The Ultimate Guide to Footwear Photography for eCommerce
Looking to improve the results and reach of your footwear photos? These footwear photography tips will help you. Using the best techniques to make a shoe picture can strongly increase sales numbers and the reach of your product. Learn how good photography can make a difference for your business.
Why High-Quality Footwear Photography Matters for Online Sales
When you are shopping online for shoes, you can’t physically try them on. The info about the product is very important, but nothing is better than clear and detailed images. It helps customers to make more informed decisions and visualize the effect of the shoes on them.
High-quality footwear photography also reduces mismatched expectations, with well-detailed images, the risk of buying something wrong is very low. With good pictures, you can see details and colors better, as well as the whole brand's visual style.
Overall, good photography helps products look better. A shoe will always seem more appealing and trustworthy if you have it at the right angles, some good lighting, and the best techniques.
Essential Equipment for Professional Footwear Photography
To start the eCommerce shoe photography guide, it’s important to know what the essential equipment is for that. Camera, light, background, angulation, props and more. Everything matters. Find out what to use to take a good sneaker photo.
Lighting
Light is very important for any photo, especially when it comes to eCommerce and professional ones. The illumination has to be even and natural-looking, and the best lighting for sneakers photography normally comes from softbox lighting.
This equipment helps to reduce shadows and overexposure. The wrong illumination can distort the colors and the texture of the product. With softbox lighting in a well-controlled environment, the shoe tends to look exactly the way it is, preserving all qualities.
Camera & Lenses
A good camera is also essential to the process. The best idea is to use a DSLR camera (Digital Single Lens Reflex) or a mirrorless camera. The DSLR has a mirror, but with a digital sensor to measure the effect of it, meanwhile, the mirrorless has a EVF to preview the results.
Both are good, but consider 50mm or 85mm lenses to have sharp details of the footwear. Macro lenses also help capture characteristics of the product, like texture, colors, materials, stitching, and other elements. The more you can invest in the camera, the better.
Tripod & Stabilization
The right angles are sometimes hard to reach, that’s why you need to use a stabilization system. Tripods can help a lot on this, and they are not that expensive (if you don’t have one, already). But if you’re willing to invest a little more, a camera stabilizer can have better results.
The idea here is to eliminate the blur from pictures with wrong angulation. Nobody likes to see blurred pictures and they lose quality. Also, if there’s more than one shoe model per session, a stabilization system will help frame all models in the same position.
Background & Props
A white background is a normal requirement for product pages, companies like Amazon don’t even accept other types of background. Before you ask how to photograph white sneakers in this case, the answer is yes, in eCommerce, they also go with a white background.
Still, if you have some specific campaign going on, of course, you can change it. When it comes to social media and brand storytelling, for example, it’s common to use textured surfaces, props, and stylized backgrounds (still very close to white).
Best Angles & Shots for Footwear Photography
To give a better understanding of the angles and the motivations behind them, here’s a table with all the possible angles you can have in a footwear photography session:
Every angle is important for the customer’s experience, so it's highly recommended to have it all in the photo album.
How to Set Up a Footwear Photography Shoot
To learn how to take professional shoe photos, it’s crucial to understand the whole preparation system. The basic steps to set up a footwear photo session are:
- Prepare the shoes: It has to be clean, with no dust or fingerprints. To maintain the shape of the shoes, use shoe inserts or paper.
- Position the camera correctly: It has to be well framed, with symmetry and both sides aligned. For a good composition and artistic touch, consider making a floating effect.
- Choose the best lighting: Unwanted shadows and reflections cannot be part of it. Use diffused lighting, reflectors, or white foam boards to prevent it.
Another good tip is to not be satisfied with the first picture. Use the first one to see how you can improve the official one.
Editing & Retouching Footwear Images
Among these footwear photography tips, you’ll also learn about editing. For professional results, it’s common to improve images by using some basic edits. Here are some important adjusts:
- Removing Imperfections: You can remove any unwanted effects, like dust, scuff, and others.
- Brightness and Contrast: To make it as more accurate as possible, adjust brightness and contrast, but don’t overdo it.
- Shadow Enhancement: For a realistic effect, shadows can be added to the picture.
The use of these basic edits can also ensure a perfect background. By editing, you can remove distractions and make it more neutral.
Optimizing Footwear Photos for eCommerce & SEO
A product photography for footwear is normally focused on sales, and that’s why it should be optimized for eCommerce and SEO. Here are more tips for you, this time about how to increase your ranking on Google Search:
- Image text: ALT text improves the visibility, like “men’s black mountain high-top shoes”
- Image Size: Without losing quality, it’s important to compress the file for faster loading speeds.
- Image Format: Try to use the format JPEG for high-quality photos and PNG/WebP for transparency.
About the image formats, the recommendation is to use descriptive names for the files. For example: “adidas-courtblock-originals.jpg” is way better than “3246547.jpg”.
Creating Engaging Footwear Content for Social Media
Social media is always a good way to promote products, but social media is not eCommerce. The selling process is a little different, and you should consider the following approaches:
- Lifestyle Shots: It’s a good idea to show the shoes as part of a completely stylish outfit;
- Videos: Viewers like to see it in action, like running, climbing, or walking. It showcases movement and flexibility;
- Flat Lay Photography: An image directly from above can add a lot of style to the post.
Like in eCommerce, 360º views are also perfect for social media. It gives the viewer the “big picture” of the shoes.
How StylePhotos Can Elevate Your Footwear Photography
A professional shoe photography setup will definitely improve your results. Look how StylePhotos can enhance your experience:
- Professional studio: High-quality lighting and equipment take the photo session to another level, and good editing work is the final touch.
- Image optimization: Ensuring compliance with big eCommerce players is important for ranking.
- 360º photography: Interactive visuals will increase customer experience.
StylePhotos also helps with consistent brand imagery. The results of professional work will also create (and help to maintain) a high-end professional look for your business.
Conclusion
Whether you have a setup yourself or work with experts like StylePhotos, the best way to improve your performance with footwear photography is to invest in a professional structure. The right techniques, the ideal composition, and the perfect lighting can increase sales and reduce returns. These footwear photography tips and maybe a professional partner are the key to becoming a trend in eCommerce.
