How to Take Clothing Photography For Your Online Store

High-quality clothing photography is essential in apparel ecommerce. Learn pro tips for shooting professional-looking apparel photos.

Consumers are increasingly shopping for clothes online, making high-quality clothing photos more important than ever. In 2023, 50% of shoppers purchased a clothing item online that they previously would have bought at a brick-and-mortar store, according to a survey from 1WorldSync.

Buying clothes online can be tricky. Without the ability to see and feel a garment in person, customers rely heavily on the images clothing retailers provide. According to a 2023 survey, more than half of shoppers consider brand- or retailer-provided imagery when deciding whether or not to purchase a piece of clothing.

Here’s everything you need to know about shooting clothing for your online store, including common product photography styles, equipment needed, and steps for capturing compelling images.

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3 clothing photography styles

1. Flat lay
2. Models and mannequins
3. Lifestyle

The days of relying solely on one or two photos of your clothing line against a white background are fading fast. In the past few years, online stores have increased the number and display styles of their product photos to cater to the widest consumer base possible.

Incorporating flat-lay photography, models, backdrops, and lifestyle shots into your workflow can create a fuller context for each piece in your clothing line. Mix in close-up shots and multiple angles within each of these displays and you’ll have a catalog of clothing photos that provides a well-rounded view of each garment.

Here are some of the most popular approaches to clothing photography:

1. Flat lay

Flat-lay clothing photography is a way of presenting your apparel on a flat surface, showing off the colors, textures, and potential styling combinations of your pieces. For example, you can lay a pair of pants, a shirt, a hat, some accessories, and a pair of shoes all in one frame to showcase an entire look without needing a model or mannequin. Try to be intentional with a color palette or theme to make your flat lays really pop.

The textured background gives a stylized look to this flat lay, which features a few pieces of clothing and accessories. Unsplash

2. Models and mannequins

In 2023, the number-one reason customers returned clothing was because they didn’t like the size they purchased, according to Power Reviews. It can be hard to tell exactly how a product will fit when you can’t try it on, but modeling the garment on an actual human can be a big help.

If you have the budget for professional models, try to show a range of heights and body types to give your customers a better sense of how your clothes will fit their particular body.

Activewear brand Girlfriend Collective is known for showing its clothing on a range of body sizes. Girlfriend Collective

If models aren’t in your budget, mannequins can be quite effective as an alternative. Mannequins can still display the way your garments drape and fit on the human form.

Adored Vintage uses an antique mannequin to show the shape of the dress while also emphasizing the label’s retro branding. Adored Vintage

3. Lifestyle

Displaying your clothing in a lifestyle setting is a great way to inspire your customers. Lifestyle product photos are usually shot in natural light, giving a real-world context to colors, fits, and styling options.

Think outside the box and take note of locations in your area that are visually appealing or that complement the color palette of your clothes. For example, if you have a clothing line consisting of earth tones like green, brown, and burnt orange, a lush forest setting or wooded park with similar tones may be a great place to capture your photos.

The rich green of the model's monochromatic outfit is mirrored by the green and brown tones of their surroundings. Outerknown

🌟Resource: What Is Color Psychology? How To Use Color in Marketing

What you need to photograph clothing

• Camera
• Lighting
• Backdrop

You don’t need a warehouse to set up a photo studio; a small room or blank wall within your home, office, or store can work just fine. You can make do with a smartphone camera, tripod, natural light, and a white wall. Just be sure you have enough space to position the backdrop, camera, lighting, and clothing.

Camera

If you have a newer smartphone, the camera is likely capable of taking great photos with little to no learning curve. This is a great option for taking casual product shots for social media, especially if you do not have the budget for a DSLR or mirrorless camera.

If you want more professional-looking images, a DSLR or mirrorless camera can make a world of difference. Mirrorless options have the newest features and upgrades, but DSLR cameras can be more budget-friendly.

If you do decide to upgrade your camera, purchase a prime lens (with the camera body or separately). A 50 millimeter lens boasts a great all-around focal length for studio photography. However, you can use fixed lenses anywhere from 50 millimeters to 200 millimeters, depending on the space available and the depth of field you’re after.

🌟Resource: Essential Product Photography Tools for Ecommerce

Lighting

Artificial lighting is the industry standard when shooting in a studio. Use a key light, fill light, and backlight to achieve three-point lighting. This combination of studio lights brighten shadows caused by the draping nature of clothing. The key light is the primary light source facing your product, the fill light illuminates the opposite side of the product, and the backlight goes behind the product.

These different angles of light sources are ideal for clothing photography, as you can move each light to show off specific details such as stitching and graphics. You can purchase a three-point lighting kit online (complete with light stands), or you can use individual studio lights to create your own setup.

Backdrop

Most often white or light gray in color, backdrops are a great way to show off the colors and textures of your clothing line without distracting objects in the background. Depending on the color of your garments, a slightly off-white or gray backdrop may come in handy to show off lighter colors that may not have enough contrast when placed on pure white.

You can purchase premade backdrops, but sheets, large rolls of paper, or canvas drop cloths also work.

How to photograph clothing for your ecommerce store

1. Prepare your clothing
2. Choose your location
3. Set your camera
4. Take the photos
5. Edit your images

Once you have a few ideas for how you want to display your clothing line, it’s time to hit the photography studio. Below is a step-by-step guide for how to approach a clothing photography shoot:

1. Prepare your clothing

Clothing is a unique product to shoot because you have to be aware of wrinkles, lint, pilling, and loose stitches. Minor details can make or break your images, so take the time to look over each garment closely for imperfections and give each a once-over with a lint roller.

After you’ve chosen a few pieces, use an iron or clothing steamer to smooth out wrinkles. Hang the pieces on a rack away from your working space until you are ready to shoot your photo.

🌟Resource: How To Start an Online Boutique With No Money

2. Choose your location

Decide when and where your photoshoot will take place. You can capture lifestyle shots anywhere with natural light, but the time of day and where the sun is relative to your shooting location are two important factors.

You can achieve warmer colors at golden hour (sunset, or as the sun is setting), and cooler tones at blue hour (dusk, or just after the sun has set). Keep in mind, tall buildings and dense foliage can greatly affect the light available.

3. Set your camera

The main advantage of both DSLR and mirrorless cameras is the built-in manual and aperture-priority modes, giving you full control of your images. Manual mode will allow you to change the aperture, focus, and shutter speed to your exposure needs.

Aperture affects the amount of light passing through to the camera, allowing for brighter or darker photography. It also determines how much of your photo appears in focus from front to back.

Shutter speed is the length of time your camera shutter is open when taking a photo. Fast shutter speeds are great for capturing action, while slow shutter speeds will show a motion blur.

These are especially important when your apparel line consists of dark and light colors that will reflect or absorb light differently, or if you need to capture movement.

Aperture priority mode is a semi-automatic setting allowing you to choose your aperture value while automatically adjusting your shutter speed for accurate exposure. If you are a beginner photographer or simply want your workflow to be a bit smoother during a photo shoot, aperture priority mode is a great starting point.

If you are using a smartphone, you can modify exposure and focus using the settings within your camera app. Explore the functions available on your specific operating system to achieve the best lighting and focus possible.

4. Take the photos

Mount your camera to a tripod to avoid camera shake and set your camera to your preferred mode to start taking photos. Focus can be achieved manually on your lens, or you can rely on the automatic focus by pressing halfway down on the shutter button before snapping your photo.

Take multiple photos of each piece, changing angles relative to your garment, rotating your garment, and incorporating close-ups. Showing the texture of your fabrics and all sides of each piece will eliminate a lot of guesswork when your customers are ready to purchase.

5. Edit your images

Photo editing primarily entails:

• Background removal when you have unwanted distractions in the image
• Color correction to ensure accurate color representation
• Applying filters for stylistic choices
• Adjusting exposure for even lighting
• Cropping for better framing
• Resizing your images for social media compatibility

🌟Resource: Website Image Size Guidelines

Editing software will ensure your apparel photography shots are ready for distribution. Photoshop and Lightroom are popular paid editing applications among professional photographers and enthusiasts alike, but many free online photo editing apps like Shopify’s Media Editor are more than capable of similarly assisting you in the post-production process.

Clothing photography FAQ

What is the best camera setting for clothing photography?

Clothing product photography will be easiest to capture with a DSLR or mirrorless camera set to manual or aperture priority mode. These two camera settings will allow you to adjust focus, shutter speed, and aperture value to yield great image quality, sharp focus, and correct exposure.

How much does clothing photography cost?

The cost to photograph clothing yourself can vary widely depending on how much photography equipment you currently have and the types of displays you intend to use. Acquiring all-new equipment will cost about $5,000. Hiring a professional photographer will likely cost between $200 and $500 per hour. If you want to use models, you’ll have to compensate them for their time as well. Finally, there’s photo editing—if you take your own photos, you can either hire a photo editor to polish the images, or use free post-production applications to achieve final photos ready for your website or social media.

How do you photograph clothing?

You can photograph clothes using the flat lay technique (laying clothes flat and shooting overhead), lifestyle shots showing the clothes in a realistic setting, on models and mannequins wearing the clothes, or in a studio setting with apparel pieces against a backdrop. Use multiple techniques to give your consumers a more accurate portrait of what they’re buying.