6 Things to Know Before Shooting E-Commerce Photography + Tips and Tricks to Get Started on a Budget

Summary

This video from Proper Worldwide offers essential tips for small businesses and artists on elevating their e-commerce photography. Hosts Roxanne Roncal and Mike Leisure guide viewers on achieving consistency in online product presentation, discussing background choices, photo dimensions, product sizing, and file optimization. They share tricks for budget shoots, like using hangers and natural light, and emphasize the importance of pre-planning to avoid rework. The video also touches on editing techniques and suggests resources for setting up Shopify stores, aiming to enhance brand storytelling through strategic visuals.

Takeaways

• 😀 Roxanne Roncal and Mike Leisure are creative professionals who help artists and small businesses build and market their brands online.
• 🎥 The video is aimed at individuals looking to improve their e-commerce photography to avoid redoing work and to sell products more effectively.
• 📸 Consistency in online shops is crucial for a professional appearance, including consistent background colors and lighting.
• 🖼️ Clipping images can remove backgrounds and shadows, creating a uniform look, but care must be taken to avoid amateurish results.
• 📐 The size and dimensions of photos should be determined based on the e-commerce platform's requirements and the product's size.
• 🔍 Utilizing a zoom feature on e-commerce sites can enhance the shopping experience, but requires higher resolution images.
• 📚 Creating templates for product photography can help maintain consistency in the appearance of products on the online store.
• 🔄 File size is important for website speed and should be optimized for fast loading without compromising photo quality.
• 👕 Tips for budget-conscious photographers include shooting clothes on hangers and using different types of hangers for aesthetic appeal.
• 🌿 Shooting products in various environments can add character to an online store, but maintaining consistent exposure and contrast is key.
• 🛠️ Post-production techniques like Photoshop can be used to adjust and align images for a uniform look in an e-commerce setting.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video by Proper Worldwide?

The main focus of the video is to provide tips and guidance on how to effectively shoot ecommerce photography for artists and small businesses to build their brand online.

Who are the presenters in the video and what are their roles?

The presenters are Roxanne Roncal, a creative entrepreneur and digital media marketer, and Mike Leisure, an art director and artist. They help with brand building and storytelling online, and have experience in various areas including fashion and e-commerce.

What is the importance of consistency in ecommerce photography according to the video?

Consistency in ecommerce photography is crucial for a professional-looking site. It helps avoid an amateur appearance and ensures that all products are presented in a uniform manner, which is key for brand recognition and customer trust.

What are some of the factors that contribute to creating consistency in online product photography?

Factors that contribute to consistency include the background color, photo dimensions, product size, and file size. Consistency also involves matching the exposure, contrast, and ensuring that the zoom feature works effectively if required by the e-commerce platform.

Why is the background of the photos important in ecommerce photography?

The background is important because it contributes to the overall aesthetic and consistency of the online shop. A pure white or off-white background helps in creating a clean and professional look, and the use of clipping can remove shadows for a uniform appearance.

What is the significance of photo size and dimensions in ecommerce photography?

Photo size and dimensions are significant as they need to match the requirements of the e-commerce platform being used. Different platforms may have preset sizes or allow custom sizes, which can affect how products are displayed and how customers interact with them.

What is the role of the zoom feature in ecommerce photography?

The zoom feature allows customers to get a closer look at the product details. For example, Shopify requires a minimum of 800x800 pixels for the zoom feature to be enabled, which helps in showcasing the product quality and details effectively.

How can shooting products in different environments affect the consistency of an online shop?

Shooting products in different environments can add variety and personality to the online shop. However, it requires careful management of exposure, contrast, and product size to maintain consistency and ensure that the products still look cohesive.

What are some budget-friendly tips for shooting ecommerce photography mentioned in the video?

Some budget-friendly tips include shooting clothes on hangers, using a lint roller and steamer to prepare the clothes, and utilizing natural light with a lower shutter speed when shooting without professional lighting equipment.

What is the purpose of editing photos in post-production after shooting?

Post-production editing allows for adjustments to size, alignment, and consistency of the photos. It can also involve techniques like rasterizing and stretching to fit the product images into a template, ensuring a uniform look across the online store.

What is the recommendation for those who need help setting up their Shopify store?

The video recommends checking out John X Santos' channel for a playlist of videos that guide users through setting up their Shopify store from scratch.

Outlines

00:00

📸 E-Commerce Photography Essentials

This paragraph introduces the video's focus on e-commerce photography, emphasizing the importance of preparation to avoid redundant work. Roxanne Roncal and Mike Leisure present themselves as experts in digital media and art direction, respectively. They stress the need for consistency in online shops, including uniform background colors and sizes, and discuss the technical aspects of product photography such as clipping images for a clean white background and maintaining product size uniformity. They also touch on the importance of file size for website loading speed and provide a teaser for quick tips and tricks later in the video.

05:01

👕 Creative Budget-Friendly Photography Tips

The second paragraph offers practical advice for shooting clothing on a budget. It suggests using hangers for a clean look and emphasizes the importance of prepping clothes with lint rollers and steamers. The video demonstrates different hanger options and styling techniques for hanging clothes. It also covers editing processes in Photoshop to achieve a consistent look across images, including stretching and blending techniques. Additionally, it explores the idea of shooting in various environments to add aesthetic variety while maintaining consistency in exposure and contrast.

10:03

💍 Enhancing E-Commerce Aesthetics with Environmental Photography

This paragraph delves into the concept of environmental photography for e-commerce, using different locations to create a unique aesthetic for products. It provides an example with rings, discussing how to size and arrange products for optimal visibility. The paragraph also addresses the cost-efficiency of shooting in natural environments compared to a studio setup and the flexibility it offers. It includes a cautionary note about the potential downsides of quick fixes and the importance of planning and considering the overall aesthetic before shooting.

15:04

🛒 Final Thoughts on E-Commerce Photography and Community Engagement

The final paragraph wraps up the video with a call to action for viewers to provide feedback on what type of content they would like to see next, specifically regarding shooting techniques for product flat lays. It encourages viewers to follow the creators on Instagram for more resources and discussions, highlighting the opportunity to be part of their growing community. The paragraph ends with a reminder to like, subscribe, and turn on post notifications for more content on e-commerce photography and brand building.

Keywords

💡E-commerce photography

E-commerce photography refers to the practice of taking pictures for online retail purposes, showcasing products in a way that appeals to potential buyers. In the video's context, it is the primary focus, as the speakers aim to provide tips for shooting effective product photos for online stores. The script mentions the importance of this type of photography for selling products online and how it can be optimized for various e-commerce platforms.

💡Consistency

Consistency in the video script pertains to maintaining a uniform look and feel across all product images in an online store. This includes aspects such as background color, lighting, and image dimensions. The script emphasizes the importance of consistency for a professional appearance, using examples like matching background colors and maintaining the same size for all product photos.

💡Clipping

Clipping in photography is the process of removing the background from an image, often to isolate the subject and place it against a different backdrop or a solid color. The script explains the difference between a photo with its original background and one that has been clipped to a pure white background, which is a common technique in e-commerce to maintain consistency and focus on the product.

💡File size

File size is a critical consideration in e-commerce photography as it affects the loading speed of a website. Smaller file sizes result in faster load times, which is essential for user experience and preventing potential customer loss due to impatience. The script discusses the balance between file size and image quality, and the need to find the 'sweet spot' for optimal online presentation.

💡Product size

The term 'product size' in the script refers to the physical dimensions of the items being photographed. Understanding the size of the products is crucial for setting up the shot and ensuring that the images are representative of the actual items. The script mentions the need to consider product size when creating templates for photographing various products, such as different sizes of candles.

💡Template

A template in the context of the video is a guide or a set of rules that helps in maintaining consistency in product photography. It could include specifications for image dimensions, angles, and other visual elements. The script suggests creating a template that outlines the maximum width or height for product images to ensure uniformity across an online store's inventory.

💡Zoom feature

The zoom feature in e-commerce refers to the ability for customers to enlarge product images for a closer look. The script mentions that certain platforms, like Shopify, require a minimum image resolution, such as 800 by 800 pixels, to enable this feature. This is important for providing a better shopping experience by allowing customers to see product details more clearly.

💡Environment

In the script, 'environment' refers to the setting or background against which a product is photographed. Shooting products in different environments can add aesthetic variety to an online store while still maintaining a consistent look. Examples given include gardens, concrete walls, or wooden walls, which can complement the product's style and brand image.

💡White balance

White balance in photography is the process of adjusting the color tones in an image to ensure that white appears truly white under different lighting conditions. The script mentions setting the white balance when shooting, which is important for achieving consistent color representation across all product photos, regardless of the lighting environment.

💡Instagram

Instagram is a social media platform that is mentioned in the script as a place where the speakers engage with their audience and provide additional resources. The script encourages viewers to follow their Instagram account for discussions, inspiration, and to witness the growth of their brand, which is part of their digital marketing strategy.

Highlights

Introduction to Proper Worldwide and the expertise of Roxanne Roncal and Mike Leisure in brand building and ecommerce photography.

Importance of planning before shooting ecommerce photography to avoid redo and streamline product sales.

The necessity of creating consistency in online shops for a professional look, including background and color temperature.

Techniques for achieving a consistent background in ecommerce photos, such as clipping and using specific settings.

The impact of photo size and dimension on the presentation in online stores and the need to establish a standard.

Consideration of product size variations and the creation of a template for consistency in ecommerce photography.

Requirement for high-resolution images to enable zoom features on ecommerce platforms like Shopify.

Balancing file size and image quality for faster website loading times to enhance customer experience.

Budget-friendly tips for shooting clothes, such as using hangers and steaming to prepare garments for photography.

The use of different hangers to style clothes for photography and the selection process based on aesthetics.

Editing techniques in Photoshop for achieving consistency in ecommerce product images.

Strategies for shooting products in various environments to maintain aesthetic while allowing for flexibility.

The benefits of shooting in natural light or with a lower shutter speed for those without professional lighting.

John X Santos' resources for setting up a Shopify store and the importance of a strong foundation.

Example of Manor's LV ecommerce product photography showcasing consistency in size, angle, and white balance.

Call to action for viewers to request more specific tips on shooting clothes and engaging with Proper Worldwide on Instagram.

Encouragement for viewers to subscribe, turn on post notifications, and support the channel for more ecommerce photography insights.

Transcripts

welcome to proper worldwide where we

give you the proper tools to do what you

do best

my name is roxanne roncal i am a

creative entrepreneur and digital media

marketer

i help artists and small businesses

build their brand on a strategic level

and then tell their stories online

i'm mike leisure i'm an art director and

i'm an artist and in the past i've

worked with men's contemporary

fashion i've worked in streetwear and

even skate brands

and we worked with a lot of different

ecoms from

startup to well-established brands so

we wanted to figure out how to help

people and i know you landed on this

video because you want to shoot your

ecommerce photography you want to get it

done now

but before you shoot put your camera

down

and we have a couple points that we want

to go over that is going to help you to

not do the work twice

i can tell you from experience we've

done this before we have shot an entire

line of clothes

and then realized that didn't work

because we didn't think about a couple

of things beforehand

so to avoid all those get you on the

fastest track to getting your products

sold

but if you really want to shoot and you

don't want to learn anything about this

and potentially do more work there's

also some quick tips and tricks

later on in the video i have a timestamp

there for you to skip forward to that

part but highly recommend watching this

part

it's up to you are you still watching

good anyway

down there and let's get back into it

when it comes to econ photography

it's always very tedious and repetitive

work but it must be done so how do we do

it well

the first thing you want to do is create

consistency in your online shop

for professional looking sites

consistency is one of the most important

things

if i land on your page and i see a top

and then i see something else

and then the background colors are like

the color temperatures off of something

it's going to look a little amateur to

me

and so the first thing is consistency of

your background

is it a pure white is it an off-white

how closely can you get them to all

resemble

and you can do that by clipping um you

can do that by

shooting on a specific background and

always having the same settings but how

you do that is up to you

all right so when i was recording this i

think i went too quickly and i want to

show you the difference between

uh clipping and then having a background

here is a background right so it retains

all the shadows

and the lighting that was shot in it

originally and if we switch over here to

the clip version

you'll see that the background is now

gone it's

on pure white so no shadows and that's

what that looks like

i'd also like to take this time to note

that

if you do clip something you can

actually add in

your own shadow when you come back in

and that

can look pretty bad if you don't do it

correctly but

it looks as good as you want it to look

if you put in the time for it

next is the size of your photo do we

want the dimension to be square

vertical you're going to have to

establish that and i think too a lot of

times you can take cues from wherever

your actual site is

some of them allow you to have your own

sizes and some of them have

preset sizes whether you're on

squarespace big cartel

shopify whatever the case may be take a

look at that before you decide on

whatever you're doing because that can

also change

how you work next is the size of your

product

it sounds dumb but really take a look at

how large

your span is if you're selling just

candles fine but also even within

candles maybe you have a tea candle or

maybe you have a large wax candle

the height of these things is going to

change how you shoot them

and how they fit on your store after

you've figured out the height and width

of all your products and how much they

vary

you should create a template that tells

you the

maximum width or height of each product

and that is going to allow you

to create the consistency that you're

looking for another thing i forgot to

mention

is utilizing a zoom feature within your

ecom store

and depending on the website that you're

at it has different

capabilities or requirements shopify for

instance requires you to have

at least an 800 by 800 for the zoom

feature to be enabled

and then you're going to think about

quality and things like that

as you're you're working on this lastly

as far as

things to consider and creating

consistency

in your online shop is the file size

now file size is really important

because one it will determine how

fast your site loads and we all know

we're

impatient millennials or people in

general really

true and if something takes longer than

a minute or even 30 seconds to load you

will likely

lose a customer i think even faster than

that i think we've gotten so

impatient because sometimes when you're

like you wait for three seconds you're

like

i've been waiting for 30 seconds for

this to load but it was really only

three seconds

so uh things to consider the smaller the

file size the faster loads you know this

but also the lower your file size

the lower quality your uh photo is gonna

be so you're gonna have to find that

sweet spot

you're gonna have to do some testing

you're gonna have to look at best

practices and also

where you're at sometimes uh the base in

which your store is at will also tell

you the best sizes

next we're going to cover some tips and

tricks if you are shooting on a budget

tip number one if you're shooting

clothes you can shoot them hanging

if you don't have a studio to shoot your

flats in or whatever you can take them

and then put them on a hanger find

something cool a wooden one a metal one

not the one that's uh in your closet

that's plastic potentially not even the

wood one that is nicer

because you're gonna want something

really really nice for the camera

but even those ones can do if you know

what you're doing and if it fits the

clothes correctly

all right so this should go without

saying but i'm going to say anyway

make sure you lint roll all your clothes

make sure there's steam so you don't

have to deal with that in post today

we're working with my homies brand

uptown rebel they're based out of las

vegas it's a mass hallucination shirt i

really like this thing

but we're going to go ahead and shoot

that just kind of test it out and see

how it looks

um did you notice we were talking about

hangers i only have a wood hanger but i

have like two different kinds we'll test

how that looks

uh but first let's go ahead and steam

everything and then roll it

obviously if you have an industrial

grade steamer it works

very nice very fast but i got this one

off amazon

it's like a pure steam uh it's a nice

little travel one but it works

gets things done you don't need super

high professional stuff to get this done

but obviously the better your equipment

the easier things are

next i'm gonna take this into the studio

we're gonna get that done

let's go take these photos alright so

like i said

we've got uh two different types of

hangers right

this one i'm kind of annoyed with

because it has this bar here

and so what i'm gonna do is i'm gonna

swap out for this other hanger

and this one doesn't have the bar so i'm

thinking it'll look better but we'll go

ahead and see

oh and then make sure you don't stretch

out the neck like i am right now

great so personally i like this one

better

uh so we're gonna go ahead and go with

this one let's take it to the studio

okay so now we're not in a studio but

we're in a spot i have a white wall i

just set it up with a pen

i'm hanging it right now what's

important

is that you style it correctly you want

everything to drape as nice as possible

i kind of like to have the body of the

shirt a little more in

or out in front of the arms and then i'm

gonna

flatten out the arms here so they're

going to be some natural things that are

occurring

you might want to pull down a little bit

just to

have it look right and then there's

going to be like these natural things

occurring but sometimes that looks cool

you just have to figure out what works

for you

so what we have here is the photo that i

took on the wall earlier

so you see i've already edited a little

bit so i'm going to go ahead and take

this

into photoshop right now as soon as i

get it into here

i'm gonna size it up and then i want

everything to match up to these lines so

these are things that you learn

as you go and uh you'll notice that

there's lines and you wanted to fill out

the whole thing

so there's a lot of different ways you

can do this you can stretch it

you can blend it blend would look

something like this where you use the

mixer brush and just get that all in

there and again this isn't going to get

you the

super crazy consistency but if you're

shooting in the same place with the same

white balance and then you're using the

same

filters as you go in then you should be

good

okay so this is one way of doing it

right the other way

the cheat way of doing this is

rasterizing it

and then you can actually just

stretch it out this is going to stretch

your pixels you do

only have a certain amount before it

starts looking bad so be

very careful when you do this that's

kind of another quick way to do it

and you can see the differences here

but it does change as you can tell in

these areas

next thing you can do is shoot your

products in an environment

that could be in a garden it could be

against a concrete wall it could be

against a wooden wall

whatever the case may be you can choose

something that fits your product

aesthetic and then shoot there and then

what that's going to do

is give you a little bit more wiggle

room in consistency

still you're going to want your exposure

to be about the same your contrast

and the size of your product but now you

can play with it so that your whites

aren't always the same

but that's up to you i have a

friend of mine his name is john and he

runs

a company called humble chains and he

also sells

rings but that's gonna come soon but

just as a test i want to use this to

show you how you can

shoot a bunch of different places and

then

utilize that inside your ecom store and

still make it look good

so just as a test we'll throw in a

couple right now so you see what that

looks like

let's imagine we're selling some single

rings and then we're selling

some bundles of rings that you can buy

together let's start with maybe this one

so we're gonna size this up with rings

things might be a little bit different

so

i'm gonna go ahead and set a new guide

here or

i guess i can move this guy down

[Music]

and i want all the rings to fit pretty

big in here because i want people to see

it right when they go on and i don't

want it to have to be too much of a zoom

situation

okay then we're gonna get these exported

and this is a lot more cost efficient

versus an in

studio shoot because you got to have all

the right lighting you have to have a

studio first of all you have to have an

all-white you know seamless or whatever

color you decided so

shooting an environment really gives you

that flexibility as far as

creating some look to your ecom store

and of course these are tips for lower

budgets

it will not make you look super

professional but if done right it will

look

very good uh but it is a great

quick start for you guys other things to

note as you work with this

you're going to notice that it's on the

hanger so if you're working with shirts

this works out very well it's pretty

easy it's a quick fix

but quick fixes do come with

their own caveats and if you skipped

ahead

then you should definitely hear this but

if you did not skip ahead you'll

remember that i said

you need to think about these things

before you actually shoot because

imagine if you had a hoodie here

and what that would look like and then

what happens if you do pants

so you're gonna think ahead you have to

think about what kind of hangers should

i use

and then really how that all fits

together am i going to have to use a

bunch of different hangers can i find

three to four

wooden hangers that actually fit the

same aesthetic and you again you have a

little bit of leniency there when it

gets to it but just

things to think about before you

actually move in and start doing these

things

the last one is a quick tip for

shooting if you are shooting at home and

you don't have flashes and you don't

have lights

you can either shoot in the sun or if

you're inside and you're shooting up

against a wall or something

use a lower shutter speed and what that

allows you to do is let more light into

the camera and then work it in post

and of course it'll need to be on a

tripod because lower shutter speed

means that it takes more time to take in

all that light

i've already set this up a little bit to

shoot and then what i want to do is make

sure that i'm on

a white balance all right so i just did

a custom

here now the iso i'm gonna set down

really low to like

a hundred but what i was talking about

is

the shutter speed here which will be the

same on almost any camera you use

if i bring it down i can actually get to

a higher exposure um

as you'll notice here i'm at about plus

point three all right so i'm gonna

set it to the two second there and then

when you hit the button it's actually

gonna wait

for two seconds and then take the photo

and that's going to ensure that

it's very still and then the photo is

going to come out looking

the way you want it to look lastly if

you need help setting up your

shopify uh john x santos is a friend of

ours and he has a great playlist of

videos on his channel that you can check

out and he'll show you how to get that

started from the ground up from the

ground up baby

to show you guys an example i have uh

manor's lv which is based out of las

vegas

a good friend of mine kenneth owns the

brand so we're gonna go through his econ

products and show you

how that works for consistency what i

did was i just went through and shot

these on a seamless

and then we lit them up and i'm now

going to

clip them out and put them onto a white

background to

ensure that they're all the same exact

white once that's done

i want to make sure that they are all

about the same size and the angles look

good

especially because when you look at it

here in the overview of all the products

i want them to look

like all the shirts are the same size

and the pants or whatever the case may

be the sweaters are about the same

height

and uh yeah so this looks pretty good

and

we're just gonna go ahead and get that

exported out and make sure the file

sizes are low

cool all right that looks pretty good

all right you guys so that is our quick

run through on

elevating your econ photography if you

want anything more on

actually shooting the clothes themselves

let us know

in the comments below and we can make a

video for you he's got some

really exclusive tips up his sleeve

just from working and shooting a bunch

of product flat lays and things like

that

so if you guys want to know about that

let us know so we don't waste our time

making videos

about things you don't care about you

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