How To Find A Product Photographer: Hiring A Pro In Toronto
Unfortunately, a sizable number of eCommerce business owners downplay the importance of knowing how to find a product photographer. The common misconception is that anybody can be a product photographer.
After all, modern photography is pretty simple. These days, it only takes a click to snap a picture. If you have this thought process, it’s time to discard it.
If product photography was that simple, will we marvel at the frozen moments someone else managed to capture? Another question to ask is whether or not shabby images are enough to convince you to buy products online.
Beautiful pictures of your products can go a long way to improving your online sales and growing your business. But getting a competent product photographer to capture perfect images can be tricky. This is the major point we’ll be hashing in this blog.
We’re going to explore how to find a product photographer to capture beautiful images of your products. By the end of this article, you will have a blueprint to help you choose your next product photographer.
Who’s a Product Photographer?
A product photographer is a commercial photographer whose job is to help businesses (like yours) take pictures of their products. With the advent of eCommerce, detailed and brilliant images have become key to the sales process.
The job of a product photographer is to capture the best representation of your products. The better the pictures, the more it will aid your marketing endeavours.
Why do you need a product photographer?
At this point, you may be wondering why you have to dedicate time to learning how to find a product photographer. The answer lies in how crucial product photography can be to an eCommerce business.
Product photography is more than showing off your products. It involves getting the viewers to immediately decide they want your product. The pictures should make the viewers say “I must have that.” Quality product photography in Ontario can make all the difference for an eCommerce business.
What your product looks like online can affect a prospective customer’s purchase decision-making process. In some cases, it has more influence than reviews and product descriptions. In fact, statistics show that 63% of consumers believe that images are more important than a product description.
Most of the time, customers only check reviews of products with excellent images. Good images of your products will ignite the decision to buy your product. If you know how to find a competent product photographer, you’re halfway to making images sell for you.
In the same vein, 22% of product returns happen because customers got a product that looks different from the picture they saw. This often happens when the product photographer is skillful but doesn’t have enough experience.
Or if the image that you used isn’t that of your actual product. Either way, this means you need someone with skills and experience taking on product photography projects in Toronto. Here’s how you can find them.
How to Find a Product Photographer
Finding a good product photographer is quite easy if you know what to look for. will discuss some tips for finding a good product photographer. Once you know what to look for, the rest becomes easy. To start off, you need to know the minimum requirements for a professional product photographer.
Minimum requirements you should look out for in a product photographer
The best product photographers in Toronto can offer the following:
Topnotch photography and editing skills
For anyone to claim to be a professional photographer in the modern world, they must have top-notch photography and photo editing skills. It’s the non-negotiable bare minimum requirement for the job.
Here’s how you can know the skill level of a product photographer. Simply, look out for the following.
- Patience and concentration
- Technical knowledge: Background selection and lighting setup
- Knowledge and ability to use professional picture editing software
- Basic knowledge of light and shadow and how to maximize their use
- Ability to use the various photography equipment
Scrutinize the photographer to learn about their experience and skills in product photography. The more experience the photographer has, the more likely it is that they’ll take excellent pictures of your products.
Organizational skills
Product photography is not something that you do on a whim. It requires planning, preparation and a proper system to go smoothly. It also requires the product photographer to have multitasking skills to set up all of the pieces they will use during the session.
You may want to find out how the photographer plans for every photo shoot and how they take pictures. This part of how to find a product photographer helps you take many product shots in the shortest time possible. This is crucial if the photographer charges per hour rates.
Time is of the essence in every business, especially an eCommerce one. You want a product photographer with the organizational skills to get you the best results in the shortest time.
Communication skills
Every form of relationship or partnership runs on communication. Communication is the lifeblood of business. You can’t work effectively with a product photographer who has poor communication skills.
Pick clues from your first interaction with the product photographers. How fast do they respond? Are they professional with their responses? Do they use technology to simplify their communication routines? How often are you able to contact them? The answers to these questions
Another tip is to try to work with a product photographer near you. This way? you can communicate with them without stress. Work with someone who will give you consistent feedback. This will ensure that you are up to date on the activities going on with the photoshoots.
Ability to handle large scale projects
This is important if you have a lot of products you want to capture within a short time. Make sure you hire a photographer with experience handling major projects. Experience is a huge factor you should consider here. Everybody tends to think they can do the job until they have to do it.
A product photographer with sufficient experience will know if they can handle the project before it begins. This level of planning can help prevent breaks in the shooting process. Then, you will be able to meet up with your schedule. Understanding how to find professional product photographers involve knowing their capabilities.
Flexibility and ability to adapt
More often than not, situations may come up that will disrupt your plans for product photography. An expert product photographer should be able to adapt to new situations and make use of the environment. They must be able to adjust their plans and setups to work with the new situation.
The best photographers can capture extraordinary images out of ordinary views. The best product photographers for your business should be able to offer this level of expertise.
Steps to follow to identify the product photographer for your business
These steps will guide you through the process of finding and hiring product photographers.
- Identify the terms and conditions of your working relationship with the photographer. On what basis will you be hiring the photographer? Is it a full-time permanent basis with a specific work volume? Will it be on an annual contract basis? It’s easy to identify this once you know the amount of work available.
- Go online, and get people to apply for the job. Then, create a shortlist of about 10-20 people you think qualify for the job.
- To identify photographers who qualify for the shortlist, send out requests for proposals to all the applicants. Specify the parameters you need, the volume, size, deadline and every other thing you want.
- Check the submission of all the applicants and narrow down the shortlist to three candidates. Make sure they fit into your budget, schedule and other requirements.
- Show the shortlist to a colleague, partner, associate or any other person that you deal with in your business. Ask for their opinion and advice.
- Send an item to or invite the applicants over for a trial shoot. You may have to pay the individuals for this, but some may do it for free.
- Receive the results of the trial shoot. Compare the images and select whomever’s work impresses you the most from the test.
Conclusion
Now you know how to find a product photographer. The highlight of how to find a product photographer in Toronto can be broken down into two sentences. First, you need to know the minimum requirements a pro proxy photographer should have. Then, follow the steps described above to identify and hire the best photographer for the job.
In truth, hiring a product photographer can be time-intensive. This is why Style Photos offers excellent yet cost-effective product services to business owners across Ontario.
Look through our gallery to see how uniform, clear and beautiful our product images are. Better yet, call+1 647-691-8230 to learn more about how we can take care of your product photography needs!