It’s been over 15 years since I photographed my first store professionally.
What then started as a statement “I will make it look like a million dollars” was answered with “the store already cost us more than a million dollars”.
This leads me to better understand the impact of pictures on the industry.
While online retail is booming, photographing your store matters more than ever.
Table of Contents
Bringing Customers into the Store
Today with the biggest boom of online shopping, you must provide an amazing experience for your shoppers.
Starting with an amazing and welcoming design, service, and products.
It is time to get people excited to go out and have an experience that they can’t get online.
The impact on Sales
As many people search online they will be exposed to your imagery.
From Google business listings, website store locator, social media, or advertising the images matter more than ever.
When people have a variety of products that they can touch and feel they are more likely to purchase on a larger scale and transmitting the experience through imagery is crucial.
Make sure you transfer the shopping experience through visuals on your website, and not just one:
- Show the exterior to help them recognize you faster.
- Show an overall view of the store
- Feature different departments to understand the entire range of products.
- Make sure it looks appealing and spot on.
How to stage your store before a photoshoot
Most brands would use their planogram or merchandise designer prior we starting to work.
It’s important to remove any “sale” or seasonal branding to give the pictures immortality, no matter when people will see the image it will be up to date.
To save the valuable time of the professional and most importantly you before the photoshoot it’s important to go through the store and make sure everything front to end is organized and impeccable.
Take in mind that most photoshoots are done during the night for maximum results.
The Steps to Photographing Stores
- We would start with the front facade photo to associate the recognition of the brand and the visibility of the store. This is one of the most complex to do, as we have to avoid any reflection on the windows from other brands’ sings and also to elevate the inside of the store.
- Moving inside, we would be able to capture the main space from both sides to showcase the layout and the variety of products.
- Finally, we would focus on different departments or sections to showcase the variety of products.
Jewelry and Watches Store Photography
Jewelry and watches store needs closer attention to shiny materials, reflections, and details.
This is done by using different accessories and lighting techniques in combination with advanced post-production.
Make sure you’re cleaning team removes any fingerprints from the displays and dries them correctly for flawless shots.
Fashion and Apparel Store
Even when having many items on racks and shelves requires proper staging by planogram or the store designer.
Keeping the right color of those items is crucial for the proper representation of the brand and product.
Remove any “Sale” or “Promotion” Sings as we want to have the images time-proofed.
What time of the day should I photograph a retail store?
To minimize the interference we always recommend, unless needed otherwise to capture before opening and/or after you close.
It will allow you to create more complex and impressive images and avoid disturbing the customer while shopping.
Recent Projects
Ralph Lauren, Berluti, Balémage, Victoria’s Secret, Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Swatch, Bobbi Brown, Feature, and many more.
Area of Service
We are a destination photography studio, meaning we travel 99% of our time for clients in Europe and the region.
You might wonder why clients make the effort to bring our studio to international destinations. The answer is simple, most destinations are on average 2-3 hours flights making sure our clients keep their brand and investment safe with proper representation of their hard work.
