E-commerce product photography: how to prepare your products before the shoot

A good product photo starts before the shoot. When products arrive at the studio clean, complete and with a clear list, the set runs faster, the images are more consistent and post-production can focus on what really matters instead of erasing dust and creases. Here is how to prepare products for an e-commerce shoot, from our forty-plus years of still life photography.

Check and clean every piece

The camera sees everything, especially what you cannot spot with the naked eye: fingerprints on glass, scratches on steel, lint on fabric, glue left over from labels. Before you hand over the products, check them one by one under a strong light. Remove protective films only if they are no longer needed, iron or steam garments and fabrics, and if you have several units of the same item, send us the best one: choosing the best sample costs far less than fixing it in post-production.

Prepare a list of items

A simple table with the code, name, variant and colour of each product avoids confusion on set and at delivery. If you also tell us which views you need, for example front, back, three-quarter and detail, we can plan the shots so every item comes out with a complete series. At the end, the files arrive already named after your codes, ready to upload to your shop.

Decide first where the photos will go

A website, a marketplace and a printed catalogue do not ask for the same images. Some marketplaces require a pure white background for the main photo, social media favours vertical formats, print needs high-resolution files and margins for layout. Knowing this in advance lets us compose the shot with the right space, instead of cropping later and losing quality.

Bring the helpers too

Many products need a little help to look their best. Bags look better with padding that holds their shape; shoes and accessories sometimes need supports; jewellery and watches should be handled with gloves. If you already have an approved colour sample, or a reference product, bring it along: it helps us keep colours faithful, which for online sellers means fewer returns.

Group similar products

When products from the same line are photographed one after another, with the same lighting, the series looks uniform and the work moves faster. If deliveries happen in several batches, try to send product families together: blacks with blacks, metals with metals, packaging with packaging.

What happens in the studio

We start from a brief: you tell us what you sell, to whom and where. We build the lighting on the first product of the series, approve it together and keep it identical for all the others. If you like, you can attend and approve frames on the monitor. Then selection, clean-up, colour correction and digital delivery of the files, in the formats you need. You can see some results in our leather goods and jewellery work.

Have a collection to photograph? Tell us about the project: we will reply with an idea for the set, the timing and a free quote.