How to receive Clothing Photography For Your Online Store

Consumers are increasingly shopping for clothes online, making high-standard clothing photos more significant than ever. In 2023, 50% of shoppers purchased a clothing item online that they previously would have bought at a brick-and-mortar store, according to a survey from 1WorldSync.

Buying clothes online can be tricky. Without the ability to view and feel a garment in person, customers depend heavily on the images clothing retailers provide. According to a 2023 survey, more than half of shoppers consider brand- or retailer-provided imagery when deciding whether or not to purchase a piece of clothing.

Here’s everything you require to recognize about shooting clothing for your online store, including ordinary product photography styles, equipment needed, and steps for capturing compelling images.

3 clothing photography styles

1. Flat lay
2. Models and mannequins
3. Lifestyle

The days of relying solely on one or two photos of your clothing line against a white background are fading quick. In the history few years, online stores have increased the number and display styles of their product photos to cater to the widest customer base feasible.

Incorporating flat-lay photography, models, backdrops, and lifestyle shots into your workflow can make a fuller context for each piece in your clothing line. Mix in close-up shots and multiple angles within each of these displays and you’ll have a catalog of clothing photos that provides a well-rounded view of each garment.

Here are some of the most popular approaches to clothing photography:

1. Flat lay

Flat-lay clothing photography is a way of presenting your apparel on a flat surface, showing off the colors, textures, and potential styling combinations of your pieces. For example, you can lay a pair of pants, a shirt, a hat, some accessories, and a pair of shoes all in one frame to showcase an entire look without needing a model or mannequin. Try to be intentional with a color palette or theme to make your flat lays really pop.

2. Models and mannequins

In 2023, the number-one rationale customers returned clothing was because they didn’t like the size they purchased, according to Power Reviews. It can be challenging to inform exactly how a product will fit when you can’t try it on, but modeling the garment on an actual human can be a large assist.

If you have the distribution for professional models, try to display a range of heights and body types to provide your customers a better sense of how your clothes will fit their particular body.

If models aren’t in your distribution, mannequins can be quite effective as an alternative. Mannequins can still display the way your garments drape and fit on the human form.

3. Lifestyle

Displaying your clothing in a lifestyle setting is a great way to inspire your customers. Lifestyle product photos are usually shot in natural light, giving a real-globe context to colors, fits, and styling options.

ponder outside the box and receive note of locations in your area that are visually appealing or that complement the color palette of your clothes. For example, if you have a clothing line consisting of earth tones like green, brown, and burnt orange, a lush forest setting or wooded park with similar tones may be a great place to capture your photos.

🌟Resource: What Is Color Psychology? How To Use Color in Marketing

What you require to photograph clothing

• Camera
• Lighting
• Backdrop

You don’t require a warehouse to set up a photo studio; a tiny room or blank wall within your home, office, or store can work just fine. You can make do with a smartphone camera, tripod, natural light, and a white wall. Just be sure you have enough space to position the backdrop, camera, lighting, and clothing.

Camera

If you have a newer smartphone, the camera is likely capable of taking great photos with little to no learning curve. This is a great alternative for taking casual product shots for social media, especially if you do not have the distribution for a DSLR or mirrorless camera.

If you desire more professional-looking images, a DSLR or mirrorless camera can make a globe of difference. Mirrorless options have the newest features and upgrades, but DSLR cameras can be more distribution-amiable.

If you do decide to upgrade your camera, purchase a prime lens (with the camera body or separately). A 50 millimeter lens boasts a great all-around focal length for studio photography. However, you can use fixed lenses anywhere from 50 millimeters to 200 millimeters, depending on the space available and the depth of field you’re after.

🌟Resource: Essential Product Photography Tools for Ecommerce

Lighting

Artificial lighting is the industry standard when shooting in a studio. Use a key light, fill light, and backlight to achieve three-point lighting. This combination of studio lights brighten shadows caused by the draping nature of clothing. The key light is the primary light source facing your product, the fill light illuminates the opposite side of the product, and the backlight goes behind the product.

These different angles of light sources are ideal for clothing photography, as you can shift each light to display off specific details such as stitching and graphics. You can purchase a three-point lighting kit online (complete with light stands), or you can use person studio lights to make your own setup.

Backdrop

Most often white or light gray in color, backdrops are a great way to display off the colors and textures of your clothing line without distracting objects in the background. Depending on the color of your garments, a slightly off-white or gray backdrop may arrive in handy to display off lighter colors that may not have enough contrast when placed on pure white.

You can purchase premade backdrops, but sheets, large rolls of document, or canvas drop cloths also work.

How to photograph clothing for your ecommerce store

1. Prepare your clothing
2. Choose your location
3. Set your camera
4. receive the photos
5. Edit your images

Once you have a few ideas for how you desire to display your clothing line, it’s period to hit the photography studio. Below is a step-by-step navigator for how to way a clothing photography shoot:

1. Prepare your clothing

Clothing is a distinctive product to shoot because you have to be aware of wrinkles, lint, pilling, and loose stitches. Minor details can make or shatter your images, so receive the period to look over each garment closely for imperfections and provide each a once-over with a lint roller.

After you’ve chosen a few pieces, use an iron or clothing steamer to smooth out wrinkles. Hang the pieces on a rack away from your working space until you are ready to shoot your photo.

🌟Resource: How To commence an Online Boutique With No Money

2. Choose your location

Decide when and where your photoshoot will receive place. You can capture lifestyle shots anywhere with natural light, but the period of day and where the sun is relative to your shooting location are two significant factors.

You can achieve warmer colors at golden hour (sunset, or as the sun is setting), and cooler tones at blue hour (dusk, or just after the sun has set). Keep in mind, tall buildings and dense foliage can greatly affect the light available.

3. Set your camera

The main advantage of both DSLR and mirrorless cameras is the built-in manual and aperture-priority modes, giving you packed control of your images. Manual mode will allow you to transformation the aperture, focus, and shutter speed to your exposure needs.

Aperture affects the amount of light passing through to the camera, allowing for brighter or darker photography. It also determines how much of your photo appears in focus from front to back.

Shutter speed is the length of period your camera shutter is open when taking a photo. quick shutter speeds are great for capturing action, while leisurely shutter speeds will display a motion blur.

These are especially significant when your apparel line consists of dim and light colors that will reflect or absorb light differently, or if you require to capture movement.

Aperture priority mode is a semi-automatic setting allowing you to choose your aperture worth while automatically adjusting your shutter speed for accurate exposure. If you are a beginner photographer or simply desire your workflow to be a bit smoother during a photo shoot, aperture priority mode is a great starting point.

If you are using a smartphone, you can modify exposure and focus using the settings within your camera app. Explore the functions available on your specific operating structure to achieve the best lighting and focus feasible.

4. receive the photos

Mount your camera to a tripod to avoid camera shake and set your camera to your preferred mode to commence taking photos. Focus can be achieved manually on your lens, or you can depend on the automatic focus by pressing halfway down on the shutter button before snapping your photo.

receive multiple photos of each piece, changing angles relative to your garment, rotating your garment, and incorporating close-ups. Showing the texture of your fabrics and all sides of each piece will eliminate a lot of guesswork when your customers are ready to purchase.

5. Edit your images

Photo editing primarily entails:

• Background removal when you have unwanted distractions in the image
• Color correction to ensure accurate color representation
• Applying filters for stylistic choices
• Adjusting exposure for even lighting
• Cropping for better framing
• Resizing your images for social media compatibility

🌟Resource: Website Image Size Guidelines

Editing software will ensure your apparel photography shots are ready for distribution. Photoshop and Lightroom are popular paid editing applications among professional photographers and enthusiasts alike, but many free online photo editing apps like Shopify’s Media Editor are more than capable of similarly assisting you in the post-production procedure.