Christmas packshots: what to offer your customers?
To illustrate their sites and their various communication media – social networks, newsletters and so on – brands are looking for visuals of their products associated with the theme of Christmas and more broadly the end-of-year holidays. As a photographer, September is the season to offer Christmas packshots to your clients! It is interesting to offer the brands with whom you regularly collaborate Christmas photo packshots to boost their communication. Let's see together what this implies!
Summary
The specificity of Christmas packshots
When to sell Christmas packshots?
What types of photos should we offer in this context?
Inspirations and accessories for your Christmas packshots
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The specificity of Christmas packshots
Packshot: definition
The photo packshot is the name given to photos which are used to illustrate and especially to sell products. This is most often on websites and on social networks.
How to succeed in your packshots? We recently talked about it in an article !
The 3 specificities of Christmas packshots
The Christmas packshot photo is a product photo and therefore has certain specificities, such as the fact that it aims to highlight the product it presents. In addition, its use is similar: it is used on websites, on social networks and sometimes in catalogs and press kits.
However, it has other specificities:
- giving an atmosphere to the website : unlike product photos, which often work in a group (a photo from the front, behind, from the side, from above, etc.), the Christmas packshot photo can be unique. It is then added to the other photos of the product and only serves to give a general Christmas atmosphere to the website;
- it has a limited lifespan : it is put online between November and December;
- the packshot photo can also be taken to illustrate a bundle / pack – in other words a set of products sold together as part of a special Christmas offer.
When to offer Christmas packshots?
We just talked about it: product photography linked to Christmas has a short lifespan. It is used between November and December, sometimes a little before if the brand communicates with the press and tries to obtain press (in this case, the brand may need it from September!).
If you are a photographer, it is therefore interesting to offer your customers photos of specific Christmas products from September/October .
What types of photos should we offer in this context?
As part of a Christmas photo shoot, it will be interesting to offer:
- one (or more) atmospheric photo(s) which will illustrate the site, particularly on the home page, but also for social networks and other brand communication tools (social network coverage, newsletters, etc.). )
- a photo of each product in a Christmas atmosphere so that the product sheets can be modified to Christmas colors
- a photo of the Christmas packs if the brand decides to offer them
As a photographer, don't hesitate to be proactive in encouraging your client to adopt different photos that can be used in their communication!
Inspirations and accessories for Christmas packshots
The snowy scene
It is certainly the most classic staging. A product, placed on fake snow and surrounded by decorations that refer to Christmas. With the return of slightly kitsch staging, however, this staging may interest certain brands!
https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/952300283686533355/The accessories needed for this production?
- Fake snow
- Christmas decorations: garlands, baubles, ribbons...
Flatlay staging
This staging is more refined. The product is placed flat, at the center of a display designed for the occasion. The latter draws a Christmas element (a tree, a sleigh, etc.) or something more abstract. Minimalist layouts are increasingly favored by brands because they emphasize the product and can be fun.
The accessories needed for this production?
- Colorful photo background, made of paper or vinyl (we recommend vinyl which will be more solid and less likely to be stained, depending on the elements you place!)
- Mirrors to add depth to your photos
- Wooden spoons
- Golden cutlery
- Fir branches
The graphic staging
This staging is intended to be more graphic and, like the previous one, it is a little more refined. The product is balanced on elements that remind us of Christmas: Christmas baubles, fir branches, etc. Don't hesitate to mix Christmas elements with mirrors and glass and wooden elements for a composition even more graphic!
The accessories needed for this production?
- Christmas' balls
- White cubes to place your products
- Table mirrors , to accentuate the graphic effect
- Glass and wooden elements to play on the heights of the different products highlighted in your composition!
The natural setting
Last staging, very contemporary: the nature staging. It echoes the trend for zero waste packaging, made from recycled paper or furoshiki. Adopt fabrics, kraft, elements made from raw materials, such as wood.
The accessories needed for this production?
- Photo backgrounds in neutral colors or mimicking raw materials
- Wooden logs to display your products
- Light garlands
- Cones
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Have you thought about offering a specific product photography offering linked to an event such as Christmas?
See you soon !
The Access Shooting team
