Product photography is meant to display qualities and features of the product they represent. These photographs should also make the product appealing to its intended audience, so as to encourage a purchase. For this reason, you should demand high quality product photographs.
What makes a great product photograph
Let’s see what characteristics make for great quality product photographs.
Sharp details
The image should have extremely sharp details of the entire product. This means that there should not be any form of blurring, and the depth of field should be enough to display the entire object sharp, front to back. I must emphasize that the goal of product photographs is to show the product as it were in your client’s hands for inspection.
Luminous
Here I am not referring to just having a white background. It is important that the product shines like on a sunny day. Last thing you need is a grey looking image, which lacks of vitality and is just a turn-off for your potential customers.
Colors are vivid and true
The photograph should show the product in its true colors, so that customers can appreciate different variants, and these should be as true to reality as possible. They should also be vivid, and not look dull.
Blemish free
The image should display the product in its most pristine and perfect conditions, in an environment that is clean. Any manufacturing defect, little dents and scratches, dust or debris, will distract the viewer from the product and ultimately leave the impression of a sloppy product, and a sloppy business. Have your images retouched where necessary.
Right size for the media
Depending on your marketing strategy, you may want to use these images for either printed material or online publication. These require very different image file size, which will affect print quality results. Your product photographer can generate the right assets for the best results.
Lightweight for web
For web publication, loading speed becomes crucial for an enhanced customer experience. This can be achieved by optimizing the file size and compression based on their final destination. Your product photographer can generate the right assets for web for the best results.
Blends naturally on your website
The product photograph should blend on your website naturally. For catalog images, that is achieved as long as the image has a clean pure white background. In other cases, you might desire a different color, or even a transparent background.
Conclusion
Product photography is the cornerstone of e-commerce websites, as well as marketing material meant to introduce a new product. While it may seem like a simple type of photography, there are little details that once added up can really make a huge difference in the product quality perception, and swing the marketing campaign results one way or the other.
Looking for help?
If you need help for your next product photography project, contact us for a free quote.