Product photography is the photography of goods in order to show and sell them: plain catalogue “packshots,” the images on e-commerce listings, and styled lifestyle shots of a product in use. It is a branch of commercial photography, which Wikipedia notes includes advertising work where “images, such as packshots, are generally done with an advertising agency.” On social media, #ProductPhotography is where photographers and small sellers share setups, before-and-afters and finished shots.
Hashtags to Pair With #ProductPhotography
| Purpose | Hashtags |
|---|---|
| Core | #ProductPhotography, #ProductPhoto, #Packshot |
| Style | #FlatLay, #FlatLayPhotography, #FoodPhotography |
| E-commerce | #EcommercePhotography, #AmazonFBA, #EtsyShop, #ShopifyStore |
| General | #Photography, #PhotographyHashtags |
Pair one or two core tags with the style, the sales channel and the product category (jewellery, skincare, coffee and so on).
Marketplace Image Rules
Marketplace rules shape how most product photos look. For Amazon main images, an Amazon representative on the Seller Forums lists a “Pure white background (RGB 255,255,255)” and says the “Product should fill 85% or more of the frame.” Meeting that standard is the job of the seamless white backdrops, light tents and background-removal edits that fill the hashtag. Check the current Seller Central requirements for your marketplace before shooting, since rules vary by country and change over time.
Techniques
- White-background packshots for main listing images.
- Lifestyle shots that show the product in use or in a setting, usually for secondary images and social posts.
- Flat lays shot from directly above, common for small goods and food.
- Focus stacking for small, detailed products: a technique that, per Wikipedia, “combines multiple images taken at different focus distances” to get more depth of field than one frame allows.
From Camera to CGI
Not every product “photo” is a photograph. The IKEA Catalogue is the best-documented case:
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2006 | A single computer-rendered image of a wooden chair appears in the catalogue |
| 2010 | The first entirely computer-generated room is created for the catalogue |
| 2013 | 12% of imagery for the catalogue, brochures and website is computer-generated |
| 2014 | 75% of product (white-background) images and 35% of non-product images are fully computer-generated |
| 2021 | The 2021 edition is the last; IKEA ends publication of the catalogue |