Ready-made e-commerce sites and marketplaces have made it easier than ever to get started with a shop; they offer access to inventory, payment processing, marketing services, branding assistance and more - at a much lower cost than if you were to build it yourself. However, building your own shop takes time, money and technical know-how - not things most new store owners have on hand. Luckily there are plenty of other ways that you can start selling online without having to spend thousands of dollars or acquire advanced technical skills first.

What is e-commerce photography?

E-commerce photography is the art and science of capturing real-world objects, environments and people in a way that makes them look as stunning and flawless in photos as they do in real life. It’s not just about taking nice pictures of your items, though; it’s also about using the right settings and techniques to make it easy for customers to buy your wares online. When you have a shop featuring beautiful images of your products, you’ll have a much easier time winning new customers and boosting sales.

Bluehour for Shopify helps businesses to get professional Shopify product photos that will help drive sales for the business. 

How to build your own eCommerce photography studio

When you’ve got the basics down and have some photos that are ready to go, it’s time to start building out your studio. There are a ton of ways to do this, from setting up a basic website to hiring an outside studio and working with a production company. The key is to find the model that works best for your items, your budget and your goals. If you want to include personalized services like custom packaging, meet-and-greet sessions with your product models, or sales and marketing assistance, you’ll want to include these services as part of your studio package. When saving money is a top concern, a simple website (with basic hosting) may be enough. If you want to expand your offering or start selling in stores, you’ll want to look into Shopify or BigCommerce marketplaces.

Photography skills you can learn

When it comes to the actual skill of taking photos, the best approach is to start with the basics. If there’s one thing you can’t afford to skip when first getting started, it’s learning the basic concepts of photography. This will give you the foundation you need to grow and expand your skills as you go. The most important thing to know is how to use your light. This will be your constant companion as you shoot, and it’s something you’ll want to learn to master and become familiar with. If you can learn how to use your light well, you can take any photo you want. Next, you’ll want to get familiar with basic composition and styling in your photos. This will help you make your shots more appealing and easier to sell online.

Tools you’ll need

When building your studio, you’ll want to make sure you have all the tools you’ll need to get the job done. From a basic laptop that has a camera app to a dedicated e-commerce storefront, here is the equipment and software you’ll need. 

- A laptop: All the software and storefronts mentioned above are designed specifically for starting and running a store. While you can use various free options (including WordPress), these specialized applications are where it’s at when it comes to e-commerce. You’ll want to find a storefront that fits your needs best (like Shopify or BigCommerce) and has the features you need. 

- A good quality phone for product photography: Any serious photographer will tell you that you’ll never make it past the point of shooting photos with your phone until you get yourself a decent phone.

 - A computer monitor - No matter how good your photos are, they’re not worth much if you can’t see them. You’ll want a computer monitor that you can use to view your photos and assess their quality. 

Shopify and BigCommerce integration options

If you want to go all in with building your own e-commerce photography studio, you’ll want to look into upgrading your shop to one of the marketplaces that offer a full e-commerce solution. Shopify is the leader in this space and offers a full suite of services to help you start and run your e-commerce shop, including a marketplace for selling your own products. The other option you have is to go with a more affordable “lite” version of a marketplace. These include BigCommerce, which is a full-featured marketplace that doesn’t come with a big price tag. Both of these options are worth considering, and it comes down to what you’re comfortable with and what fits best with your goals and financial constraints.

Bottom line

Don’t be intimidated by the idea of building your own photography studio. It can be done without a lot of money and expertise, and it will save you thousands over time. 

Happy to break it to you that there are AI-driven apps to do the job for you in the field of product photography like Bluehour for Shopify.

Once you’ve found some images you like, you can take it as a reference point and start your own product photography journey using Bluehour for Shopify.

At Bluehour, we help businesses in driving sales with incredible product photos.

Find out how Bluehour can help you create winning product photos for your Shopify storefront, and boost your sales at https://www.bluehour.app/