In the beauty industry, image is everything, quality is the key word that fuels a successful shoot. At Studio Concept we focus on meaning, here are our suggestions for attention-grabbing images of cosmetic products.
Indice
Importance of images in beauty and cosmetics e-commerce
Beauty begets more beauty, this could be the claim behind a “strong” beauty still life. Everything is based on the perception of a few moments, conversion is a game played at first glance.
Selling is a matter of strategy, commercial photography has the role of representing the product in its reality so as to ensure a gain in brand awareness. Who would trust a brand that promises but does not deliver? That’s it, representing reality but doing it in an eye-catching way is the secret of a still life that delivers.
Practical tips for photographing beauty products
Experience is the basis of a quality still life, every trick is a step towards a shot that aims for perfection. Before moving on to the more technical information, the first secret is not to neglect the practical details. Post-production can make excellent what is in itself excellent.
Create the winning composition
White is the best ally when shooting in beauty still life, opting for this colour in the background opens up the most widely used standard in e-commerce. The colour of the borders is essential to achieve a versatile shot, you can play with the shadows of the subject but the white of the borders is fundamental.
Presenting a cosmetics line also means standing out from the crowd, so a composition that attracts attention can also be used. The background can therefore use colourful elements and, why not, even some props. However, consistency with the line is a must.
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Use the right light
The secret of an optimal shot is a short distance from the window, natural lighting is in fact the element that offers adherence to the real colours of the product. The perfect light is that of the central hours of the day, but the choice of the ideal moment depends on the type of effect desired.
A window is not always the viable option, so a diffuser or reflective screen can be used to make the light source uniform and play on reflections. Using several light sources is a great way to soften shadows and achieve a consistent background colour.
Replicating the visual merchandising experience on the Web
Selling cosmetics online is more complicated than one would expect, this is because the customer is looking for a shopping experience that is comparable to that of a physical store. Especially when it comes to beauty products, colour but also texture are essential elements in deciding whether it is the right product.
This is the point of a photograph portraying the physical details of the cosmetic, perhaps uncovering its lid or showing a sample of it in the background. That is why a detailed image works better.
Need to know aperture and ISO
The aperture is an adjustable parameter via the camera’s F-stop, the higher its value, the less light enters the camera; poor lighting therefore requires a lower F-stop. Playing with the aperture setting also allows you to focus on the object, blurring the background.
A low aperture creates a greater depth of field, the expedient being one of the most widely used in still life beauty. A different matter is adjusting the ISO, which controls the sensitivity of the sensor, i.e. how much light the camera captures; this is a more difficult parameter to adjust as it can lead to grainy images.
Post-production: editing make-up product images
A quality shot will save time and work in the editing phase, anyone familiar with Photoshop and the like knows how tedious it is to clean up the image from the imperfections of a speck of dust or an inadvertently left imprint.
For overexposure retouching can do something but does not completely solve it, more simply resolved are the positioning problems especially when the background is neutral. Although a quality cosmetic still life requires the same position for every object, some minor differences can easily be resolved through careful post-production.
Photographs of cosmetic products for your e-commerce with Studio Concept
Quality is the added value in a project that works, starting with the product still life is only the first step of a path that passes through packaging design and set design.
At the end of the day, the point of it all is to convey the perception of quality to the customer. This comes through the style of the shot in a way that is consistent with the concept behind it. Product still life works when it fascinates, that is the key to selling.
