Stuck for ideas for your product photos? Try this.
I love this quote by Abraham Lincoln: give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
I’d like to touch on the importance of idea generation and preparing for a shoot in order to make it more efficient, avoid mistakes and save time and energy.
If you don’t know where to start, this step by step workflow will help.
SELECT A PRODUCT
The first obvious step is to decide what are we photographing. Maybe you have a new product, or you are working on an offer or promotion. Perhaps you need to upgrade the look of an existing product. Let’s concentrate on that one item.
ANALISE IT - BRAINSTORM
This step will take only a couple of minutes but you will get so much from it!
What I want you to do is to have a good look at your product and describe it physically (shape, texture, material, colour…).
I call this braindump. Write down absolutely everything that comes to mind. Think in keywords and I’d encourage to embrace your weirdness here. Anything goes! Time yourself if want to. Just a couple of minutes.
Once you have done that, I want you to do the same but this time to describe the emotions and feelings it may bring out for you. How does the texture feel, is there any scent, does it bring memories for you?
For example, if I was taking a photo of a cushion, I will pay attention to how the fabric feels like and I’ll tune into the feeling of comfort; what it means for me. Are the cushions hand made? If so, I may tune into the memories of my grandmother teaching me to sew as a child. Her old hands demonstrating the stitches. How about the colours? What emotions do they bring? Are they bright happy colours or calming pastels?
As you can see there are so many layers we can access beyond the functionality and look of a product which will help you become a better visual storyteller.
I personally love this exercise. I’d recommend you have a little notebook that you use only for this, as you will come back to it in the future when you are looking for new ideas.
MOODBOARD
Now that you have a generous list of keywords describing your product both physically and emotionally, I’d love for you to create a moodboard. Head over to Pinterest and use some of your keywords to see what type of images come up. Is there anything you like? For example I was researching once for handmade baskets and this was part of the moodboard. I saved imaged based on angles I liked, colours, materials, certain props, lighting…
Basket Moodpboard Example
As always, please be aware that inspiration does not mean copy!
GATHERING
By the time you get to this step you will be bursting with ideas about the story you want to tell. So now we need to gather all the elements that we will require for the photoshoot. Apart from the camera essentials, you will need your selected products, any props that you may have identified, location, backdrops if you are doing a flatlay…etc.
Example of prop gathering
Doing this preparation will make your shoot way more efficient, as you have things at the ready if you need to try different approaches and to achieve a variety of images. It also really boosts the creative side with the twist of a very personal approach.
If you decide to hire a photographer, doing this work in advance will make all the difference too. You will both have a better understanding of the feeling you want from your photos and the photographer will be able to access a visual reference through your moodboard.
TIP: Translate this exercise as content for social media. Talk about how your products feel. Why did you create them. What do they mean to you. What inspired you to make them, etc.
I hope you found this information useful. To continue the conversation, please feel free to leave a comment below.
Ana x
PS. Did you know that when you purchase one of my backdrops you get direct access to my Facebook Group, where I offer training and support to help you take better photos of your products?
