Style Me Pretty: How to Photograph Products

Hiring a professional photographer and stylist for your next product shoot is of critical importance to the success of your business. Sometimes the images on your website and marketing materials are the only thing a customer sees when making a purchasing decision. Great images equate to improved sales! Following are tips and recommendations on how to setup and conduct an effective product shoot:

Product
Make sure that you have the full line ready to photograph plus a few extra the day of the shoot. Look at magazines and catalogs to capture ideas on how to best photograph your product to elevate your brand and make it stand out in the media.

Props
Think about the look that you’re going for and assemble props accordingly. For example, I borrowed a super cute succulent “purse” from my client Form & Function on South Cedros to enhance the garden table setting featuring my new eco-friendly table linens.

Location
Scout locations prior to booking your photographer. I suggest taking photographs of prospective locations beforehand and emailing them to your photographer to ensure that they will work. And, it’s a good idea to setup a contract between your company and the residence or place of business where you’re shooting to avoid any headaches. Trading product for location use is also a good idea as long as you have it in writing.

Photographer
Veteran photographer Gary Conaughton did an amazing job of shooting a large variety of product in multiple locations during the same day and making it look phenomenal! He stated, “Much of my stuff right now is product which I really enjoy, but I started out shooting architectural.” Gary has worked forSunset, San Diego Home & Garden Lifestyles and San Diego Magazine. He is easy going and a pleasure to work with. Call Gary at 619-497-0075 for more information.

Stylist
I highly recommend fabulous local interior decorator Eileen Cassidy. A long time Leucadia resident, Eileen caters primarily to a North County clientele and specializes in coordinating residential indoor/outdoor design. Her help with arranging and adding just the right accessories to my photo shoot was invaluable. Please visit finishingtouchesdecor.com to learn more.

Post Production
Adobe Photoshop is hands down the post production software of choice. Need to clone out a light cord or shadow? Photoshop has unlimited possibilities to transform a ho-hum shot into picture perfect.