If you want to showcase your store’s products in the best light, you will need to take professional-looking photographs that highlight their features and make them look appealing.
In fact, once you know how to stage and take photos like a pro, you can capture amazing images using a variety of random items in your retail store.
Set the Stage
There is no need to hire a professional marketing team when you already have everything you need in your retail store to set the stage and take fantastic pictures. For instance, you can create a gorgeous-looking stage for any small product by simply grabbing a random mug and piece of material.
Simply cover the upside-down mug with the piece of cloth to create a raised stage for your product. But make sure you carefully consider the colour of the cloth. You will want a colour that either matches or contrasts your product well.
You could also choose a colour that suits your store’s branding. With the mug and cloth in situ, surround it with other items from your store to make your image look more interesting.
For example, you could place a chocolate Easter egg on the mug podium and surround it with other chocolates and ornaments of eggs and chicks.
Take several photographs so that you can choose the best one for your promotional purposes. If you take several great shots, you could even create a photobook with an online software like Mixbook from some of the more popular photos.
Get the Lighting Right
You do not have to be a lighting or photography expert to use lighting to enhance your product photos. Indeed, you could even simply use lamps that you have in-store to spotlight the products. By dimming overhead lighting and using one or more lamps to cast light upon your stage, you can instantly make your product photos look more appealing and professional.
Just make sure you try taking photos with different angles of lighting to see what works best. You will want to avoid backlighting the stage, as that can cause your product to look like a silhouette.
Showcase Several Products at Once
If you are creating photos for general promotional use for your store rather than for advertising specific products, you can take photographs that capture multiple products.
Just make sure you do so in an inventive and aesthetic way, otherwise, you could create visual overload. For example, you could grab random products from your store and build them into a pyramid shape.
Be Inventive with Paired Products
You could also have fun pairing products that would not typically go together. For instance, if you sell teddy bears, clothing, and stationary, you could dress up a teddy bear in the clothing you sell and stage a scene in which the bear is sitting at a desk and using paper and pens.
The more striking or fun you make your stage, the more interesting imagery you can create. In turn, your product photos are sure to engage people more and make them smile.
Get the Composition Right
Staging stunning photos is also about getting the composition right. Professional photographers and artists use techniques like the golden ratio and the rule of thirds to create compositions that draw the eye in.
So, learn a little about composition techniques before you begin snapping or use your camera’s in-built composition tools.
Edit Your Photos
Lastly, creating stunning photos often comes down to the editing process. With photo editing software, you can completely transform an image from being an okay or good image into something truly amazing.
For instance, you could increase the vibrancy of the colours, use a background removal tool, sharpen the focus, use a spot blemish tool, or crop your photos.
