Lifestyle images help shoppers picture the product in their own lives; they are the usual choice for additional images and for social media.
Most marketplaces keep them out of the main image. The product photo checker does not measure fill on lifestyle photos, because there is no plain background to separate the product from.
What a lifestyle image adds
A plain product photo answers what the product is. A lifestyle image answers what it is like to own: how large it is next to familiar things, where it belongs, what it goes with and who it is for. A watch on a wrist, a lamp on a desk and a bag on a café chair each say more about scale and use than a measurement in the description.
It also sets the tone of a brand. The same bottle looks different on marble and on rough wood, and the choice of surface, light and props tells the shopper what kind of product this is before a word is read.
Where lifestyle images are used
In a listing they usually follow the plain first image, as the second or third picture. Outside the listing they do most of the work: in a brand's own shop, on category banners, in newsletters, in ads and on social feeds, where a product on white is easily passed over.
One product often needs several. A scene for a summer campaign is wrong for a winter one, and a picture composed for a wide banner does not survive a tall crop. Planning the formats before the shoot saves a second one.
What makes a lifestyle image work
The product stays the subject. It is in focus, well lit and not hidden behind props, and nothing in the scene draws the eye more than it does. Props support the use of the product and stay few, so that nobody wonders what exactly is for sale.
The colour stays true. Warm evening light, coloured walls and tinted surfaces all shift the colour of the product, which is charming in the picture and a cause of returns afterwards. A lifestyle image beside a plain, colour-accurate photo of the same product is the safe combination.
Three lifestyle images, each made from one plain photo of the product: a scent bottle on marble and on wood, and a watch on linen. Made with Herofab · Product studio
Lifestyle image and other kinds of product photo
Packshot- A packshot shows the product alone on a plain background. It tells the shopper what is sold; the lifestyle image shows it in a setting. Most listings use both.
Hero shot- A hero shot is the one picture a brand leads with. It is often a lifestyle image, chosen because it carries the product and the mood at once.
On-model image- An on-model image shows a product worn by a person. It becomes a lifestyle image when the person is placed in a setting and not in front of a plain studio background.
Main image- The main image is the first picture of a marketplace listing. Many marketplaces keep it for the product alone, which places the lifestyle image among the additional pictures.
- Lookbook
- A lookbook is a series of pictures that presents a collection. It is largely made of lifestyle and on-model images that share one setting and one light.
A checklist for a lifestyle image
- The product is the sharpest and clearest thing in the picture and is not partly covered.
- Props are few, fit the use of the product and cannot be mistaken for part of the offer.
- The colour of the product was compared with the product itself; warm or coloured light has not shifted it.
- The scale is believable: the product is the right size next to the hand, the table or the room.
- There is room around the product for the crops that the shop, the ad and the social feed need.
- The first image of the listing still follows the sales channel's rule, with the lifestyle image after it.