Are you looking for the best way to set up your LuLaRoe Photography for shooting your inventory? We have trialed and errored and have come up with some great photography tips to make photographing your LuLaRoe clothing easy! To get started, let’s talk a little bit about your camera.
Camera Settings:
You will want to shoot with at least a simple SLR camera. You don’t have to spend a fortune, but this will result in the best photography in the long run. Especially since you will be shooting with every new shipment, you want something that you can easily manage, and know your settings quick. Time management is important when doing your LuLaRoe photography, because you are spending so much time shooting new inventory, you want to make the best use of your time and efficiently shoot and edit.
F-stop: your F-stop is determined by the lens you are using on your camera, but in general the lower the number (1/xxx) the wider the lens opening, so using a lower f-stop in dimly lit areas is beneficial because you are allowing more light in. The lower the number (1/xxx) the smaller the lens opening, so you would use a higher f-stop in well lit areas. The best way to figure out how your camera’s f-stop is going to work for you, is to experiment. Shoot your product with several f-stops and see what works best, and adjust from there. I generally shoot with a 1/80 f-stop to a 1/160 f-stop for my particular lighting and camera lens.
ISO: by adjusting the ISO, you are adjusting your camera’s sensitivity to light. The actual numbers may differ, depending on your camera, but the general idea is the lower the number makes the camera less sensitive to light, and the higher the number, the more sensitive. So, what you need to know when shooting your inventory is: the lighter the piece, the lower the ISO. Again, the number will vary, and start by playing with it, and find out what is a good starting point for you and your lighting and surroundings and adjust as needed. I use an ISO of anywhere from 1200 (for light or even white pieces) all the way up to 6400 (for black or very very dark pieces).
Both of these settings are going to be determined by what you are using for a lighting set, if you have any other natural or other lighting coming into play, and the distance you are shooting from. The more you play with it, the better you will get at determining what settings you should use to shoot what. I can now look at a piece and it’s coloring and say, “oh, I think that is an F-stop of 1/125 and an ISO of 3200, and come pretty darn close. For EACH piece I shoot, I shoot the overall shot, and then a close up if there is a design or pattern on it. Generally, I can shoot the far away shot, and then manually zoom in, adjust my ISO by 1, maybe 2 settings, and shoot the close up. Because as you zoom in, you are shortening your range, thus you need more sensitivity to light the closer you get. Make sense? Let’s continue!
Photography Set up:
You will need a few things to set up your LuLaRoe photoshoot. Here is a list, complete with links to deals I have found. There are many, many different places you can get these items, these are just what I use/recommend becuase they have worked well for me.
Camera – I had this on hand. I shoot a Canon 7D SLR
Tripod – Had this already on had as well. I would recommend getting one that can go pretty low to the ground, as well as high enough that you don’t have to bend over while you are shooting all the time.
Mannequin – there are hundreds if not thousands of them. I like the ones with the solid white, fabric not velvet) bodice. Prints are pretty, but if you have a real sheer piece, it can show through the fabric, altering what your garment looks like. Velvet bodices are harder to dress and undress in a hurry. Mine was also from amazon (See link below for how to buy). I also recommend getting the mid-size one. Any smaller than mine, and the larger clothes will look funny, but any larger, and the XXS, XS, S will not fit right either. This is a nice middle-of-the-road mannequin.
Backdrop – Lots of choices here, faux wood, chevron, damask, distressed, barn doors, whatever floats your boat. Amazon is full of them. I choose this 4 pack because I wanted options. You can see the 4-pack I chose below for sale at Amazon.
Mannequin Leg – Totally optional. Most people choose to shoot their leggings on the regular mannequin bodice, which I did at first, but then I switched to the leg, and think my pictures look so much better, and have noticed sales increase, since switching to this. Here is the mannequin leg I bought, it was around $30.
Here’s what you need for the LuLaRoe Photoshoots:
Photography PhotoShoot
As you can see, I set up my mannequin up on blocks for certain items. I do this only if the dress is going to come close to the ground. And that is simply because I don’t have a nice wooden floor, or a backdrop that it can stand on. I may upgrade to an actual backdrop set up at a later date, but for now, I don’t want the carpet showing, so I prop it up on the wood crates for certain items. You also want to make sure that there is light hitting as many places of the clothing as possible. So I have one umbrella light up high, and one closer to the middle. I use the 3rd light (with no umbrella) towards the bottom middle for longer items. If I am shooting a shirt, I skip the bottom light (which will alter your ISO settings a bit, since there is less light on the product!) You want to have the umbrella lights as close to the mannequin, and as far in front of it as you can without blocking any of your line of sight in your shot. So just play with it a bit, and adjust as needed.
Shooting Your LuLaRoe Inventory
Each item will differ a bit, but generally, you want to make your pieces look their best, and photograph as true to color/pattern/design as possible. People are much more likely to buy from you if you have crisp, clear photography, and they can see that exact design. When I take my pictures, I take a close up of the design, and add it to each photograph, which I go over in my video about picture editing. Make sure your purples look purple, your reds look red and your black looks BLACK. It will save lots of questions, and possible returns. Which in the end, equals happy customers, and more sales for you! Check out my video which walks through the steps photographing your inventory!
