The first people will see is a picture of your backpack, and this image should get their attention within seconds. We will give you some tips to shoot the best pictures of your backpacks.
It is not difficult to photograph backpacks, you only need to know where to start and with every picture you take, the result will be better! Everything from styling, to composition, finding the right angles, and lighting, can make or break your customer’s buying decision. Showcasing your bags in the best possible way will help overcome the number one problem with online shopping: convincing your customers to buy your product without being able to touch and try it first.
In this post, or tutorial, we will show what kind of shots you need and how to style them for backpacks people want to buy. Your images should be informative and convincing.
What you need to shoot a picture of a backpack
Off course it all starts with your own customized backpack, tailor made for the needs of your ideal client. But you will also need some more items to shoot that picture of a backpack :
- Camera
- Search for a camera that can be used for professional product photography. Getting dynamic and interesting shots of products can be quite a challenge. While it can be done using natural light, you will find you have an easier time if you get your own lighting. Ideally you also want to be able to shoot with a shallow depth of field – this means having the main subject of an image sharply in focus, and the background artfully blurred. While this effect can be simulated on a smartphone, it looks much better shot on a camera with a larger sensor and a lens with a wide aperture.
- LED Lighting
- The best LED light panels are the most powerful and versatile means of controlling the light in your photos and videos. Flash is all well and good for many applications, but the continuous light of an LED light panel gives you much more ability to fine-tune the particulars of your light, including intensity and colour temperature. For video, meanwhile, LED panels are essential, allowing you to lift shadows, illuminate subjects and control the feel of your shots.
- Stuff
Stuffing the bag with tissue paper keeps its shape and structure.
- Magic
- To keep the straps floating for a more appealing style you need Fishing line or a nylon string
The four steps to take that perfect image of a backpack
- Stuff the backpack
Fill the backpack with whatever material you have at hand – like newspaper or tissue. Don’t stuff the backpack too much, because packing the bag too full will ruin the style of the bag.
- Set the background
White, off-white, and light grey backgrounds work best for bags. But more important than deciding on a background color is actually sticking to it.
Consistency is key when it comes to product photography. This also holds for the background color of your images. Ensuring a consistent-looking grid is a great and reliable conversion driver and more appealing to your customer’s eye.
- Set it for shooting
Place the backpack for example at a 3/4 angle facing the camera so you can see the front and side of the backpack. Remember to use overlays or place markers so the position remains consistent when shooting other backpacks and bags.
When taking a front shot, you want the backpack to be facing perfectly straight towards the camera. And do not forget to zoom in for the details. Your audience can not hold the bag in their hands to see all the details that make your bag different from the rest. So, help them with detailed images of the backpack.
Around five to seven images will do. Take one image from the front of the backpack, one from the back, and three to five meaningful detail shots.
- Style the straps and details
To hold the straps as if they were floating you can use nylon string or a fishing line. Style the zips and remove any creases or unappealing shapes.
Contact our sales department for extra tips
When you still have doubt about how to shoot the best marketing image of your backpack, please feel free to contact our marketing and sales team. They are experienced with the marketing of bags and can help you taking informative and convincing imagery.