Are you a photography enthusiast or e-commerce store owner who wants to enhance product images to connect with consumers? Lifestyle product photography is a lifesaver that provides creative stories and gives the audience detailed information about products.
Get ready to plan, capture, and learn how to make your lifestyle product photos that shine in consumers imaginations!
Let’s dive into it!
Lifestyle product photography highlights real-life scenarios and allows people to get an idea about the product usage. Rather than focusing on the product against a plain white background, it aims to create a story around the product. The goal of photography is to focus on a realistic and interactive approach rather than traditional advertising.
In short,
- Build connections with products and people they are using or interacting with.
- Evoke emotions related to the lifestyle product.
- Lighting and composition create a natural and appealing look that builds trust.
- For example, when you sell computer accessories, buyers desire to see which keyboard or mouse pad goes with it.
Lifestyle vs. product photography
Lifestyle product photography vs. product photography – both photography genres’ focusing point is the product, but the photography styling sets them apart.
For example, product photographs showcase online shoppers what they’re buying, providing multiple angles. Afterwards, lifestyle product photography focuses less on product information rather gives consumers details about where and how they use it.
| Key Notes | Lifestyle Product Photography | Product Photography |
|---|---|---|
1. Purpose & focus | Showcase product in use in a real-life context. | Highlight products features, design, and quality. |
2. Setting | Real-life environments like homes, outdoor locations, or other settings. | Controlled environments like studios or indoor. |
3. Composition | Dynamic and designed to tell a story or create a narrative. | Product is displayed in a straightforward and more professional way. |
4. Emotional appeal | Connects with the audience on an emotional level. | Focuses more on the practical aspects and less on emotion. |
5. Uses | Well-suited for home pages and social media platforms. | Better for product listings where customers want a clear product look. |
6. Examples | MOXON London, Paris Laundry, etc. | Apple AirPods, Titan watch, etc. |
Importance of lifestyle product photography
Lifestyle theme-based product photos encourage audiences most that every e-commerce product seller wants. With lifestyle photography, you can show your products in use, give instructions, highlight unique features, and provide a clear message to the target audience.
One study states that product pages with high-quality photos boost 95% more organic traffic. However, 37% of shoppers returned purchase products due to the mismatch. Through lifestyle photos, you can nail it and fulfill consumers’ queries about the product. And this makes you differ from other competitors.
However, here are some of the key benefits of lifestyle product photography:
- Connect with the target market: When you present the product in real-life settings or scenarios, customers connect emotionally with the items. This connection builds trust and loyalty with consumers.
- Helps to communicate the selling point: Businesses can demonstrate their product’s key features, using guides, and more through lifestyle photos. It helps to create strong visual communication by highlighting unique selling points that entice the audience the most.
- Reduce product returns: When a buyer gets clear information about the product, they get confidence to buy it. Lifestyle photos showcase the product’s unique perspectives and share a story around the product.
- Display product in the best form: Imagine a pancake photo with its key ingredients. Isn’t it more appealing and gives an authentic outlook? Lifestyle product photos showcase products in their best form that attract more potential traffic.
- Repurpose shots for other uses: If you want, you can repurpose your artistic and compelling lifestyle shots for social media, digital ads, press releases, and more.
Important Questions to Ask Before Shooting Lifestyle Product Photography
Before capturing product photos, ask yourself several important questions to ensure that the clicks align with your brand’s vision and objectives. Also, questions help you to convey an outstanding product outlook.
Here, we’ve listed five important questions that every lifestyle product photographer should address before pressing the shutter button of a camera.
1. What is the purpose of your lifestyle product photography?
Like other photography genres, lifestyle photography has its unique motive. First, you need to identify the purpose and use of those capturing photos for a successful shoot. For example, ask yourself if you are using those images for a product launch, social media campaign, website landing page, or print catalog. Each context requires a different approach to highlight product features.
Answer: If you want to launch a new skincare product, you can showcase real-life use, demonstrate its effectiveness, and how buyers use it for better results. For example, the TATCHA Beauty Instagram profile (@tatcha) shares real-life experiences, demonstrates effectiveness, and more that connects the target audience.
2. Where do you shoot and what are the best spots to shoot lifestyle products?
Photography location plays an important role in making images more appealing. So, select one that adds a compliment to your product and aligns perfectly with the brand’s identity. Whether you choose indoor or outdoor, pay attention to background, lighting, and ambiance to enhance the products.
Answer: If you want to shoot at home, a clean and bright kitchen is the best place for food product photography. You can shoot skincare products in a modern, well-lit bathroom, or a cozy bedroom. Here, you can get amazing natural morning and evening lights.
3. Which props are needed for lifestyle product photography?
Props are the most amazing and unique things that set the scene and create a context for your product photography. By using the right one, you can portray a compelling story and create a sense of realism. Don’t choose props that steal the actual glow from your main product.
Answer: You can use skincare accessories (sponges, brushes, etc), potted plants, a cozy blanket, or others that highlight your product’s aesthetic look.
4. What message do you want to give your target audience?
Every product image has a purpose that resonates with the target audience. Do you want to create a sense of luxury, relaxation, or adventure? Understand the inner message to guide the audience to the composition and styling of the images.
Answer: For skincare products, the message might communicate a feeling of self-care and rejuvenation. The ambiance of a well-decorated restaurant represents a touch of sophistication.
5. What is the lifestyle product look you want to achieve?
Planning the desired visual style, settings, and aesthetics is important to maintain consistency throughout the photoshoot. That’s why you need to consider color palette, composition, props, and other setups to create cohesive and impactful product images.
Answer: An eye-catching and engaging lifestyle product look should have clean, airy, and natural vibes. For example, soft pastel colors are used to evoke a sense of purity and serenity that complement the skincare products. Clean lines, an uncluttered background, and simplicity highlight a modern and minimalist outlook.
Are you ready to shoot products based on the theme and narrow down a story around it? Let’s kick start by scrolling down top lifestyle product photography ideas from the next section!
Top Lifestyle Product Photography Ideas
Want to shoot your product lifestyle photography like professionals? Try the most hyped and unique lifestyle product photography ideas and convey an amazing story!
1. Product in action/use
The most trendy product photography hack is showcasing products in action or use. This attracts online buyers most because they feel attached and get a realistic product using guidelines. Before applying this idea, you must consider some factors, such as –
- Who is your target audience?
- How do you showcase product uses and other benefits?
- Which type of photography setup suits the selected theme best?
All these questions will help you create outstanding lifestyle product photos. For example, if you want to shoot skincare or beauty products, you can ask models to use those. But when your products are fitness gear or sports equipment, you can shoot a person lifting weights or running on trail photos.
2. Bird's eye view
A bird’s eye view, overhead shot, or flat lay adds aesthetic and visually compelling perspective to lifestyle or tabletop photography. It helps you create a story about the product. You can use dynamic and colorful props. But pay attention to the color palette. For example, you can use flowers or fabric swatches for fashion accessories like handbags, jewelry, shoes, or clothes.
3. Show the ingredients
Are you working with food photography, perfume, or cosmetics? If so, you can incorporate the main ingredients. For example, Starbucks’s strawberry and lemonade drinks amazingly showcase ingredients. Another example is e.l.f cosmetics lip balm, which adds watermelon and mango fruits to inform consumers about its core ingredients.
4. Include 360-view
One of the most popular product photography is 360-degree view. With these shots, you can give the customers a physical store experience because they can explore products from different angles. You must notice Amazon product photography with 360-degree views that increase viewers’ engagement and traffic because of its clear outlook.
5. Take advantage of negative space
Negative space photography is a unique and creative product photography idea that allows you to add a logo, brand name, or ads to the shot. It creates a clean and modern look that draws attention to the product and conveys a sense of simplicity. For example, a pair of hiking boots placed on a rock, open sky, or endless forest background or a creamy coffee mug on a large wooden table.
6. Hire product-appropriate models
Lifestyle photos with models help people to know your product better than plain ones. People get an idea of how to use or apply the product to their daily lives, how they use it, and a clear vision of the product’s different features. However, for apparel photography, a model is a must to highlight the fittings, style, and more.
7. Utilize unusual angles
Apart from regular shooting ideas like motion or fun, you can try unusual or unique-looking scenes with the products. Try to explore unique angles that the human eye rarely experiences and provoke a thought. For example, shoot from underneath the product, in a neon light, or at nighttime.
8. Show scale
Showing scale in lifestyle photography helps online buyers understand the size and other features in real-world contexts. For example, a hand holding a coffee mug, wearing a watch, or applying moisturizer makes the product feel more relatable. Also, you can place the product in a lifestyle context, like a lamp on a bedside table.
9. Use colorful backdrops
As we all know, Amazon refers to a purely white background. But when you work with lifestyle product photography, you can try creative product photography backdrops with different color combinations to convey a vibrant and energetic feel. For example, you can use tropical colors like coral, teal, or lime green backdrop to evoke a sense of fun or vacation for beach accessories.
10. Digital context
Pay attention to your audience’s expectations before adding digital context to your photography. This digital context requires Photoshop or Illustrator software to manipulate photos from different perspectives. For example, show the behind-the-scenes process of the product being made or how it fits.
11. Use color psychology
One of the most important and basic theories to make product photos more appealing is using the rules of color psychology. Electronics like phones, tablets, or desktop shots are captured in a polished background to convey elegance and reliability. For more details, you can check out top brands’ logo designs.
12. Make collage photos
You can highlight multiple aspects of a product by making a collage or a range of products within a single. Arrange products with similar colors like blues or pastels, or use backgrounds that complement the product. For example, to make a summer collage, include sunglasses, travel accessories, beachwear, etc.
13. Create a story
Do you want to evoke an emotion through product photos? Dig a bit deeper and choose props that narrow down a story around the product. For example, to shoot a wine, set up an intimate and elegant dinner set up with candles, wine, or dinnerware. On the other hand, to shoot a sports water bottle, you can choose a location where a model is drinking out of it after a morning run.
14. Use shadows
Shadows help to add depth, drama, and unique artistic touch to your product photos. However, pay attention to the fact that it will not distract consumers from the actual product. Shadows are ideal for fashion accessories, tech gadgets, minimalist home decor, and many more. Also, you can use natural shadows like trees, plants, or architectural elements to add authenticity.
15. Use natural lighting
The last yet most effective photography idea is to incorporate natural lighting. But must shoot products with reflective or see-through surfaces like sunglasses, acrylic organizers, jewelry, etc. Also, avoid shooting in direct sunlight because it may add dark shadows to products. If you want to remove the shadow, use diffusers.
Now that you’ve amazing photography ideas, it’s time to capture compelling ones to boost your e-commerce business. For in-depth details, check out the next section!
Lifestyle Product Photography Tips
Plan lifestyle photoshoot
Who are the potential clients who will use your product? Where and how will you advertise your product launch? Which e-commerce marketplace will you choose to promote your product? Are there any related items you need to highlight?
All these questions are crucial to shooting perfect and e-commerce-friendly product photos. So, before shooting, create a shot list and set up arrangements. The product photography workflow eases your way to document each detail and get the ideal shot.
Choose a location
The perfect location sets the scene and ambiance for your photoshoot. Whether you shoot indoors or outdoors, ensure your setup is clutter-free and well-prepared to focus the product. Also, consider your brand’s goal and story to align with locations. Shortlist multiple locations, such as –
- Outdoor spaces like lakes, beaches, parks, and more.
- A studio, or
- City centers.
Choose the right lighting setup
The tone of the lightning blends with the environment perfectly. So, before incorporating natural or artificial lighting, consider your product first. Natural light is ideal for creating a soothing, authentic, and warm look. On the contrary, a softbox diffuses and reduces harsh shadows and highlights. It’s best to go with the best one that highlights your product’s best outlook.
Collaborate with models
As you know, lifestyle photos work best when a person interacts with products. If you have enough budget, you can invest in models. Otherwise, you can work with family members or friends. But with a professional model, you can easily and more effectively reflect your product’s gorgeous outlook. So, choose one who genuinely connects with the products and creates compelling narratives.
Gather your equipment
Don’t ever think fancy or costly DSLR cameras help to take sale-worthy product photos. Start shooting with modern smartphones with high-quality cameras or invest in a cost-friendly DSLR. However, there are other important equipment, you need to produce eye-catchy visuals, such as –
- A prime lens, zoom lens, etc.
- A tripod,
- Ring lights,
- Diffusers,
- Props, and
- Backdrops (fabric, vinyl paper, cardboard, or others).
Take multiple shots
Lifestyle product photos may often involve capturing candid moments. However, to provide a complete guide and product outlook, you must try different product angles and shoot as many as you can. For example:
- Eye-level shot,
- Aerial shots,
- Low & high-angle,
- Close shots,
- Long shot, and
- Candid shot.
Utilize continuous shooting mode that allows you to select the best moments and expressions. Allow yourself some time to take multiple photos.
Examine your competitors' work
Check out some professional marketing websites to get ideas about engaging lifestyle photoshoots. By doing so, you know your target audience’s preferences and desires. Also, don’t underestimate local companies that mainly focus on local customers and use their best e-commerce lifestyle photography techniques.
Where to find a lifestyle photographer
There are plenty of sources that help you to find a professional and skilled lifestyle product photographer, such as –
- Google: You can search Google for “Lifestyle Photographer near me” or “lifestyle photographer” by adding your location (if you want to work with a local talent).
- Directories: You can also search for professional photographer directories with vetted professionals like “Workbook” and “Wonderful Machine.”
- Organizations: If you want to hire from commercial photographer organizations, you can search from “The American Society of Media Photographers” and “American Photographic Artists.”
- Social media: You can use social media to get lifestyle photographers, such as –
- For Instagram, search hashtags like #lifestylephotographer, #lifestylephotography, or others.
- You can also search through “lifestyle photographer” on Facebook, Twitter, Behance, Pinterest, and other social platforms.
- You can post or share stories with recommendations on your social media platform.
- Photography websites: There are authentic and popular photography websites, like SmugMug, Fiverr, The Knot, and others, which are a hub of professional photographers.
Edit your lifestyle photos
You might indeed snap the best photos on location, though editing is required to showcase eye-catching product features, benefits, uses, and more that give buyers an in-store shopping experience. It’s a true fact that each product shines its own glory and portrays a story that attracts online buyers’ attention instantly.
So, to make your product images shine in the best light, there is no alternative to high-end editing.
Sometimes, you might notice unwanted objects, shadows, or many more that steal the main focus and guide audiences to other points. By doing editing like background removal, photo sharpening, color correction, retouching, and others, you can give products the amazing and glamorous look that they deserve.
For this, you can outsource photo editing services from a reputable company or do it by yourself through Adobe Photoshop software. But photo editing requires skilled hands and experience to meet the finest results.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lifestyle Product Photography
What is considered a lifestyle photo?
Lifestyle photography is a type of portrait photography that indicates candid moments like real-life events and milestones in an artistic way. Its ultimate goal is to showcase the subject’s personality, interests, and lifestyle.
How do you make a lifestyle product picture?
You can use a DSLR or smartphone to take a picture of a lifestyle product. Here are some tips that ease your path to capturing lifestyle product photos:
- Think about the context you want to present in the limelight.
- Consider exotic natural locations that can influence the product’s real look.
- If you want, you can gather props to make a story around it.
- The best time for a lifestyle photoshoot is natural light. You must avoid harsh sunlight.
- Take multiple photos and shoot from different angles and
- Place the product and use a tripod.
What are the characteristics of lifestyle portraits?
Lifestyle product portraits demonstrate different characteristics, including:
- Relaxed and natural,
- Showcase everyday situations in a recognizable location,
- Representing how a product is used or fits into their daily lives,
- Showcase how the product can enhance the user’s lifestyle, and
- Create a connection with the viewer.
How do you do a lifestyle photoshoot?
First, you need to plan your shot list for a lifestyle photoshoot. After that, you can follow several hacks, such as –
- Choose a location,
- Find a model,
- Gather your photoshoot equipment (ring lights, tripods, clip-on lenses, etc.),
- Take multiple photos,
- Pay attention to proper lighting,
- Check your shots, and
- Edit your lifestyle images.
What camera equipment do I need for lifestyle photography?
You need a camera (DSLR or mirrorless), lenses, a tripod, optional lightning equipment, a memory card, a wireless remote, an external hard drive, batteries, and a camera bag for lifestyle photography.
Final Verdict
Lifestyle product photography is the more powerful photography genre that builds connections with consumers and brands. Remember to give priority to consumers before planning your lifestyle shoot. Now, what are you waiting for? Grab your camera and start to create stunning photos for your e-commerce store.
Good luck!
