03 Nov 2023

As a product photographer, you are often tempted to fill a shot with wonderful, interesting items to help catch the imagination of the customer. However, this can often cause the subject to become lost or the image to become too busy. If you work in a specific area of e-commerce photography, such as jewellery photography you will know just how impactful simplicity can be to a product image.

That is why today, we want to explore the concept of less is more for a product photographer. True in all other areas of photography, but we never want to lose sight of the fact that the subject is king and by offering less in an image we can drive the focus and attention to the subject.

We’ve put together a range of techniques that a product photographer working in e-commerce photography may wish to use to help reduce content but add quality to a shot. In each scenario, you must think about the story you are trying to tell, the product or subject and how you want to communicate with the audience.

Let’s start off with a relatively simple technique, filling the frame. If we think about jewellery photography for a moment, you may wish to focus on your subject wearing a necklace and remove more of the surroundings. By using fewer elements but ones that add true value or emotion you can add a new dimension to the shot.

One way that a product photographer is able to have less in a shot is by using a longer focal length. The theory behind this is that it is easier to remove the elements within a frame when you use a focal length that is longer. Please note here that for anyone working in e-commerce photography, such as those working in jewellery photography this may not be possible. However, you can still remove elements using different types of lenses.

In some photoshoots, a product photographer is tasked with telling a story about the brand as opposed to specific details about a product. In this scenario, a great way to follow the motto that less is more is to actually reduce the subject. For example, maybe you go in close on a part of the product if you’re working in jewellery photography or create a silhouette of a person to connect with a particular emotion.

This technique is very useful for a product photographer working in jewellery photography, as you often need to focus on the details anyway. For anyone working in e-commerce photography, try focusing on specific details about the subject and you will quickly find that a lot of the surrounding materials become less relevant. That makes it easy to decide on what to remove, without impacting the quality of the shot.