So, you think that you’ve taken some great photos of your product.
Who wouldn’t want to buy your products with them looking like that.
You’ve looked at your competitor’s best photos. Worked out how you can improve on those with some great composition and processing.
The lighting was perfect, the colour is great and you’ve got that sort of blur going on in the background.
You’ve posted them onto your website, facebook and Instagram and sent a link to Twitter.
You’ve nailed it!
All you have to do now is wait for the orders to come.
But will they?
You see we live in a world of images and instant gratification.
And the problem is that you can never completely get it right.
Not for everyone, not for your potential customers and not even for you, if you’re honest.
The old saying “you can please some of the people some of the time but you can please all the people all the time” rings true in this case.
The trouble is if you don’t please some of the people then you don’t make sales.
So, you must aim to please as many as you can.
But first things first let’s go back to those great photos and check again;
This is a check list of what to look for in a product image:
1 Composition
How many times have you seen a photo and thought that there is something not quite right?
Usually it’s the composition.
The photos that have moved you will be because of their great composition.
Look and study the photos that you have hanging up in your workplace or home. You choose them because you like them and because they have a strong composition.
By using angles and lines, foreground subjects and colour where they exist, you can create a strong and imaginative composition of a photo.
Have you got the right angle?
If applicable, can you see the label?
Does it show what the product does?
2 Story
Do your images tell a story?
A story could be, as an example, showing how a piece of jewellery is worn or giving a sense of scale.
I recently looked online for some earrings for my wife and I choose the ones that had images of them on a model.
And that’s because I could see the size and the way they look when hanging.
3 What’s in the frame?
Are there unwanted elements in the photo?
What about the product positioning against the background?
We’ve all seen (and taken) those holiday snaps with the leaning tower of Pisa appearing to grow out the subject’s head.
Can you see anything in the background or foreground that might be distracting?
4 Light
Is the light on the product side lit or front lit? Either way is it lighting the part of the product that reflects the ‘best side’.
Have you looked at the image on different monitors, tablets and mobiles?
You will be surprised at how the brightness and contrast vary depending on the medium you are viewing.
5 Clarity
Does the image look crisp and clear?
Blow up the image on the largest screen you have. See if there is any sign of unintended blur.
It may be around the edges of your subject.
Or is it at the front of your subject? e.g. If it were a portrait would the nose be ever so slightly out of focus.
6 Post processing
Does the colour look real or is it over or under saturated?
Has it got the “WOW’ factor?
Nothing wrong with either but it’s what lends itself to the product.
If it doesn’t look real it may not convey the right message.
That’s just for starters! You could go deep in reviewing your images.
Remember that you have to put yourself in your customers shoes. Ask yourself “based on the image and the copy with it would I buy that?”
If you feel you can not answer this without bias then ask someone else to review it and answer that question.
Post links to your images in the comments below if you want some feedback from me or other readers.
Want to keep this article? You can get an accompanying checklist from here or the box below.
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Katin Images Travel Photography 
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