Shoe Photography Tips for Beginners

The number one factor that drives the shoe sales upwards is top-quality photography of the product. Many product photographers make the mistake of highlighting the associated model or the exotic car in the frame and the actual product remains a complement to the other elements as opposed to being the highlight. Today we will learn valuable tips about shoe photography.
These tips will help any beginner to capture professional-quality photos of the product that are suitable for a product catalog or an ad in the magazine. This is the most important factor since even great products have been known to fail without good photo representation that doesn't appeal to the customer. A good photographic shot will go a long way in enticing desire in the minds of the consumer that will make the specific shoes a must-have product in their lives.

Are you representing a shoe brand on Instagram?

Are you a budding photographer who got an opportunity to make an interesting and creative shoe ad for an upcoming brand?
Or are you an e-commerce seller who doesn't have the budget to hire a professional photographer but would like a good digital representation of your product?

These tips will go a long way in capturing that perfect shot of the shoes.

The purpose of using a model is to bring that extract attention from the customer that will be absent in a photograph that represents the shoes alone. Using a model is better contextually too. The end result is that the various poses of the model will help the customer in imagining how the shoes look while they are wearing in real life.

1. the rule book says that women should wear shoes with size 7 and men with size 9 for the optimal shot.
the legs of the model have to be slender for a better representation of the product
2. a photographic shot from the waist down are always good for shoes
3. the model shouldn’t be in a static motion. he/she always has to be in motion like running, dancing or simply walking accordion to the type of shoe they are wearing.
4. the color of the outfit should not dominate the product but rather complement it.

Irrespective of the purpose of the shoe photography (be it for a magazine ad, for the amazon product page or for showcasing the shoes on an Instagram page), the most important thing in shoe photography is lighting. Not using the correct lighting setup or environment is a recipe for disaster. These tips will help you in avoiding such a disaster.

1. to make the shoes as well as the lace float, a thin string such as dental floss to be used.
2. to remove the harshness of the shadows, it is advisable to use at least 2 sources of lighting that will cover the corresponding shadows with bright light.
3. before commencing the photoshoot, the exposure has to be set accordingly and that setting should not be changed in any case as that will lead to unevenness in the shots.
4. there is a valuable feature in photoshop which is called as a clone tool. This will help in eliminating the area where the hand is obstructing the part of the shoe.

When the customer lays their eyes on a desirable product, they will try to grasp as many details about the product from the visual representation. When you see a photo of a shoe on an Instagram page, the angle is in such a way that the highlighting details of the shoes are clearly visible. They include the platform, the brand symbol, the length of the heel, color and other design elements that make the shoe desirable. the following tips will help in deciding the angle for shoe photography.

1. if you are not sure about the perfect angle, try to take a shot of every conceivable angle of the shoe. This helps you later in finding the perfect angle of the shoe.
2. every photo shoot has to include the side view, top view and back view shot of the shoe.
3. a shot of the shoes when it is turned slightly to the left, as well as the right, is also standard.
4. one of the most important angles is the closeup angle that will highlight the texture of the used material.

4. White Background

The classing representation of the shoes in digital or ad format is with a pure white background. Shoe sots with a pure white back look clean and classy. This is the reason why almost all of the shoe’s main pictures on an online platform such as Amazon, Esty, and eBay are with a white classy background. The reason behind the white background is to simply highlight the shoes for the customer without getting distracted by the other general elements such as a model wearing it or the environment surrounding the shoes. It is to be kept in mind the shadow has to be avoided and the lighting has to be bright enough to properly display the product but not too bright that the shoe is overexposed. The following tips are invaluable.

1. a pure white background will highlight the color of the shoe as it is in real life.
2. it is generally advisable to use a sweep made of paper as they tend to get dirty easily. In such a case, the dirty part is cut-off and a new sweep is ready in no time.
3. direct sunlight has to be avoided as they make the lighting condition suboptimal and hence, the product will look bad,
4. the white balance setting in the camera should be set to auto mode.
5. the shoes are best represented in a lightbox that will allow controlled lighting conditions. In the absence of such a box, a light has to be set on the right side, left side as well as on the top of the product to compensate for the shadows.
6. the shoes have to be stuffed with pieces of paper or a cloth to make them look full. Thin threads such as medical floss can be used when the shoes have to be held up in the frame.
the illusion of a model wearing the shoe has to be created to make the shoe look in its best form.

5. the Setup

Shoe photography is comparatively simple but can be quite profitable if you know how to tweak the camera to make the product look fashionable, what colour of the background and lighting methods have to be employed, what is that perfect posed of the model or the angle of the product that will make the shoe irresistible to the eyes of the customer. These tips will help you in the process.

1. for simply classy photos, a lightbox that costs no more than a few hundred will come in handy.
2. sublet lighting conditions have to be employed. Bright, harsh lighting conditions can create direct shadows which are worse than photographing a bad product.
3. a little further to the open window can create beautiful photographs with even lighting across the shoes. If artificial even lighting condition is what you have adopted for, then renting a studio is the easiest way to get that perfect shoe shot.
4. if the shot has to be outdoors, the early morning or evening in areas where shadows are dominant has to be chosen to get the even tone. Mid-day lighting has to be avoided at all costs (except a certain specific shooting requirements) for the lighting condition is very difficult to control and will most likely ruin the shot.

6. Floating Shoe Magic

In most of the ads that have moved volumes of shoe pairs off the shelves of the stores, it is most likely that the floating shoe methods have been employed. It simply demands the attention of the viewing person. Hence a hit formula. These are the tips in bringing the magic into your shot.

1. a high aperture should be used on your DSLR camera such as f/11. This will help in capturing every detail of the shoe.
2. first envision the kind of shot you would like, then create an environment that will be perfect for the desired shot.
3. avoid a soft focus and be sure to have complete shoe shot focus.

7. the Laid Shot

Many self-promoting bloggers and brand influencers on social media use this kind of shot. The laid shot is a method where the shoes are laid among other general use but relative objects such as clothes as well as bad and the photographs are taken from the top view or the bird’s eye view with all the objects are in the frame. Generally, the color of the tabletop should be in contrast to the shoes and the light conditions should be natural or similar to it.
Tips include:

1. slight angular shots are also taken but top view shots are ideal for this type of photography.
2. imagine the shot to be a matrix of three by three. The product placement is ideal not in the center but on the sideline.
3. the surface and certain objects in the shot should be of contrasting color that will complement the promoting product. This will help in a unified theme of the entire product shot.
4. the background has to be chosen very carefully as it can make or break the entire product shot. A neutral background is usually preferred like a flat table or a rectangular wooden surface.
5. empty spaces have to be provided and that too strategically so as to make the shoes as well as the entire shot more interesting.
6. soft and uniform lighting has to be employed for that perfect shot. Any disparities can be adjusted in the post-production retouching.

8. THE 360-Degree Shot

With the advancements in technology, there came the 360-degree photography method where the customer will be able to view the product in 3-dimensional virtual space. This will help the customer in having a better representation of the product. If you want to be a professional photographer or if you want to take your skills to another level, then investing in the 360-degree equipment is highly recommended. Here are the accompanying tips:

1. Before the product is shot, the shoes have to be at the very center of the turntable. Else there will be wobble and unevenness in the 360-degree shot.
2. the number of minimum recommended frames to capture is 24.
3. the first frame should never be shot the second time.
4. spacing between every angle should be equal.
5. the first shot should always be the front go the shoes.

9. Background.

The main thing that captures the attention in the visual or print ad (not many people know this either) that the shot in the ad tells us a story. Shoes telling a story is weird but it's true. That is why shoes on vista pages are popular. They are shot in such a way that they tell a story that is different to each user. It is a personal story that no other person can experience. The color of the background, the lighting condition the angle of the shoes and the pose of the person wearing it, all help in telling such a story. And in all this, the background is the most important if the story has to be compelling.

1.as discussed earlier, a pure white background will always help in achieving that classy and fashionable look which never goes out of style.
2. but in certain cases, grossly looks is desired for the product. In such cases, an acrylic backdrop has to be employed
3. other photos such as the lifestyle shots should only accompany the white background ones and should never be a substitute for them.
4. outdoor shots should ensure that the shoes should be appropriate for the season in which they are shot.
5. never ever make the mistake of using the backdrop that is exactly similar to the color of the shoe.

10. Retouching

Every photo, be it a shot taken on an expensive DSLR in a studio lighting setting or an amateur snap in the backyard, every photo needs retouching according to the needs and requirements. Many online tutorials are available on YouTube that will clearly explain how to manipulate a shot so that the needed result is extracted from it. Make sure to watch multiple videos before attempting any kind of photo retouching via software. Some services also provide AI retouching where an artificially intelligent program will scan the photograph and will suggest edits based on your requirement.

1. The clipping path tool is to be employed to cut out the shoes from a background and place it on a white backdrop.
2. borders should be carefully added and the provided shadow has to be as natural as possible.
3. recoloring has to be employed when the lighting condition is dimply or poorly or unevenly lit.
4. the shoe has to look as real as possible in the shot. So, it is advisable that the retouching has to be done only on the necessary areas and not on others.

11. Creative Shots

Clever ideas have been implemented by various photographers to make a shoe look very different from the normal perspective of an average consumer. Creativity is something that everyone holds and expressing them in visual form takes practice. The only tip for budding photographers is to try different kinds of shots. There will be 100 failed photographs before the perfect creative shot is taken.

A shoe photo editing company specializes in transforming raw footwear images into polished, captivating visuals for e-commerce and marketing. They offer services like background removal, color correction, shadow creation, and retouching to eliminate imperfections. Their expertise ensures shoes appear consistent, vibrant, and appealing, ultimately boosting online sales and brand perception.