Selling apparel online requires ingenious ways. Customers struggle to define the fit and style of the outfits they see online. The result? Lost traffic and abandoned carts. The good news is a 3D silhouette of the apparel can accelerate your sales since customers get a rough idea of the apparel they will be flaunting.
If you’re not acquainted with the 3D or ghost mannequin effect, it’s a technique that involves photographing outfits on models or dummies and then erasing the mannequin to generate a sophisticated 3D image of the apparel. It’s a bit slick since it requires advanced photography features, and achieving it impeccably takes a lot of work. Still, there might be hints of imperfections as these pieces require extreme preciseness. In this blog, let’s roll up the curtains and discover how to improve ghost mannequin photography!
Ways to Improve Ghost Mannequin Photography:
Here’s how you can heighten the quality of your ghost mannequin photography:
1. Finding the Mannequin of Your Dreams:
As the name suggests, the process demands mannequins. You’d think just any figure would work for this branch of photography. Any form can get the work done, but you will face problems later in the post-production stage. Your best bet? Choose a white or transparent mannequin with detachable body parts. You might also want to invest in matte dummies since glossy mannequins reflect in the camera. Once you’ve picked the right piece, you are all set to fix the poses. Many photographers also prefer models for this photography segment. Unless your models are trained to act like statues, use mannequins for steady postures.
2. Observe the Poses:
Comfortable and genuine poses aren’t suitable for this genre of photography as you will be eliminating the mannequin here. So, you need to place your dummy to ensure the clothing looks as straight as possible and isn’t blocked or obstructed by anything. If a piece of garment has sleeves, make sure they are pointing downwards; otherwise, the sleeves or flairs will dangle non-uniformly. Of course, you can stuff foams inside the sleeves for a better shape, but imagine how annoying it gets when you do it for every shot.
For the bottoms, ensure the garment is symmetrical when the mannequin stands straight. Hold the product taut by hand for the inside-out shot, and keep the waistband straight.
3. Aim for Symmetry:
Ghost mannequin photography is tricky. You can barely understand whether the clothes are correctly styled on the mannequin. And when you take the image with the same shot for the post-production stages, the result turns horrid. So, make an effort to achieve symmetry. Keep the shoulders at the same level, and then snap the pictures. The hem of the outfit is also something you should look out for. To ensure all the lines are straight, use grid overlays. After that, move on to make gradual modifications.
4. Camera Settings:
Even if you are an experienced photographer, choosing the correct camera settings for this genre is essential. Keep your ISO moderate when capturing images of a ghost mannequin. This is because photos with ISO are grainy and fail to retain all details. So, use a tripod to keep your ISO minimal.
Next comes the aperture. While a small f-number is excellent for certain photography styles, it’s not the same for ghost mannequin photography. Here your camera’s f-number should be higher than 11. This is what your camera settings should look like for ghost mannequin photography:
- ISO: 100
- Shutter Speed: 1/125
- Flash Power: 3.0
- Aperture Settings: f/8 or f/16
- White Balance: Auto
5. Closer and Back Shots:
When buyers surf your website, they like to imagine themselves donning your attires to make a better decision. Since flat-lay photos don’t capture your garment’s fit, they aren’t representative of customers. But that doesn’t mean any ghost mannequin image will get the work done. Take plenty of close-ups and back shots to showcase the garment’s individuality. This way, you can cover more detail and leave a lasting impression on your clients. Afterward, rotate the mannequin and capture the photographs from the rear of the garment to take back shots. Make the elements interactive and compelling.
6. Exhibit the Details:
The goal of ghost mannequin photography is to showcase the details of your outfits. Make sure your attires fit the mannequin perfectly, and use plenty of pins and clips to hold them in place. Otherwise, the entire dress will look strange and baggy on the camera. Cuffs, chains, sleeves, inner linings… show your customers everything!
7. Skip the Manual:
Merge the shots, eliminate the backdrop, and remove the mannequins– we all know how tiring the process is when trying to achieve the ghost mannequin effect manually. But wait, did the images come out alright? Is that a bit of a mannequin nail that I am seeing right now? Well, we’ve all been through this nail-biting experience at least once in our careers.
But now is the time for a change! Did you know the AI-driven autoRetouch can automatically generate ghost mannequins for you? Just upload the image, and voila– the machine learning algorithms just drew out automated photos for your business. It’s pretty wild how the tool supports bulk-editing features and produces 100 web-ready images in just a few minutes. Think of the time and effort you will be saving every day. So, switch to automation and skip the generic laborious process.
In Conclusion
Captivating your clients with gorgeous images is one way to sustain themselves in the ecommerce industry. And the ghost mannequin effect is a game-changing approach. With these tips from the experts, we hope you can capture the beautiful details of your outfit photos and embark on a stunning website.