How To Take Pictures Of Shoes That Can Boost Your Business
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Taking shoe photos that can generate sales is a challenging task for photographers and retailers. Perfect product photography is a myth, especially for products like shoes.
You can’t predict what exactly your consumers want, but you can tick all the checklists of making a product photo perfect.
So if you are looking for some useful creative shoe photography ideas that can boost your business? If yes, then your search ends here.
In the next few minutes, I will talk about how to take pictures of shoes that can generate sales.
If you are a photographer who is trying hard to capture great shoe photos, then you can tune in to this article as well.
How To Photograph Shoes For Sale
Photographing shoes is nothing like photographing other products such as apparel, jewelry, or eCommerce products.
With proper lighting to capture the perfect angles, shoe photography requires attention to detail and photography skills if you want to get good results.
So to perfect each and every shot, you can follow the mentioned points below.
Avoid Distractions
First thing first!!!
Set up a platform for your shoe photography with zero distractions.
As per some of the top eCommerce platforms, product photos with a solid background create more impressions than background with unwanted objects or distractions.
Use solid color backgrounds and surfaces with no patterns. You can use a solid color surface like the backdrop if you want.
If you want your photo to have a solid color for both background and surface, I suggest using a soft lightbox.
You can DIY a lightbox that will reduce your costing for the setup.
If you have the budget, then buy a lightbox to start shooting without any delay. If you go for flat lay photography for your shoes, then don’t keep any object that distracts your photo in the frame.
A clean and crisp frame provides a pleasing experience to the viewers and attracts them to make the purchase.
Use Proper Lighting
The perfect photography lighting can make a huge difference in making your product image a masterpiece. But it requires knowledge about at least photography lighting basics as a photographer.
Use as much light as you can but not overdo it either.
So the margin between proper photography lighting and overdoing it is thin. If you want to get stunning photos of your shoe, you must know where to stop.
Natural lighting is the best for photography, but only natural light can’t give you the result you want for shoe photography. You can shoot your product by following the golden hour lighting. But as most of the shooting will be house proper artificial lighting is a must.
Create a proper photography lighting setup that is not so harsh or not so soft. Check out that every bit of your product gets the light it requires.
One of the most accurate lighting setups for shoe photography is a three-dimensional setup. Where two lights will be on two sides, and the third one will be at the top.
Use Professional Camera
In recent times, smartphone cameras have become powerful because of the latest technology. They can shoot great photos, but the quality of detail isn’t that great. And so, in post-processing, you have less control over the elements of the image.
But in product photography, there will be many issues that you need to fix in the post-processing. So I would suggest you use a professional DSLR camera to take pictures of shoes.
If you have budget problems, then you can go for a mid-range DSLR camera. Only a DSLR camera allows you to capture your shoe photos in the actual RAW format. The raw format keeps the data of all the details intact to edit later in the post-processing.
Shoot In Correct Angels
The angle of the product matters!!!
Always shoot from multiple angles of your product. A shoe has many things to show to its consumer, and if you don’t provide them with the details, they won’t purchase your product. From the inside sole of the shoe to the bottom layer, everything needs to be photographed from every angle.
People also want to see their shoes from every possible angle, and as a retailer, you must give them a 360-degree product viewing experience.
The basic angles in photography that you can’t miss for a product like shoes are head-on, top down, and three-quarters.
Retouch Up In Photoshop
After capturing the photo, it’s time to fix the issues and make it presentable. Getting the perfect shoe image that you can use directly to your online store requires professional image editing.
No matter how meticulously you plan your photoshoot, a little retouch up in photoshop here and there is a must. Product photos are mostly taken on close shots by keeping the detail intact as much as possible.
So if the frame’s product has even a tiny flaw such as spots and dust, it gets highlighted. Only post-processing in photoshop can fix these issues and make your product photos stunning.
Use professional help for your product photo editing because online stores have some image requirements that experts are experienced in editing the photos by following them.
Shoes Photography Ideas To Consider
While photographing, you can consider some of the following shoe photography ideas to make your photography more effective. Photographers skip or miss these small tips and bits. But sometimes, these small things can make massive differences between a good product photo and a great one.
Keep The Setup Consistent
While photographing products, keep the entire setup consistent. Try not to change anything throughout the shooting. The two critical things that you must stay compatible with are the framing and the lighting. As we are talking about shoe photography, we know we have to shoot from different angles. So if the lighting or the framing changes with different angles, the images will come out imperfect. Practice more to get consistency.
Stuff Things To Create Positive Illusion
Use things like tissue or hard plastic bottles to give your shoe depth of field. If you don’t stuff things, then the shoe will look flat and repulsive to the buyers. Dull-looking shoes won’t help you much while you photograph them. To fix the issue, give your shoe a 3D look, stuff plastic bottles and tissues, and place them correctly.
Use Contextual Setup
We all know product photography must have a solid white background to help focus the product and present it more precisely to the customer. But using only white background product photos is not a good idea. You should provide an idea of how your product will behave and look in the real-life world. So use a contextual setup to capture some real-world product photos.
Use Close Up Shots
Take close-up shots of your product as much as possible. Close-up shots let you capture small and amazing details. If you want to sell shoes or photograph them, you must highlight the small details and features. The more detail you provide, the more consumers it will attract.
The Bottom Line
After going through this editorial, you will know how to take pictures of shoes. But when you want to bring perfection, practice is a must. With all the above photography ideas, you can make your future shoe photography effective and make the image more compelling.
You don’t want to leave a wrong impression on your consumers, even if you want to see your shoes in their finest images. Make sure that your images always represent reality.
Emma Rivett
Author
“Emma Rivett is a brand photographer and copywriter who has a strong tendency to prepare, change and teach. Her photographic works were published in Uppercase, Travel + Leisure, Gayot Guide, Paula Deen Cooking, Design Guide, the NHOME Magazine, Urban Home, etc. Helping creative businesspeople create an online brand and PS”
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