Photography Tips · Brussels
Packshot or Lifestyle: Which Product Photos Should You Get First?
If you sell online, I'd start with packshots. They're what the product page and the marketplace need to function, and a customer uses them to check what they're buying. Lifestyle photos come second, when you want to show the product in use. There are a few exceptions, and they're worth knowing before you book anything.
Two kinds of photo doing two jobs
A packshot is the product alone, usually on white, with true colour and nothing else in the frame. A lifestyle photo puts the same product into a scene: a mug on a wooden table next to an open book, a bag on someone's shoulder at a tram stop.
The first answers a practical question, which is what exactly will arrive. The second answers a softer one, something like whether this fits into my life. Both matter. They just matter at different moments of the purchase.
Why I'd usually begin with packshots
A product page without clean packshots doesn't really work. People zoom in on the label and compare colours between variants. A beautiful scene can't do that job, because half the product is hidden behind a plant.
Marketplaces lean the same way. bol.com's own image guidelines say the main image shouldn't be a lifestyle photo and should show the front of the item on a white background. (bol stopped enforcing its image guidelines in July 2025, but it still recommends them for visibility.)
When lifestyle can come first
Some brands are the exception. If you sell three or four products mostly through Instagram and your shop page is secondary, a set of lifestyle images might move things faster. The same goes for products whose use isn't obvious at a glance, like an unusual kitchen tool. A photo of it in someone's hands explains more than a front view on white.
A launch is another case. When the goal is to make people notice something new, I'd lead with the scene and add the packshots right after, before the product goes on sale.
Doing both in one day
Often the most practical answer is both, in one go. I photograph the packshots first, while the products are fresh out of the box, then move the same items into a simple set for lifestyle frames. One delivery, one consistent colour across everything.
The pricing differs. Packshots are priced per image, with steps that get cheaper as the number grows. Lifestyle and brand content is booked by the hour, with a two-hour minimum. Both are on the price list. If you're still unsure whether brand photos are worth it at your size, I wrote about that in is brand photography worth it for a small business.
Where your phone is good enough
Honestly, phone photos work well for everyday lifestyle content on social media. You see your products being used every day, and quick, real moments suit Instagram. Where phones struggle is consistency: forty packshots with the same white and the same crop are hard to get by the window.
So a split I often suggest is this one. Professional packshots for the shop, your own phone for daily stories. More about the session itself on the commercial photography page.
Not sure which photos to start with?
See my estimate