Product photography on white background: Do you need it?
White background photography is a classic, but is it always the best choice for your brand? Discover when to use it and when to explore creative alternatives that showcase your product’s unique personality and make it stand out in a crowded marketplace.
White background product photography: A clean slate or a missed opportunity?
Let’s talk about white backgrounds in product photography. They’re everywhere, aren’t they? E commerce sites, product catalogs, social media feeds… It’s a sea of pure white out there!
And for good reason! Using a pure white backdrop in product photography creates a clean, minimalist look that puts the focus squarely on your product. Quality product photography can help with a strong brand presence and white background images are versatile, easy to work with, and can create a sense of consistency across your product lines. White background product photos are especially versatile and professional in beauty product photography, seamlessly fitting into various marketing campaigns to captivate customers’ attention and boost sales. Plus, they’re a breeze to edit if you give them a pure white background in post production, ensuring your product images always look crisp and professional.
But… (you knew there was a “but” coming, didn’t you?)
White can be boring!
While white backgrounds have their advantages, they can also be a bit… well, boring. Using a white wall as a backdrop for larger scale shoots, especially for portrait photography or product photography, can be effective if the wall is smooth and free of textures. However, they don’t always showcase your product’s personality or tell a captivating story. Product photography with a plain white background can blend in, making it harder for your products to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Ways to inject some personality into your product photography!
At NFE Branding Co, we believe that product photography should be more than just a blank canvas. It should be a celebration of your brand’s unique style and aesthetic. It’s one of the reasons why we shoot exclusively with natural lighting and encourage brands to have a good mix of lifestyle photos and studio product photos available to be used.
We offer a variety of product photography styling options beyond plain white background photography. Think incorporating textured tiles, natural surfaces like marble or wood, and even fabric backdrops for a touch of softness. We can even add in custom props, hands, water drips and splashes and fresh flowers to create a truly unique and engaging visual narrative. In our product photography studio we have a large selection of plain background colors across the whole rainbow. If we don’t have the colour you want we can source a new vinyl background or possibly use photo editing software to adjust the colours.
By using different backdrops rather than always plain white, you can create a more diverse and interesting collection of product photos that will capture your audience’s attention and stop the scroll.
Coordinated, yet unique:
We understand the importance of consistency, especially for e commerce. But that doesn’t mean every photo of your products has to look the same. We can create a cohesive look across your product range while still allowing for individual personality and flair.
Think of it like a well-curated wardrobe: each piece is unique, but they all work together to create a cohesive style. This is where hiring professional photographers (like us!) can be beneficial. We can ensure a consistent aesthetic while still capturing the unique character of each product.
Below you can see a selection of images we created from one Australian natural skincare brand, Vanessa Megan that shows a variety of shots including lifestyle flat lay photography, white background images, skincare UGC photography, and lifestyle bathroom photography.
The best of both worlds.
One popular approach is to use white background shots (often called “e commerce photos”) for product pages on your website, where the focus is on showcasing the product in a clean, uncluttered way. Then, when customers hover over the image, more detailed lifestyle shots appear, giving them a glimpse of the product in a real-world setting. This gives your website a perfectly white look at first glance, but detail when people want it.
This way, you get the best of both worlds: clean, detailed product images for your online store, and more engaging, aspirational lifestyle photos for your social media and marketing materials.
Colour theme
Alternately – we can create studio photography style images with a coloured background.
Here’s another example from a recent client Bohemian Skin, with new website images created using a colour palette centered around pink, peach, blue and purple.
Skincare swatch images
We can also create product swatch photos of your skincare brand. These are highly effective at showcasing unique aspects of your products. They do look great on a perfectly white background but can also look equally effective on coloured background or textured tiles or stone.
Want to learn more?
At NFE Branding Co, we’re passionate about helping brands tell their stories through captivating visuals. If you’re ready to ditch the boring white backgrounds with artificial lighting and create product photos that truly reflect your brand’s unique personality, get in touch! We’d love to chat about how we can help you elevate your product photography and make your brand shine.