One of the things I like about photography as a profession, is the variety of work you can take on. Some people think that product photography is boring, but I actually love it! I approach the task with a similar attitude to portraiture, and embrace the challenge of trying to represent a “thing” in the best possible way. Like portraits, I want to tell the story of the “thing”. My main goal is to engage the viewer to form a relationship with the object. I try to do this through honest and stylistic representation, whilst also trying to establish context for the viewer.
Selling online requires good product photography
I was approached by David Maguire of Zonjour, a company that specialises in designing and sourcing products for online sales. David needed some photos of their new product, The Jitsoo Personal Blender. The product photos were specifically for marketing the blender on their US Amazon store. Before the shoot we had a couple of informal telephone meetings. We honed in on the specifics of how we could best represent the product and worked out a budget. We also discussed making sure that the work fell within the specific guidelines set out by Amazon. The shoot ended up being fairly informal, only taking 3 hours and using their home as a location. I took my product photography set up and we used their pool and Selina (David’s partner and ex model) for the lifestyle shot.
After the shoot David asked me if I could also put some text on the photos. I was only too happy to do this for a small addition to the original budget discussed. The photos have been received well, and David is already seeing a great return on his investment. Choosing better representation for this new product line has inspired him to do the same for all his new products. We are already working out briefs for two more products launching in the coming months. High quality product photography is essential if you are serious and have a long term commitment to selling on-line.
I hope you enjoyed this post, and of course, I would love to discuss how I can help you improve your online sales with better photography 🙂
Cheers Henry