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Everyone has seen them when browsing for products… photos! Whether you believe it or not, your product photos can make or break your customer’s purchasing power. Here is why you NEED great Orlando product photos in each of your shots.

If the quote, “A picture is worth a thousand words” doesn’t come to mind… maybe we’re not on the same page here. Believe it or not, this was a marketing ploy to get people to purchase more street cars in the early 20s. They also said that it was a Chinese Proverb so, “people would take it more seriously.” (All of this was from Wikipedia so take it for what it is, however, I thought it was interesting!)

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia here.

Anyways, back to now. Back to the Instagram crazy grids, the blogger centric society where they’re killing it both online and as a full-time position. Everywhere you look there are photos all around you. But, if you look closely, all Orlando product photos are not created equal.

How can you help in creating great photos for your Instagram or even your website? Here are our 3 steps to helping you get creative and get on trend.

Step 1: Make sure you have tchotchkes.

Yep. Tchotchkes. These are little trinkets that you use each and every day. Or they’re the things you purchase just for photos. Either one works. The more trinkets and tchotchkes, the better. However, don’t over do it. Here’s an example:

We did a recent collab with Naked Bar Soap Co. and they gave us a bunch of their great products to take photos. We used two of their products and a cute little scooper. Even though there aren’t as many trinkets in here we DID use plants.

Pro Tip: Go outside before you purchase fake plants (like we almost did) and cut. These were just ones we found around our office and we tweaked them so they’d work for our Orlando product photos.

Here’s another example:

We got flowers from our desk decor and added some things we brought from home. This was for a client who sold Etsy downloadable prints.

Step 2: Get Your Backgrounds Right

A background is a KEY element to any Orlando product photo. I’ll tell you a secret… it doesn’t have to be expensive. Our backgrounds range. We have a white table we just dedicate to taking flat lays. No one sits there, it’s literally dubbed “the flat lay table” (unofficially). That’s where we took the photo above.

However, let’s be honest… we want some variety right!? Yes. I did a lot of research and a lot of Pinning and found that Home Depot has wall panels that you can purchase that are different sizes and “backgrounds.” I coaxed my fiancee into taking me and helping me and we found a faux wood, faux brick, and faux beadboard. They came 10 feet tall, so we had Home Depot cut them in half and we now use them as backgrounds and “floors” for our pictures. Here’s how a recent one came out:

This was another collab with a great local company.

Pro Tip: I got this one from In Bloom Florist (If you haven’t heard/ used them, they’re AMAZING!) They have a wedding/ event room that’s all white wash brick and I’m TOTALLY 100% crushing on white washed brick. I wish it was in my car, on my walls everywhere, etc. etc. So they told me that it was paneling (how the above idea was sparked) and they used spackle to make it white. Well, GENIUS if you ask me!

So once again, my fiancee (he’s awesome) helped me spackle the 5 feet or so of the 1/2 faux brick wall paneling. And it came out like above and I love it!

Step 3: Get Your Lighting On Point

When it comes to lighting it’s all about the natural or bright lights. If you can, natural light is (as DJ Khaled says) Major Key. We try to take our photos in the morning or early afternoon so we can take advantage of the sunlight. If you don’t have the luxury of doing this, go to Amazon and purchase some soft boxes. These are our lifesavers for those summer rainy days.

Good Lighting:

Better Lighting:

You’ll need to work with your lighting because a little tweak in your camera or iPhone can make all the difference too for your ideal Orlando product photos. See which settings are best and then test with the same layout to see which settings you like the most.

We recently purchased a camera from Amazon (my jam) and have been using it. It was 100% different than taking a photo from our iPhones, which wasn’t bad at all. We had to find the right settings, test a couple of shots, edit those shots and find the ones that worked the best.

Pro Tip: The camera/ iPhone looks TOTALLY different than what the photo looks like on a computer. Consider transferring them to a computer to see if you like how they come out. This is essential for an online campaign, print campaign, etc. What looks good on the camera doesn’t necessarily look good on the computer.

These are just some of the tricks of the trade we use to make our Orlando product photos come out great each and every time. Take it from us… it takes time! We didn’t come out of the gate having these amazing photos, we’ve been doing them for almost a year and they definitely needed some tweaking!

If you’re interested in having us take some great photos for your website, social media or print, give us a ring. We offer a FREE 30-MINUTE consultation to see how we can help you!

Need help with your marketing? Let’s chat!