How To Plan A Product Lifestyle Photography Shoot
Lifestyle photography should be considered the main form of promotional content by ecommerce brands. The style is effective at telling stories in real-life settings or styled sets. Using commercial lifestyle photography allows brands to position themselves effectively with scenes that appeal to their ideal customers.
What Is Lifestyle Photography?
Unlike typical ecommerce product photography, which places products in front of a plain white background, lifestyle photography uses a set. The setting can be leveraged as a marketing technique, fitting in with brand values, customer profiles, and provide a strong visual to help customers piece together how your product would suit them.
This type of photography is effective in advertising and on social media, as it can make a strong impact. Most domestic products will work well photographed in this way, with home lifestyle photography and outdoor lifestyle photography being popular.
Here’s a few ways to get the very best lifestyle product photography from your project.
Tell A Story In Your Advertising
Lifestyle photography allows you to build stories that hook your target audience. Often brands will choose a relatable storyline that fits their product perfectly and aligns with societal norms. This could be a family mealtime for a child friendly food product, a cosy living room for a two-seater sofa, or a modern gym for a fitness apparel line.
The aim with this approach is to help your ideal customer visualise themselves in the scene. Models are a good addition if your budget allows, but you could leave the image as a still life composition.
Another approach that is increasingly popular, is to contrast with the norm and be purposefully disruptive with your storytelling. Brands that have strong values can be creative in their storylines to grab attention. This is effective at breaking through a crowded digital market.
Use Your Brand Narrative
Lifestyle images can be used to convey a brand’s identity and values. A background for a product shot will allow you to tell your customers more about what your brand represents and who your ideal audience is.
By positioning your product in the marketplace, you help the public decide if your brand is for them or not. This signalling is vital for differentiating your products from the competition, explaining how you fit into the market.
A simple way to differentiate your brand is by aligning your imagery with your products' price point. For example, luxury goods will require an equally luxurious setting, with elaborate props and matching decor. In contrast, a budget option should be placed in a highly relatable setting that appeals to the mass market.
Build An Emotional Connection
By using storylines that connect with an audience, brands can create an emotional connection. This is the ‘go-to’ approach for corporate brands looking to sell products in modern advertising.
Focussing on the human tendency for social connection works well in media, with brands opting for scenes that feature family, friends, or even pets. Examples of companies doing this well include Ikea, McDonalds, and McCain’s.
An easy way to generate ideas for emotional connections is to think about scenarios where your product would be used and dwell on the human element in the scenario. A dining table brings people together, a food product can be shared between friends, or a carpet can be a playground for children.
Show The Benefits Of Your Product
By placing your product in a still scene, you can show the impact it would make to your customers' day-to-day life . This is why lifestyle photography can be great for products that have a practical use. Promote kitchen appliances by showing a home made meal, show the comfort of a chair with a model relaxing and reading a book, or highlight how easy a laid flooring is to clean.
How To Get Started With Lifestyle Photography
To get you started, we’ve listed the aspects of a lifestyle photography shoot that you'll need to think about.
Understand Your Brand Vision
It’s important you have a clear understanding of your brand’s identity, values, and target audience. All these aspects will need to be considered throughout the planning process and into the creation of your images.
Outline Your Budget
Your budget will be a key factor in your lifestyle photography project. Outlining this early will help save you time when assessing the options and engaging professional services. Contact organisations to get costings for models, stylists, photographers, set builders and post-production services. You may have to make compromises to your vision if your budget is tight, but often there’s a way around these restrictions by altering methods of production.
Plan Your Storyline And Shot List
You should write out a list of shots you would like to capture and storyboard these to create a narrative. Start by thinking about your product, and what you need to show your potential customers, then incorporate these into the storyline. This will help you see the images in a sequence and ensure you don’t miss out any crucial elements of your product, brand, or story.
Find A Lifestyle Photography Studio
Your studio set and photographer must be able to represent your storyline. There are multiple ways to create a backdrop, and your choice should take into account your desired style, logistics, and budget. Speak to a photography studio about your requirements and get an understanding of their approach.
The most customisable backdrop is often a purpose-built set in a photography studio – here you will have the most control. Location shoots can be an option, but they can make logistics more difficult, and finding the perfect setting for your shoot can take time. Alternatively, you could create a digital background using a technique called virtual production – this can work well for smaller tabletop products as well as food and drink.
Include Models
If your budget allows, look at how you could introduce models that may fit your storyline and brand. Reach out to model’s directly or contact a local model agency to start casting. If you’re using a professional photography studio, it’s likely that they will be able to support you with their regular contacts. Make sure you’re aware of the usage fee requirements for your chosen models, as this may increase costs significantly.
Consider Styling
Styling a lifestyle image can be difficult, and often requires a professional stylist. They can help you create the look you’re aiming for with authentic choices that match your brand’s feel. You will want to do your research, as many stylists will have expertise in certain sectors. Your photography studio partner may have in-house stylists or freelancers that they regularly use. Your chosen stylist will be able to work with you on prop selection and arranging these in a way that brings reality to your set.
Post-production
It's worth thinking ahead to your post-production needs. You may be able to make stylistic choices in the planning stage that can be completed in post-production. Not only can image editing ensure a perfect representation of your product, but it can also save on costs by adding elements that aren’t present in the shoot such as backgrounds, window views, and some props.
Prodoto’s Lifestyle Photography Studio
Prodoto has been taking lifestyle photographs since 2006 with top brands. We are commercially minded, and support clients with content for product launches across ecommerce sites, social media, and within advertising.
Lifestyle Photography With Grahame Gardner
Our long-standing client, Grahame Gardner, spoke to us about lifestyle photography to make their website imagery more immersive. The idea was to use a spa set with models that would show off their workwear range.
