Types Of Photography for Fashion Ecommerce

Fashion eCommerce is one of the most versatile eCommerce businesses. What works for one eCommerce business might not work for another, and this can even be seen in the different types of photography for fashion eCommerce.

Brands of all categories and niches have different styles and types of photography for fashion eCommerce that they choose. In this article, you’ll learn about those types of eCommerce fashion photography.

Types Of Photography For Fashion eCommerce

Flat Lay Fashion Photography

Cost: Low

Efforts: Low

Photography Skill Set: Beginner

Customer Experience: Balanced

Flat-lay is a type of photography for fashion eCommerce in which products are placed on the ground or a table and captured from the top angle. This technique is one of the most cost-efficient but also very effective.

Visitors can quickly look at the product, engage with it, and enjoy a good customer experience without getting distracted.

57.2% use flat-lay photography for fashion eCommerce to present their products.

Here are a few tips that you must consider for the following type of photography for fashion eCommerce.

• Steam-iron the clothes to ensure there are no wrinkles on the clothing.
• Use soft lighting to avoid any hard shadow over the product.
• Use a clean, solid color background (like a white sheet) to make the product stand out.
• Make sure the product is properly spread on the ground. Use pins or tape to hold the product in its natural shape.
• Take close-ups of important sections of clothing, such as the collar of the shirt, cuffs, and the design or pattern of the clothing.
• Show the inside of the clothing as well, especially if you are capturing products like blazers, coats, suits, overshirts, etc.

Ghost Mannequin Photography

Cost: Economical

Efforts: Average

Photography Skill Set: Moderate

Customer Experience: Informative

Ghost mannequin photography is a type of fashion eCommerce photography in which mannequins are used to showcase the product and are later removed from sight during post-production.

This results in a hollow or ghost-like effect: the clothing looks body-fitting, but no one is wearing it.

Ghost mannequin is a type of fashion eCommerce photography that helps showcase clothing photography for e-commerce products most impressively. 

57.2% of the top fashion e-commerce are using Ghost mannequins style to present products online.

Firstly, it is cost-effective as you don’t need models. Second, it lets your customers see the product and how it will look when they wear it.

Most importantly, it allows you to eliminate any distractions in the frame and focus on the product.

Here are a few tips that you must consider for the following type of eCommerce fashion photography.

• Go for mannequins that are specially designed for ghost mannequins. It will reduce the preparation time during photography.
• You’ll have to capture the inside of the product that was initially hidden in the mannequin shot. So make sure you shoot both of them consecutively. It will make file management much easier.
• Pins, clutches, and tapes can be used to make the product fit the mannequin. These can be easily removed during image post-production.
• Using a backlight to create a clean separation of the product from the background for clothing photography for ecommerce.
• Ensure that the whole product is in frame with no portion getting cropped. Leave some negative space around the product to be sure of that.

I would also suggest you learn about Ghost Mannequin vs Flat Lay Photography.

Model Fashion Photography

Cost: High

Efforts: High

Photography Skill Set: Advance

Customer Experience: Professional and informative

This is another type of photography for fashion eCommerce where models are used to showcase the products in the best way possible. The goal of model fashion photography for eCommerce is still to highlight the product.

That is why models are generally accepted just to stand straight or have subtle and not-too-expressive poses.

Still, if the eCommerce branding aligns with being loud and expressive, you can also request those poses.

eCommerce model photography is one of the most effective types of photography for fashion eCommerce as it tells the customer exactly what the product looks like. Models also make great connections with customers.

95.6% of top fashion brands use eCommerce photography on models, which shows how important this style of product photography is.

For example, if you are selling athleisure, a model with an athletic body type will be the best fit.

Here are a few tips that you must consider for the following type of photography for fashion eCommerce:

• Discuss with the model what kind of mood and poses are looking to capture.
• Align the type of model with the product type, as explained in the example above.
• Ensure that the whole frame is well-lit. Refer to our lighting guide to learn everything about eCommerce photography lighting.
• Keep the model’s hair and makeup subtle and natural to avoid distracted customers.
• Prepare a sheet of various types of photographs (like a full model, backside, sideways, cropped, details, etc.) that you need to capture and keep consistent.

Bonus Read

We can further divide the types of photography for fashion eCommerce into indoor and outdoor categories.

However, indoor or studio photography is one of the most professional eCommerce product photography styles. It allows you to control the environment and capture consistent images.

Outdoor, on the other hand, is mostly best for user-generated content and not the brand itself. But still, if that aligns with your brand, you can go ahead with it. The aim is to present your products professionally and customer-friendly way.