When it comes to securing a spot in those highly coveted Christmas gift guides, getting your product photography sorted early isn’t just a recommendation—it’s a necessity.
Major magazine publications start mapping out their festive features as early as June. To ensure your products are front and center when editors start sourcing, you need a strategic plan in place by May, and your actual photoshoot completed in June.
As PR expert Louise Cox of Louise Cox PR often advises: if you want the best press opportunities, July is your golden window. Pushing it to August/September means you’re catching the tail end of the long-lead press, and missing out on the biggest opportunities altogether.
If you want to make your brand impossible for editors to ignore this Christmas, here is a breakdown of the exact photography assets you need in your PR toolkit
The Essential PR Shot List
Editors are notoriously short on time. If you send them a pitch with limited image options, they will simply move on to a brand that makes their job easier. A strong PR photography package gives them variety.
Here are the four essential types of images you need to capture:
1. The “Cut-Out” (The PR Non-Negotiable)
The typical PR product shot—often referred to as a “cut-out” or “deep etch”—is your product photographed on a pure white background. You should capture this from multiple angles: straight on, slightly angled, and shots of the product both open and in its packaging.
- Why you need it: Editors use these to build collage-style gift guides (think “Top 10 Stocking Fillers Under £20”). Providing the open and packaged versions gives them complete control over how it fits their page layout.
.jpg)
2. The Festive Lifestyle Shot
You also need on-brand lifestyle shots where the product is styled in a realistic, festive environment. With Christmas photography, there are endless styling routes—from minimalist winter woodland to full-on traditional red and gold. The key is ensuring the festive styling doesn’t overpower your actual brand identity.
Why you need it: Magazines are increasingly relying on their social media channels, where highly stylised lifestyle imagery performs much better than plain white cut-outs. These are also the exact images you will use to drive sales on your own website, Instagram, and printed marketing materials.
.jpg)
3. The Hero Banner (Wider Shots)
When shooting, always ask your photographer to step back and capture wider, landscape-oriented shots.
- Why you need it: While editors might crop these, they are primarily for your own marketing ecosystem. Wide shots are perfect for Facebook ads, email newsletter headers, and website homepage banners during the Q4 rush.
.jpg)
4. The Negative Space Image
A negative space image intentionally leaves a blank, uncluttered area (usually on the left or right side of the frame).
- Why you need it: This gives you the perfect canvas to overlay your logo, a promotional offer, or campaign text. It’s an invaluable asset for creating holiday flyers or Instagram Story ads without the text fighting against a busy background.
.jpg)
Case Study: Colliery Soap
To see this in action, let’s look at a Christmas PR photoshoot I recently completed in June for Colliery Soap (some images above).
The founder had a specific product she wanted featured in magazines, but she also needed professional shots to promote on her own platforms. She sent over 5 bars of soap so we could open a few and use them for extra styling texture.
Here is exactly what we produced in her Christmas PR Package:
- Brand Ideation: Aligning the festive look with her year-round branding.
- Prop & Background Sourcing: Finding the right festive elements that didn’t look cliché.
- Cut-Outs: 3 variations of the hero product on a pure white background.
- Lifestyle: 3 styled variations of the product.
- Hero/Banner Image: 1 wide shot for website headers.
- Negative Space Image: 1 shot perfectly framed for text overlay.
- Final Delivery: 8 high-resolution, fully retouched images ready for pitch emails.
How to Pitch Your New Images
Once you have these photos, don’t just attach massive files to an email (this clogs up an editor’s inbox and will likely get deleted).
Instead, create a clean Dropbox or Google Drive folder. Inside, create two sub-folders: one for High-Res (Print) and one for Low-Res (Web). Include a mix of your cut-outs and lifestyle shots, and include the link in your pitch email. By doing the heavy lifting for them, you drastically increase your chances of being featured.
Ready to get your products magazine-ready? Click here to find out more about my product photography packages and let’s get your Christmas planning started today.
