Outdoor product photography is an essential aspect of promoting products for e-commerce businesses. It is a highly effective way to showcase products and enhance their perceived value. Outdoor product photography can be challenging, but with the right tips and techniques, it can be done like a pro. In this blog, we will discuss essential tips for outdoor product photography that can help take your photography skills from amateur to professional. These tips will help you create visually appealing images that can attract customers and increase sales.
Types Of Product Photography:
Types of product photography are essential for e-commerce businesses to showcase their products and enhance their perceived value. Here are some of the different types of product photography:
Simple Studio Product Shots: This type of photography is the most common and straightforward. It involves taking a picture of the product against a plain background.
Lifestyle Photography: This type of photography showcases the product in use, giving the potential customer a sense of how the product will impact their life.
Products in Action: This type of photography shows the product in use, highlighting its features and benefits.
Group Photos of a Product Line: This type of photography shows a group of products together, highlighting the variety of products available.
Product Packaging: This type of photography showcases the product packaging, highlighting its design and features.
Macro Product Photography: This type of photography showcases the product’s details and textures, highlighting its quality and craftsmanship.
Outdoor Product Photography Tips:
Setting Up Background
When it comes to outdoor product photography, setting up the right background is crucial. The background not only keeps the focus on the product but also helps simplify the editing process when it comes time for post-production. There are several affordable options that can be used to create a perfect background for outdoor product photography.
Shooting Table
One option is to use a shooting table or a stand-mounted sweep. A white or light backdrop is recommended as it makes it easier to remove unwanted objects and retouch photos. Alternatively, you can make your own chair-mounted sweep using a roll of white craft paper. This will create a clean transition between the vertical and horizontal planes whenever you position your product on the chair.
For larger products such as furniture, a stand-mounted sweep is recommended. Alternatively, you can use the same method as the chair-mounted sweep by taping white craft paper to the wall.
Light Tent
Building a light tent is another affordable option for creating a backdrop for outdoor product photography. A light tent, also known as a lightbox, is a wireframe box with translucent walls that helps create evenly distributed light around the object in focus.
To make a light tent, you’ll need a plastic storage container placed on its side with the lid off. Cover the bottom and all the other sides with white paper to create a softer glow. f.
Set Up Your Product
When it comes to outdoor product photography, setting up the product can take a few tries to get the angle, lighting, and position just right. Mannequins can be used for clothing and accessories. Hangers or eye-catching flatlay can be used for displaying products at different angles. A friend or team member can be used for modeling clothes or creating fun lifestyle shots.
Lighting
Lighting is one of the most important elements in capturing a quality product photo.
Natural light
Natural light is the best option for outdoor product photography, especially if you’re on a budget. It’s free and produces the most lifelike images that drive sales. Shooting during the day when the sun is at its peak provides optimal light. Natural sunlight windows are ideal for positioning a backdrop and shooting table during an indoor product shoot.
Artificial light
Artificial light is a better option if you have the budget to splurge on studio lights or want to shoot during different times of the day when the sunlight isn’t at its peak. You’ll need at least two softbox light setups, which will help soften shadows. One should serve as your key light, placed in front of your product, and the other should be your fill light, positioned on the opposite side, back, or above your product.
Tripod
Using a tripod is an essential aspect of outdoor product photography. To achieve this, you’ll need to set your camera to a low aperture (a high f/stop) and slow shutter speed.
There are several affordable options for tripods that can be used for outdoor product photography. Heavy tripods give you more stability, reliability, and confidence that it won’t be affected as much by outdoor conditions.
Picking The Right Camera
Choosing the right camera is an essential aspect of outdoor product photography. Adjust your white balance (WB) to the same Kelvin temperature as your studio lights. The aperture should be adjusted according to the photo type. Turn your flash setting to Off, since you’ll have already adjusted for natural or artificial light. Image quality setting should be at its highest when taking photos. Select Raw if the feature is available in your camera, otherwise, opt for the largest JPG format. For faster setup the next time, make sure to document your preferred settings once adjusted.
Click Multiple Pictures
After setting up your product and taking photos from different angles, distances, and positions, it’s time to evaluate your photos. Taking multiple pictures is essential to ensure that you capture the best shot. The tiny screen on your camera probably doesn’t give an accurate depiction of the image.
Evaluating your photos is an essential aspect of outdoor product photography. Viewing different photo types allows customers to evaluate products more effectively. To adequately present every aspect, upload as many pictures as possible. Simple, informative, and lacking distractions, most of these need to feature plain backgrounds with a few dynamic product shots.
Retouch Pictures
Post-production is an essential aspect of outdoor product photography. An average image’s quality can be transformed into pro-level with consistent lighting, positioning, and styling across all products. Retouching enables color correction, object removal, and lighting variations. Adobe Lightroom is a popular choice among photographers for organizing photos and editing them. Photo editing software and applications are used in post-production for product photography. Companies today prioritize photographers’ needs by providing necessary tools and software for adjusting settings.
The Bottom Line
Outdoor product photography is an essential aspect of promoting your business and attracting customers. By following essential tips like setting up the right background, using a tripod, adjusting lighting, and optimizing images, you can create high-quality images that can increase sales. It’s important to find a balance between image quality and page load speed and include metadata and keywords to improve your search ranking. At Hillside Kreative, we understand the importance of outdoor product photography and can help you create visually appealing images that showcase your products and elevate your brand. By following these essential tips, you can take high-quality outdoor product photos that will help your products stand out and attract more customers.
