Working in the world of e-commerce photography, whether as an independent commercial photographer or as an employee for an e-commerce photography studio it is vital to have the confidence to ask for feedback. Product photography is about delivering those perfect images that will tell a story and engage with an audience.

By understanding the impact your work has, you can become more effective at telling that story with a client’s product or brand. However, asking for feedback is no easy task and that’s why we’ve put together this short guide on the best way to ask for product photography feedback.

Explain the aims and intention of your work

For a client or interested party to be able to provide you with e-commerce photography feedback, they should first understand the aim of the project and the intention behind your decision-making.

Your creative vision may not immediately be apparent, only making sense to the key stakeholders you’ve been working with. A creative way to overcome this barrier is to talk about the project brief, the target audience and how you’ve decided to tell your particular product photography story. The majority of commercial photographers will use similar techniques but end up having distinctive styles and we want to ensure feedback is relevant and connected to the individual.

Share your chosen settings and equipment

In the same way that you should explain the aim and intention behind your work, it is always a good idea to share a rough overview of the settings and equipment used. There are fundamentally two reasons behind this recommendation.

Firstly, each e-commerce photography studio will have a different range of equipment options and preferences. That means different levels of quality, settings, props and opportunities that the person providing feedback needs to be aware of. Secondly, providing an overview of the settings may help to explain certain style choices for your product photography, such as lighting and focus.

Be specific when requesting help and feedback

There is nothing worse than getting vague, confusing feedback that doesn’t provide you with some kind of plan on how to move forward. For example, if someone just says that the lighting isn’t great does that mean there is too much or too little?

As a commercial photographer, you want to be specific when asking for feedback. Do you wish to know whether the location fits the brief, or perhaps if the lighting allows the viewers to focus on the detail in the product? A general rule is if you make the request for feedback specific, then the feedback itself will be more targeted and more effective.

Maintain an open mind and be honest about your experience

A final tip for those working in e-commerce photography who wish to improve their ability to collect feedback is to be open-minded and honest during discussions. Collecting feedback isn’t always going to be fun, enjoyable or positive and this can often make us try to avoid it.

Stay open-minded, be honest about your approach, your strengths, your weaknesses and engage with the process. The results will transform your product photography and by extension, your business.