How To Hire A Product Photographer

15 February, 2021

You might wonder what preferable methods exist to answer the question of how to hire a product photographer. Many other business owners listing their products on e-commerce platforms also worry about the same thing.

The world has evolved into an e-commerce dominant one. You can now buy goods online with a few clicks. Since there's no way to physically examine the items, all you have is the way you display your product.

Buyers decide to buy based on the quality of what they see. This makes product photography highly important to your online sales. Without the excellent product photographer for your needs, you won't get a satisfactory result. In this article, we discuss how to hire a product photographer. But before that, let's go deeper into why.

Why You Need Product Photography

All of the fuss about how to hire a product photographer is a function of grabbing the attention of a potential customer. After all, this is the best way to get a customer on board.

You do not share a relationship with a random online buyer. There have to be certain things that will draw them to your goods. More importantly, you need to achieve this within a few minutes, as human beings have a short attention span.

With effective product photography, you can capture a person's interest quickly. Product photography involves the process of taking pictures of your items and producing them in excellent quality.

These pictures will show your potential buyers what your products look like. This kind of image representation goes a long way in determining whether someone will purchase an item or not.

Product photography builds your brand

An important thing you get from product photography is that it builds your brand. When you engage in product photography, you can create a niche for yourself with the quality of images that you put up for your products.

You can also brand the images to reflect the values of your business. Doing this gradually registers your brand with certain identities in the minds of your target audience.

Consistency with quality product photography can set you up as a professional, diverse, highly-valued business. It also solidifies your business' presence in the online market.

Excellent Silent Communication

Communication through the use of a few words is an effective form of communication. But a few words may not suffice to describe a product accurately. As such, the best way to go about this is through the use of images. Product photography speaks louder than writing long descriptions.

You can use images to depict certain descriptions more effectively. This includes talking about the sizes and colours available for your product. By skimming through the images of your products, potential buyers should be able to have a glimpse into what you're selling some of the essential specifications. All this is a form of silent communication through which you save your buyer from stress and speed up their decision-making process.

Helps To Set Realistic Expectations

It is essential to set the right expectations through your product photography. You do not want buyers to get a product and feel the need to return it. According to Weebly, about 22% of buyers return products for the disparity between what's online and what they get.

This is not only bad for your reputation but also your finances. As such, to ensure that buyers have the relevant product expectations, you should utilize product photography appropriately.

This includes hiring a product photographer to take excellent pictures which will reflect your item's true details. This is why it's essential to know the skills to look for in a product photographer. This way, you can sell your products knowing full well that what you display is what the client gets.

Step-by-step Process On How To Hire A Product Photographer

It is crucial to know how to hire a product photographer because 78% of online shoppers are passionate about seeing your products' impressive images. Therefore, you cannot avoid it.

If you want to know how to hire a product photographer, you will need to know the right questions. Where to find a product photographer and how to choose a product photographer are two things we'll address here. This way, you can make more informed decisions when hiring your next product photographer.

Where to get a product photographer

Often, the first question is that of where. Where can you get these photographers to serve your needs? You do not have to look too far. One thing you need to leverage on is your business connection. This is why it's important that you have a network of business owners that you communicate with.

Referrals remain one of the best ways to hire a product photographer. Business owners who have used the service can refer you to someone. This works well for getting excellent results and affordable services. Also, you may not have to haggle prices too much since it's based on a referral.

Alternatively, you can get your product photographer from online local resources. Often, when people ask for tips to hire a photographer for product photos, they ignore their digital tools. The internet is the best place to get various quality services.

Vet your product photographer

There are certain questions to ask your product photographer to test efficiency. You can start your vetting process by requesting the photographer's portfolio. This gives you access to the previous works of the photographer. Through this, you'll gain insights into the expertise and service quality of the photographer.

Also, request to chat with the photographer to discuss your particular style and need. There are various photographers who are good in other areas of photography, but not the product type. This means you have to discuss the style you need and see if the photographer can replicate it..

To ensure competence, here are some of the questions you can ask the photographer:

Where did you train for photography
Are you a certified product photographer?
How long have you worked in the industry?
Who have you worked with?
What clients are you currently working with?

These questions will help you understand who you're about to work with — in a professional capacity. Therefore, always ensure that you do research and ask questions before you hire anyone.

Negotiate

How to hire a product photographer involves the knowledge of negotiation. Getting value for your money is essential. At the same, you do not have to spend too exorbitantly. You can avoid this by negotiating with the product photographer.

Many product photographers have high prices per photo because they have been working for a long period. Their experience and expertise often influence the cost.

However, this doesn't mean you have to take the first price a photographer offers. Maximize your money by negotiating the price to something close to or within your budget. Nonetheless, understand that product photography can generally be expensive.

Request for the turnaround period

There are chances you may need to get the product photos early. If this is the case, you'll have to consider the turnaround period of the product photographer. This means the person you'll hire must be able to work with your deadlines.

Also, even if you're not working with a stiff deadline, your photographer must be able to work with schedules and deadlines. This makes the work easier for your marketers and web developers to develop content calendars and prepare for uploads.

Great turnaround time is a factor to consider. It makes room for efficiency and doesn't slow your business down.

Consider the copyright issues

Copyright is a big deal when it comes to creations and images. As such, you need to understand the rights to the images to ensure that you stay in line with it. Typically, the photographers will have the right to the creative property, but you'll have the rights to use them as you desire.

The terms binding this will be contained in the license agreement guiding the relationship between you and the photographer. You may think this is a trivial thing, but it is better to stay safe as a business owner. Have a legal professional check out your license agreement first!

Soft skills

There are certain soft skills to look out for in your photographer. Your photographer must have good communication skills with their workers, management skills, and problem-solving skills. Troubleshooting issues may also come in handy during product photography. Your photographer must be someone with the requisite skill to find solutions to varied issues.

Start on a good foot

Positive relationship is essential with your product photography. Hiring a product photographer is pretty much like hiring any professional for your services. It will always be advisable to start on a positive note. This makes the working relationship smooth.

So, you can start by asking your product photographer what they want from you. This might not lead to a long answer, but it sets off an appropriate tone to build a relationship.

Also, encourage the photographer to ask questions. Let the photographer ask you for all details needed for your products. Do not assume that everything is left to the photographer to handle.

By leaving room for questions, the photographer gets to have a more solid understanding of your business, your products, and the best ways to present them to your customers.

Final Thoughts

When you know how to hire a product photographer, you’ll be solving a major problem most eCommerce business owners have to handle. That’s the first step to getting your business out there and reaching more customers.

Here at Style Photos, we can provide first-class product photography services for your eCommerce business. We also offer the option to hire equipment for product photography purposes. Get in touch with us today!

Read all news