eCommerce Product Photography (Photo A2)

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Project Introduction

This project will test your mastery over studio lighting, as well as some of the more basic functions of Lightroom & Photoshop. The goal is to create professional product photos for just one product, suitable for use on a website like Amazon. Product Photographers spend years honing their craft, and have fine tuned the process over the years, but they all started somewhere. It’s time for you to find your own workflow, and produce high quality product photos for your Online Portfolio.

You will take multiple photos of your selected product, and using whatever tools you have the ability to use, reformat them to a 2048px square image, with good exposure, balance, and minimal editing. The trick to good product photography is behind the lens, NOT in image editing software.  You will be responsible for making sure that the photos are “submission ready” to Amazon.  This includes resolution, scale and naming conventions. Be sure to check the submission requirements (as you would be expected to do for your clients or studio).  When your product photos are done, you will add them to your Online Portfolio, and be sure to include your before/after images, as well as a synopsis of the workflow you used to achieve great photos. Once complete you will email a link to that portfolio to the Instructor along with other projects for the week.

Example Before Pics

Below, I have my “before” pics (with our Class Logo, which you will NOT be doing to your own photos for this project… no worries. You can tell the images are exposed ok, but there is a strange blue tint, and the framing is rough. This is what we will aim to fix, but it’s a great start.

 

Example After Pics

THERE we go… with some White Balance Corrections, Curve Adjustments and selective a 2048px square canvas, we have some good product photos, ready to submit to the eCommerce platform! This is what you should be aiming for.

Project Requirements & Helpful Links

  • Minimum of 4 photos per product that showcase your mastery of the subject matter, with a minimum of one product.
    • Each photo should be 2048×2048, in RGB color mode, at 72dpi. This is a standard web resolution, for a large photo we want to be able to zoom into on the eCommerce platform.
    • These photos should have all the correct technical specs as listed on the submission requirements for the eCommerce platform.
    • All photos should have the same exposure and seamlessly fit together.
    • The product you choose to shoot should be “new in box” visually, meaning do not shoot a product that is scratched, dented, etc.
      • If you DO shoot a product like this, you had better edit away the damage!
    • The photos should meet or exceed industry product photography expectations.
    • Show your before and after results, and explain your process.
  • If you don’t know what pictures to shoot, look the product up on the eCommerce website, and try to imitate or do better than the product photos there.

Project Grading Rubric

The purpose of this assignment is for each student to be able to demonstrate mastery of product photography, including the lighting, editing, and optimizing.  At the request of the Instructor, your photos (before, after and editing) may be collected.  All photos should be presented to a professional standard, and be ready for web viewing.

AMAZING
90-100		GREAT
80-89		GOOD
70-79		SUB PAR
60-69		POOR
<60
Student showcased absolute mastery over the project, and excelled both technically and creatively.Student provided above average eCommerce images, missed a few requirements either technically or creatively.Student demonstrated an acceptable amount of skill, but could have done better either technically or creatively.Student followed directions, but provided poor examples of professional eCommerce photos or did a sub-par job of completing the assignment.Student did not follow directions, did not demonstrate proper use of the tools, or did not complete assignment completely.