Jewelry ECOMM Tech
Lifestyle vs. “White Background” Photography - Which Is Better To Show Your Products? (Part 1) October 30, 2018 (0 comments)
Do you often find yourself torn between lifestyle and white background jewelry photography? It’s easy to get confused when you’re caught in a conflicted situation involving two desirable options with two different but appealing goals, which is why in this two-part post, we’re going to take you with us as we break down the pros and cons of using lifestyle jewelry photos and white background photos.
For starters, take a look at these!
Which do you prefer? The plain one on the left or the evocative one on the right? Before you make a convincing case for either of these two, let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages. Part 1 will focus on white background jewelry photography to be followed by Part 2: lifestyle photography.
The Pros and Cons of Using White Background Jewelry Photography
According to statistics, 88% of online shoppers consider a detailed product content to be very important in making a buying decision. This is true; however, be careful not to overwhelm shoppers with verbose product descriptions as not everyone has the time to read word-for-word. When you present your product content, think of your potential shoppers as very visual people. Their brains process visual information 60,000 times faster than text; hence, listing professional or at least professional-looking product photos is more effective. The question is, do white background jewelry photos contain details needed by your potential shoppers? You’re about to find out!
The Pros
#1. It promotes consistency
Consistency is one the key principles of persuasion, and this is one of the advantages you’ll be getting when you take jewelry photos on a white background. Using white background across all jewelry product listings, as shown in the sample image above, adds a sense of order and uniformity.
Imagine you’re your potential shopper. You go to your website and are greeted with different colored backgrounds, lighting, and angles. It’s highly likely that the first reaction would be confusion. You’ll easily get distracted, and it would be difficult to find the one you need; thereby, delaying your decision to buy. This isn’t good for your business. When online selling, you only have seven seconds to attract your potential shoppers, so make sure that you get their attention immediately using clean and consistent white backdrops. Never confuse them. Eliminate as many barriers to selling as you can.
#2. It highlights the details
Click here to watch how we photographed the bracelet using the GemLightbox and an iPhone.
There’s no better way to emphasize the details of the product other than photographing it against a white backdrop as shown in the image above. As you can see, it puts into focus the quality of the finish, the intricate designs, and even helps you visualize the texture of the bracelet. This is achievable on a white background because there are no distracting elements in the photo.
#3. It emphasizes the true colors of your gems
Colors matter, especially if you’re selling colored diamonds and other colored gemstones like the one pictured above. Using a white background is a good way to show those beautiful, vibrant colors as white blends well with any colors and doesn’t overshadow the subject. Unlike other colored backgrounds that affect the shades of your subject, white helps in emphasizing the true colors of your gems and doesn’t take away your shoppers’ attention from your product.
#4. It saves you time and money
Using a white background simplifies your jewelry photography process while saving you time and money. Unlike lifestyle jewelry photos, white background jewelry photos don’t require expenses and time to cover models, locations, stylists and/or makeup artists, a professional photographer, and sometimes, an art director.
Here, your equipment and tools are minimized to your white background props, lighting setups, your jewelry pieces, and of course your camera. If you’re not a pro, you can even send your photos to jewelry retouching experts like PicUp Media to do post-production process for you, as shown in the image above. The photo was polished to perfection and was done so to remove the putty used to hold the ring at a three-quarter angle. See the photo retouching process here.
or use the GemLightbox to get an instant white background with just one click using your smartphone device.
Aside from the fact that it doesn’t need a grand photo shoot setup, white background jewelry photography is also a great time-saver because its simplified process minimizes the time required to do post-production.
The Con: It's Not Social Media Ready
People on social media want eye-catching, shareable product photos, so If you want to build a connection with your potential shoppers on various social media pages, you should know that white background jewelry photography is one major way to drive them away. White background photos mean business. It’s an outright way to sell to your target shoppers; however, this isn’t an ideal or effective way to catch their attention on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.