HOW TO TAKE IMAGES FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES
Let's say you or a friend have started a new business and want to create some nice branded content to post on social media. Or maybe you're aspiring to become an influencer and want to build your portfolio and skills before reaching out to brands.
Whatever the reason may be, here is a quick guide on how to take high-quality images of products for commercial purposes.
STEP 1: THE CONCEPT
Select the item you want to sell.
Brainstorm ideas of concepts to shoot using that item.
Make a plan on how, when, where, what do you need to complete this vision.
STEP 2: THE PRODUCTION
Execute your plan! Take the best camera you can get your hands on and shoot the item(s). The most important thing to think about is that the item is in clear focus.
You can create many different "scenes" changing up the background and props and use these images at a later date when needed.
Edit the image using a photo editor such as Snapseed, Photoshop or Lightroom to make the image look more polished.
STEP 3: THE AFTERMATH
Be sure you brush up on Trademarks and Copyright licensing and make sure you have the permissions necessary to publish, promote and/or profit off of their brand in your image in the case that you are showing visibly recognizable logos.
If you’re using a model, be sure to get a signed release form, even if it is your sister.
If your image is of exceptional quality and contains no logos or branded materials showing, then you can sell it as a stock photo online! It won’t make you a lot of money but it’s always great to have passive income coming in.
TIPS:
NICE LIGHTING - Make sure there is strong lighting as it will definitely make or break the image. In-camera flash tends to look amateurish so try to use natural light or external light sources strategically placed. When in doubt a safe bet is to try to light diagonally (around a 50 degree angle) from the subject as to have some soft shadows to give dimension.
GOOD COMPOSITION - This is the most important as it can make or break the image. First, try to have in mind what the purpose of the image is. Is it for Instagram (vertical-portrait) or a Facebook Cover image (horizontal-landscape) and set your camera up accordingly. Are you going to write a text on it? If so then be sure to leave a lot of empty-negative space.
USE PROPS - Interacting with props will completely elevate the image and make the promotion feel a lot more natural. Make sure that there is nothing in the image that can be a competing item from a different brand.
SPOTLIGHT ITEM - Choose one item to take the spotlight and try to highlight that item. Make sure that item is clean, pressed, and in good conditions as it will be harder to edit out any imperfections later on.
CHANGE IT UP - Change up the angle or the items your photographing, the colors, the fabrics, the models, the location, the arrangement, go up, shoot from a low angle, change anything or everything up to get a nice variety of images to choose from. This is a typical mistake beginners make as they are stuck in their own heads and won't let the shoot flow naturally.
EDIT TO THE BARE MINIMUM - And by this, I mean edit in both senses - select only the best images and enhance the image to make it look its best without over-processing it.
The images below are an example of different images for the same campaign. This was a campaign shoot for the nail color but it can also be used for the roses. The whole photoshoot took around 15 minutes to set up and photograph using items I already had at home. Since it was unplanned, I didn’t iron the sheets which can be a bit of a distraction to some viewers so I added a little vignette to darken the corners and give it a ‘dreamy’ vibe.
