Product photography for businesses is more affordable than you think

Unfortunately, most business owners or marketing specialists believe that world-class professional photography is out of their budget. That their boutique or Etsy store is too small to justify stunning visual content. Well, keep reading, you might be surprised.

1. The way it used to be

Before working at Elysian, I worked for large, industry leading retailer studio. I’m talking 50-person teams of photographers, stylists, production assistants, and technicians. Studio equipment worth millions of dollars, including the most top-of-the-line camera, lighting, and grip gear. We would spend an entire day building a set the size of a house from prop sections the size of a grocery store, all for one image. What I’m getting at here is that no expense was spared for professional photography.

These guys had the means to do this. They had the resources, from space, to manpower, to straight up capital, to fund productions of this size. Don’t get me wrong, as a photographer working in those productions, it was a blast! Nothing beats it, and my portfolio reflects that. But everyday I couldn’t help but think one thing:

How is it fair that we can do this but smaller stores can’t?

Seriously. There wasn’t anything special about the things we were selling: furniture, clothes, accessories, products you see everywhere. But just because we were a “powerhouse retailer” we had the leisure of sparing no expense to produce world-class imagery. And that just rubbed me the wrong way.

How is it fair that a smaller company, one that arguably sells better, higher-quality products, has to abandon the idea of this world-class imagery because they can’t afford a team of salaried photographers and $250,000 worth of equipment? It’s either that or spend $150-$300 per hour on a contractor who has obligations with dozens of other companies and works on his or her schedule. So these stores have to resort to iPhone photos taken next to a window against a white wall. Oh, and stylized, commercial-quality images for advertising? Forget about it.

2. The way it should be

In a perfect world we wouldn’t have this problem. In this world, your Etsy store or local boutique would have the same caliber of imagery as Anthropologie, Apple, or Nike. Why shouldn’t it? You’re selling awesome products too, your samples should be represented with the quality and captivation that all the “big guys” have.

But, of course, like most things, it comes down to money.

And that’s why we totally get why small to medium-sized businesses think high-tier photography is out of reach. No, most companies do not have the capital to afford thousands of dollars of equipment, a staffed or contracted team of stylists, photographers, and editors, or the space to do a photo shoot.

What there should be is a service to outsource this work. A studio, if you will, that has already made the financial investment so that you don’t have to. A studio where you can ship all of your products, have them styled, shot, and edited for you, and returned as fast, if not faster, than if you had that team in our office. An end-to-end solution with the infrastructure already in place to automate photography for any brand.

3. How we do it

That’s where we come in. Here at Elysian we have done the hard part of building out an infrastructure that caters to businesses who are in need of professional quality visual content at a very competitive rate.

We know what you’re about to ask: “If you’re doing this, why aren’t more studios doing it?

Great question. Though we have the infrastructure for (and currently work with) large retailers or manufacturers, we designed our model to better benefit the small to medium-sized brands. Long ago we identified the problem described above, and we made the decision to address cost and efficiency for average sized businesses, while most studios choose to fish for the “big guys.”

To do this, we acquired some amazingly advanced technology and fully equipped our studio. This is technology we don’t really see anywhere else, and it allows us to better automate our shot lists, sample flow, production, and editing. With the combination of cutting edge technology, process automation, and hiring team members with vast industry knowledge, we are proud of the fact that our prices come in about 30% lower than the average of our competitors’ rates.

4. Why we do it

At the end of the day we are a business, and any business likes to make money. We would be lying to you if we said otherwise. But we watched as too many studios prioritized their profits over the services they offered their customers. That didn’t sit well with us, and we wanted to prioritize our client relationships and passing benefits to them.

We made the decision to identify the perfect balance between making a profit that will help our studio grow, and passing savings along to you, our customers, who might not have had access to services like these without our low price points.

Born from a pandemic

You may have noticed that the birth of Elysian came at a weird time: in the middle of a pandemic. Some call us crazy, but others see why we opened when we did.

We all can agree on one thing: people aren’t shopping in stores as much anymore. This was a trend before Covid-19, but the pandemic sealed the deal. We watched as small to medium-sized businesses, the ones that relied heavily on foot traffic, were being forced to prioritize online sales over brick and mortar sales. And though we knew that these businesses were smart, strong, and resilient, we also knew that they would need some help.

Search engine optimization (SEO), social media posting, marketing, advertising, targeting customers, and of course, photography….

If you’re a business who relied on foot traffic in your store, that list might be new to you. And that’s where we come in. We wanted to make sure all the great businesses who were hit hard by Covid-19 had the help and services they need to thrive online amidst a global pandemic. From education content, like this, to online tutorials, to actually producing your visual content, we are here to help you transition to a new way of conducting your business.

5. What now?

Sure, we’d love nothing more than if you went to our services page right now and bought a photography package from us for your business' products. But our brand here at Elysian is so much more than that. We want you to keep us in mind, read through some of our educational content, follow us to get news and updates on industry trends, and know that we are here to help. Of course we will be here when you’re ready to produce some awesome visual content for your brand.

Are you interested in shooting your own product photography?

Great! For additional information on how to build your own studio, click the link below to visit an amazing article from the Pixpa blog! It offers great information for businesses or photographers looking to learn more about starting their own studio, including picking a location, what equipment to buy, and how much money to invest in the studio.