Online spending has been on the rise in recent years. E-commerce sales were up by 44 percent in 2020, more than triple the 15 percent increase we saw in 2019. Amid this growth, today’s savvy consumers have become increasingly accustomed to having options for how they shop for goods and services online. Plus, they aren’t afraid to do their research before they make a purchase to ensure a product meets the mark.
The truth is, online shopping presents challenges that in-person shopping does not. Consumers can’t see, touch, and experience a product online, which can make it difficult to win their business. That’s why investing in detailed product photography of the highest quality is so crucial for online retailers. In fact, with a highly competitive market and ever-evolving consumer preferences to keep up with, increased demand for top-quality product photography is now more vital than ever before.
Fortunately, product photographers can easily meet online retailer needs with the right tethered workflow in place. Here’s how:
How Tethering Can Increase the Quality of Product Photography
While there are many benefits to tethered shooting in general, there are several benefits that can actually increase the quality of your product photography.
More Difficult to Miss the Details
Tethered photography provides a means for you to review elements such as focus, composition, color, exposure, and the fine details of your subject in high resolution on a larger screen as you shoot so you can look at these details with better accuracy. When you utilize the Smart Shooter tether capture software, it has many handy features for product photography such as the multi-loupe view feature which allows you to check multiple points of focus all at once.
Tethered shooting to a larger display also provides a way for photographers to share images as they are being captured—not only with a client remotely or on set for feedback but also with their creative team. This is helpful because it lends the opportunity for more than one set of eyes to view what’s being captured, so if adjustments need to be made to a subject or set during a photo shoot, they can be completed in the moment.
Easier Consistency in Images
When shooting e-commerce product photography, more often than not, you may be shooting products for a client on the same background and may want to have similar products appear consistently throughout all of your images. With the overlay mode feature in Smart Shooter, you are able to achieve consistent placement of products in images when using the same background. Click here for a more detailed, step-by-step look at how to use the overlay mode in Smart Shooter.
Speeds up Your Workflow
Not only does tethered photography save time by eliminating the need for a memory card transfer to a computer, but it can also save time in post-production. Photographers are able to identify image problems while shooting and correct any issues in the moment, getting images right during initial capture. This allows the photographer to get images to a client much quicker.
Professional lifestyle product photographer Brooke Mason has felt the impact that tethered shooting has had on her workflow.
“Tethering has just made things fast. People’s expectations of what they want now are not like it used to be,” she said. “People don’t wait a month for photos. For instance, I shot on Friday, and Monday they’re going on the website. So it’s these kinds of time lines that are days—not even weeks anymore.
“People want websites within a month now, and it’s possible. It’s possible with things like tethering because I’m shooting much quicker, and the reason I’m shooting much quicker is because I can see all the intricacies on what I need to hit my goals and hit my targets much faster so that the shoot time goes down, the shoot time is shorter, I have more time to process, post-production [takes less time and], getting those images online/getting those images to the client [is faster]. But tethering helps post-production as well because you do things right in the moment and you shouldn’t need too much post-production.”
Amp up the Quality of Your Product Photography Images
With the recent changes in consumer shopping habits, high-quality e-commerce product photography is in high demand and achievable with the right tethered workflow in place. Tethered photography helps you to achieve high-quality images in fewer frames, speeds up your workflow, and can help you to obtain consistency in your images. Learn more about how tethered photography can help you take your product photography business to the next level by downloading our guide, The Product Photographer’s Guide to Tethering.
