This may be a controversial topic, especially to brand photographers however this topic is something that needs to be addressed especially in the product business community.
You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on a photographer to get great product photos!
When we first started our t-shirt business, we were under the impression that we either had to learn to take our own photos or hire a professional photographer. Boy, we were so wrong!
Did you know that you can get the same type of product photos that a photographer would take for less than $8 an image?
It’s not too good to be true… its called using mockups! Now I know what you may be thinking: “mockups look cheap and fake so why would I want to use them?”
You are not wrong for thinking that! We have seen some pretty rough looking mockups out there ( like the ones from Printful) but that doesn’t mean that all mockups look like that. There are so many mockups, like the ones from our shop, that are so eye-catching and easy to use. (No photoshop needed!)
In fact, if you go to Etsy and type in “mockups” you can scroll through the thousands of listings that exist to find one that suits your needs. If you don’t know how to use a mockup, then check out this quick IG tutorial that we created. It’s so simple!
So why should your product business use mockups instead of hiring a photographer?
Brand Photographers are expensive
You’ll be spending upwards of $600 for a 1-2 hour session. If you’re a small business just starting out you def dont have that kind of money. You know how important having good quality product photos is for your business but spending that much just doesn’t seem reasonable to you. And you’re NOT wrong to think that!
Not enough time to take every photo you need
If you are a print on demand business or have a lot of new products that you design, you won’t have enough time to take every photo you need. I’ve heard from countless product shops on Etsy that they hired someone and was only able to take 5-6 products to their session. The whole point of spending all that money on a product shoot is to get every shot you need.
It’s overwhelming to plan and organize a shoot
If you have a good product photographer, they should help with parts of this process however no one knows your business as well as you do so you will need to do the majority of the heavy lifting here. Finding and scheduling the models, searching for locations, planning the aesthetic of the shoot and coming up with ideas will be your main tasks, not to mention steaming shirts (if needed) and putting outfits together. If being creative isn’t your strong suit, then this is probably the most daunting task.
To be honest, we are a little overwhelmed just typing this but we are here to tell you, there is a better way …
Just use mockups!
If you don’t believe us, download our free mockup starter pack here and see how they can completely transform your shop!
