block or countertop and grouped with other food products. Some can also require special sprays and other methods to make them look as edible as possible.

Products where the packages are reflective, or they have inconsistent shapes. In these cases, the stylist may need to move the contents around within the package to get the right shape.

The contents of the product are removed, and the item is stuffed with more easily manipulative stuffing material. The material used would be specific to the existing structure of the product and whether the product is transparent in any way. The products are styled and shot separately in a light tent or specific reflective environments, before being ‘comped’ together in retouching.

 

Speciality Images

To capture specific perspectives, the photographer may need to change their studio setup or use different or more specialised equipment. 

It takes the photographer time to set up for these images and therefore an additional fee may need to be factored in.

The best example of these charges are close-up shots of specific aspects of your product or ab area on the product that displays an important feature or function that needs to be highlighted.

For close-up shots, the photographer will need to find the desired shadow given by natural light, change the camera settings or camera lens. 

They may add a ring flash to the DSLR camera for a more focused light, which can appear similar to a beam of direct sunlight or organic window light coming through on location/room set.

Alternatively, the studio may have to be blackened to allow the photographer to capture scenic, night-time or candle-lit scenery. 

Depending on the desired result, key light techniques ensure the subject isn’t over-exposed and the intended look and feel of the shoot is achieved.

 

 

Product Layout

If the products are time consuming to lay out on the product photography table - and this time has not been factored into the initial image price - then there may be an additional charge.

For example, if products with many components need to be arranged in a specific way for the image, or if the product needs to be propped up or hung in a particularly unnatural position. 

 

Studio Setup

Some products cannot be photographed effectively unless they are displayed in a setting. Some sets are basic, and some are elaborate. 

Home décor and furnishing products are great examples of products that require sets, such as a kitchen, bedroom, or bathroom. 

Sets can be time-consuming to build and involve prop sourcing which needs to be completed upfront. Photographing sets take much longer than shooting products on a table top. 

Group Images

Some brands have products they want photographed together. For these images the photographer and stylist will need to prepare and style multiple products and lay them out on the product photography table. 

That means photography for group shots can take longer than single shots, as it can involve specific layering techniques and pinning multiple elements, all to create a well-executed and complex composition. 

Lifestyle Images

These photos showcase a product in use or action, and can involve a particularly complex set featuring movement, water, air or steam. 

Lifestyle images may require special set up arrangements and models. It goes without saying that the cost of lifestyle images is completely brief dependent. Important factors to bear in mind are the model(s), set(s), and scene(s) required. 

Why choose ec2i?

We have more than 20 years of photography and business experience that we bring to each image for every project. 

Coupled with our passion for the shooting process, including the client in the editing process as part of our bespoke workflow solutions, we guarantee every business will get amazing shots, on time, on brief and on budget.