A picture speaks a thousand words is a well-known saying.
And it’s no secret that great images drive ecommerce traffic and business success. No wonder professional-looking images are so crucial for successful online apparel sales.
But taking awesome photographs of every single item on your catalog may seem intimidating. You may even be wondering, “Can I can pull off quality clothing photography on my own?”
Of course, you can.
You can get perfect clothing shots by following the 7 tips detailed here.
Tip #1: Shoot Camera RAW Files in Addition to JPG and Keep Your Master
Files
A RAW file is the digital image file that’s stored on the memory card of your camera or Smartphone. This file is normally uncompressed and minimally processed.
JPG file (also known as JPEG) is short for Joint Photographic Experts Group. This standard image format contains compressed image data and requires less memory space.
- Capture all the data from the sensor and get the highest level of quality.
- Work with the most pure
- Create new colors of a style at a later date if needed.
- Create different size files for different use cases (business website, social media sites, print, product catalog, etc.)
- Correct over/underexposed images quickly.
- Retain image quality while editing.
- Fine gradation of tones and colors delivers better prints.
- Record 4,096 to 16,384 levels of brightness compared to 256 levels of brightness for JPG.
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Tip #2: Shoot on a Tripod to Eliminate Camera Shake
Tip #3: Use a Fast Lens (Minimum Aperture of 1.4)
Nowadays, the latest fashion trends have become a lifestyle choice. Hence, a high-quality camera and lens are indispensable for fashion clothing photography. An important point to note is it’s better to use a prime lens than a zoom.
Capturing stunning images will help your brand stand out among competitors. You can also increase customer loyalty as shoppers on your store feel as if their shopping experience was specifically personalized for them. Let’s look at some premium lenses that promise value for money.
- The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 is a versatile, universally compatible lens that’s perfect for ecommerce fashion photography. Equipped with an inner focusing system, this lens presents both professionals and hobbyists with a durable all-purpose lens.
- The Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 will help you click steady vibrant photos regardless of the time of day. With this affordable and fast lens, you can capture incredible details of your products.
- The Canon 50mm 1.4 is an inexpensive all-round lens. The ultrasonic autofocus motor of this lens is capable of keeping up with your creativity.
- The affordable Nikon 50mm 1.4 is the perfect lens for a new photographer. This lens provides good, sharp images, and the contrast is exceptional too.
Tip #4: Shoot at the Lowest ISO Possible (ISO 100) to Eliminate Noise
Image noise (graininess) is a common problem for every photographer. It typically occurs when pictures are shot at high ISO settings. These minute dots of color or grain can ruin even perfectly composed images. Although this problem seems unavoidable, you can tackle noise in photos in many ways.
Shooting at low ISO is the most effective strategy. The lower the ISO, the lesser will be the noise and grain in your photos. But what is ISO?
ISO is a camera’s sensitivity to light. A few standard ISO values are 100, 200, 400, and 800. Camera sensors also come with intermediate ISO values, such as ISO 125, ISO 160, etc.
ISO determines the sensitivity of the camera sensor to light. You use ISO in conjunction with aperture and shutter speed to control the exposure of a photograph. These three factors together form the exposure triangle.
When you reduce the ISO value, the sensitivity of the camera sensor also reduces. Each time you double the ISO, the camera will draw in twice as much light for the same exposure. Therefore, a camera will draw in two times as much light at ISO 800 as it does at ISO 400.
The base ISO is a very important setting on your camera. With this setting, you can capture the highest quality image, minimizing the visibility of noise. The base ISO in most modern digital cameras is 100. Unless you are working in low-light conditions, keep the setting at the base ISO. But take care to adjust the shutter speed to a setting that provides proper exposure. Only then you’ll get the highest image quality.
Tip #5: Shoot Against a White Backdrop to Eliminate Color Casts
On your ecommerce store, the product description copy and product reviews play an important role. But when it comes to buying decisions, a shopper relies heavily on your product images. The reason for this is because product images are the only way a shopper gets a feel of what you are selling.
Clothing photography against a white backdrop is the top choice for product-only images on your ecommerce store. For one, product-only photos are clean, as you can see below.
Evidently, the white backdrop makes your products pop. You can also maintain store consistency by choosing one background color. Since white offers the highest continuity, you can easily make products of different colors and styles look stunning.
Another advantage is product photos on a white backdrop are easier to edit. Even if you are a beginner, you can create terrific product photos on white backdrop. That’s not all. You can edit the photos yourself, as a white backdrop makes it a lot simpler.
Yet another advantage of shooting product photos against a white backdrop is you can quickly upgrade from a white backdrop to the color of your choice. You can always add a dash of your favorite color to your product photos if you think white is boring. For instance, you can make the background bright orange or light blue. But regardless of the new color you pick, white would be the best backdrop to start with as it’s easy to edit.
Tip #6: Use Continuous Lighting
Continuous lighting is best for clothing photography because the light stays on all the time. The main advantage of continuous lighting is what you see is what you get. It’s also easy to adjust light positions and output. Years ago, continuous lighting was not favored, as the lights became hot quickly during use. But with the recent technological advancements, this problem has been resolved.
LED lighting has revolutionized the industry. The latest LED lights are constant, flicker-free, and often color-adjustable. They are dimmable as well. Heat generation is minimal and LED bulbs last thousands of hours. So you can rest assured that the lighting unit will last a long time. Let’s look at the top choices in continuous lighting for clothing photography.
Tip #7: Set Up Tethered Shooting
In tethered photography, you connect your camera to your computer, Smartphone, or tablet via a cable or wireless app. After the successful connection of the devices, every new image the camera captures is passed straight to the connected device and saved in a designated folder.
You can also pass the photos straight to photo management software, such as Adobe Lightroom or Capture One Pro. Adobe Lightroom and Capture One Pro support files from all the top camera brands.
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How Does Tethered Clothing Photography Work?
Most tethering programs allow you to tweak camera settings from the connected device, and you can also release the camera shutter button from your device. Also, with Capture One’s Wireless Tethering for Canon, you can take your product photoshoot to the next level without cables to obstruct your work.
In Summary
As you have seen, it’s possible to pull off the clothing photography for your ecommerce store on your own. All you need is the right photography equipment discussed in this post. But even with high-quality do-it-yourself product images, you cannot upload the RAW files due to regulations on image uploading for ecommerce platforms.
Creating realistic, picture-perfect product photos is a different ball game. But don’t worry. We have you covered in this area, and you can outsource all your product photography requirements to Picsera. We offer photo editing services, 3D rendering services, and background removal services. Our expert team specializes in delivering awesome shots with a uniform branding style.
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Picsera was founded in 2014 by David Sinai, a serious ameteur photographer who spent the first 20 years of his career working in the financial technology space. With a track record of building innovative solutions and working with offshore partners, David started Picsera to help photographers work more efficiently by enabling them to outsource their image editing. With very affordable rates and incredibly fast turnaround times, photographers from a variety of industries (eCommerce, real estate, weddings and portrait studios) enjoy larger, more successful businesses while still maintaining more time for their families, friends, and hobbies. Today, David and his team at Picsera assist all kinds of content creators with 3D modeling and rendering and video editing. When David is not working you’ll find him spending time with his family, mountain biking, or capturing landscapes throughout South Florida with either his pro cameras or drone.