How to Photograph Clothing Products Using Ghost Mannequins?

The product photography domain is multidisciplinary. As there are dozens of product varieties, a product photographer must have versatile experience to capture any product in the best possible manner. Arguably, fashion product photography is the most challenging. Clothing needs several tools to create quality, but primarily mannequins are used. 

However, traditional mannequin Lifestyle Product Photography makes it challenging for customers to focus on the product. Such props divert the attention of shoppers away from the actual product. As a result, ghost mannequin photography became popular. Also known as invisible mannequin photography, here, a product photographer can produce clothing product images as if an invisible model is wearing the apparel.

Why must you invest in ghost mannequin photography?

If you want to create appealing apparel images, the lifestyle product photography is the best option. It represents the product in how it will be used or worn in real life.

In ghost mannequin photography, a particular mannequin is used with a removable neck, arm, and chest. These parts can be removed or adjusted during the photography sessions to hide them. It creates a highly appealing shot of the clothing products. With ghost mannequin clothing photography, you can make apparel look appealing. Also, as the images are professional and consistent, it creates desirability in customers to buy your products.

While hiring a professional for ghost mannequin photography is best, if you choose to do it independently, you must follow some essential steps. That is what we are about to discuss in this article.

Start by selecting the best-size ghost mannequin

You must select the best-fitting prop for mannequin photography for eCommerce. Fortunately, it is an easy selection as ghost mannequins are available in almost all sizes, shapes, and builds. There are even modern ghost mannequins that have adjustable sections. Such a dummy can be adjusted to fit several sizes.

Depending on the requirement, you can select full-body mannequins for men, women, children, or just mannequin torso or legs. Unless you are trying to capture the whole body attire, it is best to choose just the torso or legs for ghost mannequin photography. The mannequin must fit appropriately because only then will customers be able to get a good look at how the clothing product will look on them. Another reason you must choose an excellent fit mannequin for lifestyle product photography is to capture the natural flow of the contours of the mannequin without any unsightly creases.

Decide the best setup

Ghost mannequin photography will require studio-grade lighting. It would help to have enough photography lights, reflectors, and umbrellas to adjust the lighting. If you use low-quality lighting, it will be highly challenging to create the desired effects even with the best post-processing of the images.

Your goal is to create crisp clothing images with ghost mannequin clothing photography. You will need hangers, clips, and styling pins, a lot of them. No matter how good fit a dummy is, there will always be some wrinkles that must be removed using clips and pins. Even a little saggy or wrinkled product image can be a reason for customers to skip your product.

As for the camera, for ghost mannequin photography, choose one with a telephoto lens. Such a camera lens minimizes distortion and can capture even tiny details. For clothing, products are essential because customers will zoom in to check the fabric, design, knit quality, etc.

Finally, don’t miss a tripod because you need it to take stable pictures. Also, for ease of post-production edits, you must keep the lighting consistent across all shots.

Click the product from all angles 

When capturing images, you must click pictures showing your clothing product from front to back, side to side, and close up. Next, you must ensure that ghost mannequin photography captures any essential logos or design elements. Especially up-close images should include all these details. Your customers will appreciate when they can find the vital information when they look at the product up close.

Try to maintain consistency 

We are sure your clothing product photographs will appear on several platforms – your eCommerce website, social media platforms, online stores like Amazon, etc. It would help if you strived to achieve consistency while creating images for these platforms—consistency in the product images in what represents a reputable seller.

It is also a requirement to build your buyer’s trust. A simple approach to maintain consistency in product images is to follow a structured and thematic approach to showcase products.

Conclusion 

We hope this guide gives you an idea of how to prepare for ghost mannequin photography. You must ensure sizing, lighting, and angle is appropriately adjusted depending on the product.The real appeal of mannequin photography for eCommerce is witnessed after post-processing.