Give every product page both kinds: a plain shot on a white or light background, taken the same way for every product, and at least one photograph in use that shows scale and real materials.

Two jobs, one set of photographs

A product page has two jobs. It has to let a shopper compare this item with the others, and it has to let them picture owning it.

A plain photograph on a white background does the first. A photograph of the product in use, in a real place, does the second.

Most small stores lean hard one way. Some have a catalogue of identical cut-outs, accurate and lifeless. Others have lovely scenes in which nothing can be compared with anything.

Each kind does a job the other cannot, which is why the answer is both.

What plain shots do

The fourth is the one shoppers notice without knowing why. A category page of matching tiles reads as a store that takes care; a patchwork of crops and backgrounds reads as a jumble, whatever the products are like.

What photographs in use do

A plain shot cannot show size. On a white background, a footstool and a coffee table can look much the same.

A photograph in use shows scale, with a person sitting, a hand holding or a familiar object beside it. It shows materials in real light, how something opens or folds, and what it looks like where it will actually live.

It answers the questions a shopper would ask in a shop: will it fit, is it comfortable, what is it like up close.

What it cannot do is help a shopper compare, because the light, angle and setting change from one photograph to the next.

Both, in the same order

Use the plain shot as the first image on every product page. It is the one the category page, the cart and most shopping feeds use, so it should look the same across the store.

Follow it with the photographs in use, then the details. Keep that order on every product, so a shopper who has seen one page knows where to look on the next.

One plain shot and one in use is the minimum. Most products earn a second angle and a close-up as well.

Consistency is the whole point

Plain shots only help comparison if nothing but the product changes between them.

Use one background, white or a single light grey, never a mix.

Keep the same lights in the same places, the same camera height, angle and distance, and the same crop, usually square, with the same margin around the product.

Set the camera so white looks white rather than blue or yellow, and check the colour against the product itself.

Write the setup down. Tape marks on the floor for the tripod and the product make the next session match this one.

A worked example

A two-person workshop on the Sunshine Coast builds cedar outdoor furniture: Adirondack chairs, benches, loveseats and planters, sold online and shipped around the province.

Every piece had been photographed on the owners' own deck, at whatever time of day it happened to be finished.

The photographs were attractive and impossible to compare. The same cedar looked honey-coloured in one and nearly red in another, and the bench, shot close and low, looked larger than the loveseat.

The category page was a patchwork of crops, and customers emailed the same questions: how big is it, will two adults fit, what colour is it really.

During a quiet week at the end of the summer, every piece was photographed again in the workshop against a roll of white paper, from the same height and angle, in the same light, cropped square.

The deck photographs stayed, now second on each page, joined by a new one of a person sitting in each chair. Dimensions went into the text beside the photographs, and the setup was written down for the next design.

Photographs in use that tell the truth

Show the product the customer will actually receive, in the colour and size on the page. A photograph of the large size on a page selling the small one creates a return.

Say when something in the picture is not included: the cushions, the lamp, the plants. Avoid wide lenses close up, which make things look larger than they are.

Photographs of real customers using the product, with their permission, are often the most persuasive of all, because the shopper can tell they were not staged.

Scale in words as well

Photographs suggest size, and text confirms it. Put the dimensions beside the photographs, not on a separate tab: width, depth and height, and anything else that decides fit, such as seat height or weight.

Add a plain comparison where it helps: seats two adults, fits a standard balcony.

Describe each photograph in its alternative text for people using screen readers. The plain shot needs the product, the view and the finish; the photograph in use needs what is happening in it.

Photographing a range in batches

Consistency breaks down over time. New products are photographed months later, by somebody else, in different light, and the category page drifts back into a patchwork.

Photograph in planned sessions, twice a year or whenever a batch of new products arrives, using the written setup. Keep the backdrop and the lights together rather than borrowed for other jobs.

And keep file sizes in check. Photographs in use are often the heaviest images on the page, and they need compressing like any other.

The counter-case

Unique pieces, such as vintage furniture or art, have less need for comparison, though a plain view still shows the condition honestly.

A store with a handful of products and a strong sense of place may lead with the photographs in use, as long as a plain view sits on every page.

For most stores, one consistent plain shot and at least one honest photograph in use on every product page is the arrangement that serves shoppers best.

Before the next shoot

  1. Choose one background for every plain shot.
  2. Fix the angle and distance with tape marks.
  3. Photograph every product in the same session.
  4. Add at least one photograph in use.
  5. Include a person or familiar object for scale.
  6. Put dimensions in the text beside the photographs.
  7. Write the setup down for next time.

Step seven is the one that keeps the store consistent. The first session is usually careful; it is the products added six months later, photographed from memory, that turn a tidy category page back into a patchwork.

Helping shoppers find the product before they ever see its photographs is covered in search inside a small store.

Frequently asked questions

Why use white background product photos?

Because they let shoppers compare products under the same light and angle, show true colour, and keep category pages and cart thumbnails tidy and consistent.

What do photographs in use add?

Scale, materials in real light, and how the product works or looks where it will live. They answer the questions a shopper would ask in a shop.

Which photograph should come first?

The plain shot. It is the image used on the category page, in the cart and in shopping ads, so it should look the same across the store.

How do I keep product photos consistent?

Use one background, the same lights, camera height, angle, distance and square crop for every product, and write the setup down so later sessions match.

Should dimensions go in the text?

Yes, beside the photographs rather than on another tab. Photographs suggest size and text confirms it: width, depth, height, and anything else that decides fit.

Can props appear in photographs in use?

Yes, but say what is not included, such as cushions or plants, and avoid close wide-angle shots that make the product look larger than it is.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Category page a patchwork of photographs?

Send us the store address. We will suggest a photography setup that keeps every product consistent.

Start a Conversation