How to execute a lifestyle photoshoot for Instagram

Discover expert tips for creating compelling lifestyle product photography that tells a story, elevates your brand, and inspires Instagram followers to engage with your visual content.

Author

Anna Turner
April 06, 2020

There are two main types of product photographs: clean product shots and lifestyle images. The former typically displays products against a clean white background, the latter show products in action.

We already learned how to take clean product shots utilizing a sweep and we went over staging products with props. But how about showing real people in real-life situations using your products?

Lifestyle photography or context photography is the practice of shooting a product in a curated and styled scene, typically featuring a model. The idea is to craft a story that inspires buyers to envision your product in their hands and visually communicate the lifestyle and aesthetic promoted by your brand. 

Lifestyle images bring balance to your online store and social media feeds because they add candid, real-life imagery in contrast to the lifeless still images we associate with e-commerce. After interviewing photographer friends, browsing dozens of photography websites, and reflecting on my own experience, I’ve put together eight proven tips to plan and execute a successful lifestyle photoshoot.

Subscribe to Handmade Seller Magazine to read the rest.

Become a paying subscriber of Handmade Seller Magazine to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content.

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.

A subscription gets you:

  • • Access to this article, plus our entire back catalog
  • • Special subscriber only articles on important publicly traded companies in our industry, such as Etsy, Pinterest, and Shopify
  • • Access to our beautiful quarterly magazine, to read articles online or download
  • • Print subscriptions are also available for addresses in the United States of America