Making the decision to outsource your product photography is not a small one. You should consider:
This article touches briefly on these topics but the main focus is on the product photography services studios offer.
I will review standard services provided by all studios, additional services offered by larger studios, and speciality services offered by specific studios.
Let’s get into it.
Both DIY and outsourcing offer benefits to your business and both have their downsides. Before making your decision it is best to look at the debate from both sides.
Our blog has several articles on this topic – check them out – they will help you with this decision.
If you are leaning towards DIY, ask this question before making your final decision:
“Do we have the capacity, expertise, budget, and company-wide buy-in to create high-quality product images in-house?”
If your answer is YES then I recommend you review the best practices for setting up your DIY studio and how to get the most out of your DIY studio.
If you are leaning towards outsourcing, educate yourself on the outsourcing options available and read the rest of this article to get the full picture on product photography services.
You may be reading this article because you have already set up a DIY studio and are beginning to realize that you underestimated the commitment, resources, and investment it takes to do it well.
Don’t worry – you are not alone.
A reasonable approach here is to test outsourcing to see how the cost, image quality, and speed compares to your DIY program. Understanding the services available is a good place to start (keep reading).
You should also look into ways you can improve your DIY studio performance.
Now that you are considering outsourcing let’s review the services available to you.
Studios provide a host of different services. In this section of the article I will detail the following groups of services:
Understanding these services will help you when evaluating studios.
Here is a list of services that all product photography studios should provide.
The majority of product photography studios will offer ‘standard’ tabletop photography.
I use the term ‘standard’ to refer to the tabletop photography of products that are less than 50 pounds and fit onto a 4’ by 4’ table.
Products that are larger and heavier typically require speciality equipment, studio space, and additional resources to handle the products. Not all studios can photograph these products.
All studios will provide editing services for the images they take of your products. Standard editing will include shadow removal, tone adjustments, vertical and horizontal alignment, and cropping.
You may have images that were produced in-house that need editing. If this is the case most studios will offer ‘image editing only’ services.
If the studio you are considering working with does not offer image editing only services (red flag!) do a quick Google search and you will find many companies that do.
See the Google search results for the keyword ‘image editing services’ – there are 42 million pages relating to this keyword.
A composite image is created by taking multiple individual image files, layering them onto a blank image canvas, arranging and scaling the images on the canvas, and saving the image. The individual image files should have clipping paths and be on transparent backgrounds.
If you need images of your products separately anyway, creating composites in post-production is faster than taking a picture of a group of products (which requires unpacking multiple products, arranging them on a photography table, and taking and editing the images).
Composite images, also referred to as montage images, are not difficult to create. Anyone with an intermediate level of Photoshop skill can create them.
All studios should format and deliver the product images to you according to your needs.
Formatting
It is common to request multiple image formats for your internal and external uses, for example:
Watermarking
Most studios should offer watermarking services as part of the formatting process.
Watermarking involves taking a transparent png and applying it to the images as an overlay.
Before you decide to watermark your images consider the pros and cons of doing this.
Pros:
Cons:
There is one way to keep the pros of watermarking intact while eliminating the cons.
Digimarc offers a solution that adds an imperceptible digital ID to your images. You can then track your images as they spread on the Internet.
This addresses the obscure issue but it has its own downside. You will need to spend the time tracking your images and, when you do come across copyright and usage violations (this is a 100% guarantee), you will need to enforce your copyright through legal action. How much time and effort will this cost you and is it worth it – some valid questions to ask.
Visit Digimarc’s site for details of their watermarking solution.
Delivery
After formatting your images the studio will deliver them to you. Most studios will either give you access to their FTP server or they will upload the images directly to your FTP server. The cost of formatting and delivery should be included in the price. If you require images on a hard drive or DVDs there will likely be an additional charge.
The above image is a screen shot of format and export function of Visual SKUs Image Production Management software.
Here is a list of additional services larger studios offer.
When products are large or heavy, photography can get much more difficult. The studio may need:
It is obvious that not all studios will be able to photograph these types of products. If your products are large and heavy you will need to source a studio that has the capability to photography them.
Using mannequins and taking basic pictures of clothes that require minimal preparation and styling is not too difficult and can be a service offered by many studios.
In its more complex form – clothes that are on models and where styling and matching with other clothes is necessary – apparel photography can be a specialized service offered by only specific studios.
This is an example of apparel photography on a mannequin.
Image source: www.mec.ca.
Similar to apparel photography, food photography can range from basic photography that most studios can handle to complex photography that requires elaborate prep and sets (kitchen).
Basic food photography consists of low-volume photography of products that can be found in a grocery store. If you need this type of photography you will not have difficulty finding a studio to provide it to you.
Food photography becomes more complex when:
If your food photography falls into the complex category then you will need to find a larger or more specialized studio to provide you these services.
The above image of Whole Foods Pinterest page shows great examples of food photography. You can see that these images are fairly elaborate.
Image source: www.pinterest.com/wholefoods.
Here is a page from Jamie Oliver’s site, this is a good example of a food photography set.
Image source: www.jamieoliver.com.
This service involves taking pictures of groups of products. An example of product group photography would be an image of a packaged goods manufacturer’s product line.
This type of photography is more complex than shooting individual products because:
Although these reasons lower the number of studios that provide group product photography, you should not have too much difficulty finding a studio to provide this service.
If you need to collect data on your products it can be done at the time of photography.
Data that you could recorded during photography includes:
Because tolerances for weight and dimensions are typically small, specialized equipment is required. This reduces the number of studios that provide this service.
Above is an example of a scale that can handle products up to 150 pounds.
Image source: www.grainger.com/product/MEASURETEK-Parcel-Scale-12R970.
Cubiscan is a company that makes systems that can measure packages and products as well as weight them.
If your project is large, complex, and there are multiple people involved in the project that are in separate locations, you are best to search for a studio that uses Image Production Management software.
This software allow you to:
If this functionality is important to the success of your project, search for a studio that uses this software as part of their image production workflow.
The above screen shot is of a project summary report in Visual SKUs Image Production Management software.
So far I have detailed some of the main services standard, easily-sourced product photography studios offer as well as some additional services specific studios offer.
Now let’s look at the advanced services.
These services are typically provided by two types of studios:
Full-service studio: these studios offer a full suite of product photography services from basic product photography to full-set photography to lifestyle photography. They are able to handle projects of all sizes and complexities.
Specialty studio: these are studios that do not offer a complete suite of services but instead offer one or more specific services. For example, a studio could specialize in food or apparel photography, 360 and 3D photography, lifestyle photography, or photography requiring complex sets.
Here are 5 advanced photography services:
This type of photography involves placing the product on a circular photography table, defining the number of images you want in the 360, using software to turn the table at designated degree intervals, and the camera shutter fires at each interval. When the image frames are played in a 360 image viewer the consumer can interact with the product by rotating it on an axis and zooming into the product for more detail.
With a 360 image, the product is photographed on a single axis only.
Here is how it works:
360 product photography requires specialized equipment, software, and expertise. For this reason not all studios offer this service.
This 360 product photography turntable is made by Imajize, it weighs only 14 pounds but can handle products up to 220 pounds.
The key difference between 360 and 3D photography is the number of axis the product rotates on as the camera fires.
The process is similar to the steps for 360 product photography except that after each axis the camera is moved to a different angle over the product and the product rotates again. This continues until all rotations for that side of the product have been taken. If you want to see the bottom side of the product from various angles you would flip the product over and continue with more axis rotations.
The images frames play in the image viewer similar to the 360s but the consumer can view, rotate, and zoom into the product from more angles.
3D product photography requires sophisticated equipment and is therefore offered by very few photography studios.
Some products require sets to be constructed prior to photography. These sets can range from basic to elaborate.
Here are a few examples of product photography with sets (there are many examples – just look at an Ikea catalog or go online to Walmart or Costco):
Only very specialized photography studios would offer this type of photography. They would need a very large studio, the expertise to create and style the sets, and specialized lighting and camera equipment.
I would describe this photography as ‘products in action’. By this I mean products in use by people demonstrating how they are used or what they look like when they are used.
Here are some examples to illustrate lifestyle photography:
This type of product photography involves models and styling. Lifestyle photography is a service that only specialized studios will provide.
Sometimes it is easier to have the studio come to the products.
That is onsite photography – the photography takes place at your warehouse or distribution center.
Here’s how it works: a photography studio is shipped to your business, a project manager travels to the site, a local photographer is hired, the studio is setup, the production workflows are implemented, the products are photographed, and the images are uploaded using software. The project is completed when all the products are photographed.
The duration of onsite projects vary from 4 months to 18 months.
Onsite photography makes sense when:
If these points ring true for your business then onsite photography is your best choice.
Look for a studio that offers onsite photography and has the following:
You have made the decision to outsource and you understand all the services available to you. Great!
Now it is time to research studios and select the best one for your business.
One service provider is the same as the rest. Right?
NO.
There is a big difference between providers.
Ask these questions when evaluating studios:
Your answer to the last question is very important.
Why?
Because, like most businesses, product photography is not a one-off event. You are always adding new products to your lines. These products need images.
It is advantageous for your business to build a long-term relationship with the studio. Overtime, the studio gets to know your product lines, your image quality standards, the image views and orientations you need, your formatting and delivery requirements, and how your deadlines work.
There is one last question I would ask:
Many studios see their role as product photography, that’s it. They do not concern themselves with your business goals.
This is the wrong way to look at things.
Product images are critical to your business – they help your bottom line by reducing returns and your top line by increasing sales. How important is that? Very!
Your photography studio needs to buy into this and to clearly understand that speed to market and image quality matter to your business.
In this article I do not get into the prices and costs of product photography services. There is simply too much content to cover with respect to these topics.
Our blog has some great articles on both costs and prices – these will provide you the detail you need prior to calling on studios.
There you have it – a complete guide to product photography services.
I reviewed the services that most product photography studios will provide, the additional services larger studios will provide, and the more advanced or complex services only full-service and specialty studios will provide.
If you have any comments on this article it would be great to hear from you.
Happy product photography!
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