QUICK & EASY TIPS FOR MASTERING PACKSHOT PHOTOGRAPHY

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THIS BLOG POST WILL COVER EVERYTHING FROM PACKAGING, IMAGERY, LABELLING & WORKFLOW

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WHAT IS PACKSHOT PHOTOGRAPHY, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT IN MARKETING?

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Packshot photography is a type of product photography (images of a product) that focuses on showcasing a product in its best light, often against a plain background. It's essential in marketing as it helps customers see the product clearly, understand its features, and can influence their purchasing decision positively. I really enjoyed this Commerical photography and capturing these product photos/product images.

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In July, I was asked by Tara at the “Good Grain Bakery”  if I would kindly be able to shoot some “Pack Shots” for their upcoming “Ocado” Campaign and of course, I willingly accepted!

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Tara needed Packshot photos for her marketing channels to create marketing material of her product details and product design to beautifully showcase products to the highest quality. Tara now has a valuable tool for her sales teams and overall online product presentation that will ultimately influence potential customers on various marketing channels which will impact purchase decisions. 

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“Tara Taylor bakes delicious gluten-free bread in her certified organic bakery in West London.  Due to her own dietary restrictions, Tara started Good Grain Bakery to provide premium quality organic gluten-free vegan artisan bread and baked goods for people with special dietary restrictions.”

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It was an absolute dream to shoot for such a wonderful company and although the pressure was on, working for such a big ad, I really took it with both hands.

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“Meg went on a mission to photograph some Product Pack Shots for us. We will be using them for our website. We’ll also share with our online retailers. Thank you, Meg.” Tara.

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I had such a positive response from my previous post (see here) that I thought I could share a few more tips that I’ve picked up along the way, for anyone who may be shooting more “Product” style photography.

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• Shoot for the edit – You want your images to only need subtle editing after they’ve been shot. It takes years of skills to magic everything into the right place on "Photoshop". Aim to shoot in a way that will later allow you to simply enhance an already beautiful set up. Think about your kit, and photography equipment/camera equipment: like focal length of your lens/lenses (e.g. will you be using a macro lens), your full depth of field (higher depth of field for example), 

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• Flexibility – It’s important to try to free yourself creatively. Try having a play, shooting from above and from a few different side angles can give you a feel for the aesthetic you’ll achieve and how you’ll get there. Trial and error only adds to your experience and practice. You’ll need to coordinate this with your lighting also, so you may find yourself adjusting and shooting until you get things right, and that’s okay!

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• Time – If you’re shooting multiple products that look similar, like I was, take your time to get the set-up just right. If you’re using a tripod, these can be flexible or static – whichever you prefer, make sure you’re comfortable with how it works before starting to take your images.

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• Consistency – Once you’ve figured out what looks right for you and your business, keep it consistent. In this case, when you’re working with similar products you want them to look like a set, shot at the same time, by the same person, in the same place. You also want to focus on your editing style, colour temperature/colour correction, the best camera angles, white balance, sharpness, lightness, will you be using a white background, focusing on background removal, or removal of any part of the image and so on. Product photography really is about the small details and the design features you'll be focusing on for the imagery you want to create. 

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• Research – If you’re working with a company or brand be sure to do your research, checking which format your images should be in (TIFF, JPEG, PNG etc.), cropping rules and pixel size. This will usually be discussed prior to the shoot/job and/or be very clearly advertised, if it’s not, it probably means they are quite relaxed in their approach, but asking this prior to your shoot will make everything flow smoothly. There are definitely different types of packshot photography, still life, lifestyle photography etc - some of which require years of experience, but it's a fantastic skill to practice if you enjoy it. 

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People's idea of packshot photography and product photography can wary from photoshoot to photoshoot which will change the unique packshot images down to their signature packaging and labelling all the way to the props used in the background of the product photography and so on. 

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I really loved shooting "Pack Shots" for Ocado and look forward to shooting more in the near future. It’s challenging our conventional methods of working that pushes us to be better. And of course, I got to sample some of these goodies too, needless to say I had to buy some afterwards! Happy packshot shooting!

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if you want any more advice on creating your own marketing materials or have an enquiry please get in touch and visit here for pricing.

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See my next blog post here.