How should I photograph tall house and office plants for a retail website?
Asked 3/28/2013
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2 answers
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I manage marketing for a garden center and want to improve our product photos for ecommerce. Our current plant images were shot quickly on a point-and-shoot and likely aren’t helping conversions. Most products are indoor plants, often over 1 meter tall. What’s the best way to photograph them so they look appealing and accurate online? I’m especially interested in advice on styling, lighting, background/environment, and what kinds of shots to include for product pages.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
6
Place the plants in an office/house settings (that is, an area that looks like a typical office) near a big window that doesn't get direct sunlight - this will 1. let the visitor visualize the plant at the office and 2. give you beautiful soft light.
Clean and arrange the plant and background before shooting, turn the plant to see it's good side, put it in a nice looking flowerpot, clean it (yes, I said clean twice, it's important) and don't leave anything in the picture that doesn't belong.
For the plant "full-length" shot select an aperture that is small enough to make the entire plant sharp but wide enough to get the background just slightly out of focus (remember, you want it to be recognizable as an office).
For each full-length picture add some detail shots, a small image of a large plant will always look boring, add some flower pictures (or whatever is unique or good looking for that plant) - those should be typical flower shot, very small DOF, maybe macro shots.
Shoot in RAW, make sure your white balance is correct and edit every photo to make it look good (just a little levels, curves and color adjustment) - but don't over do it - the picture should still look exactly like the real plant, you don't want to deceive the customers).
But, before you start swapping photos (it's at the end of the answer because it's not photography related) make absolutely sure the visitors adwords is sending you are really potential customers (If you are a UK company make sure they aren't from India or something, check they didn't get from an unrelated keyword because od broad match, etc.) - I personally had a really bad experience with the traffic quality adwords used to send to my site.
Originally by user2481. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2481
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Use your best-looking specimens and prepare them carefully: clean the leaves, tidy the soil and pot, remove distractions, and turn the plant to show its best side. Presentation matters a lot.
For lighting, aim for soft, natural-looking light. A bright window without direct sun can work very well, especially in a home or office-style setting. If using artificial light, keep it soft but not completely flat so the plant still has shape and texture; add gentle fill if shadows get too deep.
Show the plants in a realistic house or office environment so shoppers can imagine them in place. Keep the setting clean and recognizable, but not distracting.
For the main full-length shot, use enough depth of field to keep the whole plant sharp while letting the background fall slightly out of focus. Then add detail shots: close-ups of leaves, texture, pot, and any distinctive features. This gives buyers a better sense of size, condition, and character.
In short: clean specimen, tasteful pot, uncluttered lifestyle setting, soft directional light, one strong full shot, plus several close details.
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