3 Festive Product Photos You Can Take This Weekend

November is here, and if your festive product photography is still on your to-do list, here's a really simple way to get started.

You don't need to photograph your entire collection or spend hours creating elaborate Christmas scenes.

Instead, pick ONE product (ideally your bestseller) and create these three essential shots.

Each one has a different job to do, and together they'll give you a brilliant starting point for your festive website, emails and social media.

SHOT 1: The Festive Bestseller Refresh

The goal: Make your bestselling product feel fresh and relevant for the festive season.

Start with a product you already know sells well. You don't need to completely reinvent how you photograph it. A few clever styling changes can make all the difference.

Here's what to do:

• Choose a backdrop that complements your product. Think warm stone, rustic wood or a deeper, richer colour.
• Introduce just one or two festive details. Velvet ribbon, a sprig of greenery, a beautiful gift tag or some textured wrapping paper.
• Keep your product as the main focus. The Christmas props should support it, not compete with it.
• Take a wider shot for your website, then move in closer for a few detail shots.

My tip: Don't feel you need to make everything red, green and covered in Christmas decorations! Subtle seasonal styling often looks more beautiful and gives you photos you can continue using well into January.

SHOT 2: The Giftable Shot

The goal: Help your customers picture your product as a gift.

Sometimes customers need a little help imagining how something would look under the Christmas tree, especially if it's a product they might normally buy for themselves.

And you can do this with the exact same product you used in Shot 1.

Here's what to do:

• Add some simple gift packaging. A box, tissue paper, ribbon or a handwritten tag.
• Photograph the product alongside its packaging, so customers can clearly see what they're buying.
• Try a partially wrapped version, with the product still visible.
• Capture a close-up of those lovely finishing touches that make it feel special.

My tip: Make your packaging look a little more generous in photographs than you might normally style it. A bit more tissue, a fuller ribbon or a beautifully arranged box can help the gift feel more abundant on camera.

And remember, gifting doesn't stop at Christmas! Keep some shots free of obviously festive details and you'll have content for birthdays, Valentine's Day and other gifting occasions too.

SHOT 3: The Scale & Personal Shot

The goal: Help customers understand the size of your product while adding a more personal, human touch.

Sometimes it's difficult to judge how big (or small!) something is from a product photo alone. Adding hands into the frame is one of the easiest ways to show scale and make your photographs feel more natural and relatable.

Here's what to do:

• Use the same product from your first two shots, but this time introduce your hands.
• Try holding the product, picking it up, placing it into a gift box or simply interacting with it.
• Keep the styling simple. Your hands and product should be the main focus.
• Take a few variations: one wider shot showing the full product and a closer shot capturing the details.

My tip: Don't worry about perfectly posed hands! A little natural movement often makes the photograph feel much more authentic. Use your camera's timer or ask someone to help if you're photographing on your own.

And the best bit? This is a shot you can use all year round. Keep the styling fairly neutral and you'll have a useful image for your website, social media and emails long after Christmas is over.

One Product. Three Shots. Plenty of Content.

The beauty of this little exercise is that you're not starting from scratch three times.

You're using the same product and making small changes to the styling and story.

And before you pack everything away, take a few extra photographs without the obvious Christmas props.

Swap the festive ribbon for something neutral, remove the Christmas tag or replace the pine with simple greenery.

It takes just a few minutes, but suddenly you've got photographs you can use in January and beyond.

The trick is to style for the season, without making every photograph ONLY suitable for Christmas.

Happy photographing!

Margarita x