Product photography can be a tricky thing to do, but when done well it can really help you stand out in an industry that’s filled with talented photographers. But what is an effective way to share it online and make sure it gets seen? One of the best ways to market your Product Photography portfolio on Instagram is by using the right Hashtags.
Using hashtags can help you get your products and photos noticed more online, specifically on social media. You need to know the right ones to use and when to use them if you want them to be effective. Once you use hashtags, your engagement will grow, and people will notice your photos more.
To ensure your product photography gets the most exposure on Instagram, use these hashtags:
- #productphoto
- #productphotography
- #productphotographer
- #productshot
- #productshoot
- #productshooting
- #productphotoshoot
- #productstyling
- #stilllifeproduct
- #instaphotigy
- #advertisingphotographer
- #advertisingphotography
- #advertisingphoto
- #commercialphotography
- #commercialphotographer
- #stilllifephotography
- #iso100_adv
- #stillife
- #focusstacking
- #stilllifephoto
- #stilllifephotographer
- #studiolighting
- #studiolight
- #studiolights
- #studiophotographer

After discussing why hashtags are important, we will share seven categories of hashtags that you can use to get your product photography noticed by potential clients as well.
It may take some practice and trials to find hashtags that work best for you and your brand, but they are worth the effort if you want more people to see your work.
Table of Contents
Why Should You Use Hashtags?
You should use hashtags if you want more people to see your content other than your followers. On social media, hashtags are very important and are a great way to expand your audience and increase interest in your products and services.
You will likely put a majority of your product photography on Instagram, where hashtags can make or break your account. If you use the right hashtags, more people will see and engage with your content. The more people who engage with your content, the more people Instagram shows your content to. It is all a domino effect that starts with good hashtags to show off your content.
Hashtags are important on other social media platforms too. On Twitter, hashtags help people see what is trending and help them find content similar to people and accounts they love. Product photography on Twitter can be hard since you are limited in the number of characters that you can use to supplement your photos, so you need to pick only the best hashtags to use with each Tweet.
Finally, Facebook uses hashtags so that people can see posts that relate to each other. If you use hashtags that best describe your photos, people looking for similar content will easily find your photos.
Hashtags are important on all social media platforms if you want your photos to be noticed by the right people. Next, let’s learn how to choose good hashtags for your photos.
The Best Product Photography Hashtags For Getting Noticed

There are seven great categories that you can use when choosing your hashtags. You can keep all your hashtags in one category or choose a few from each category depending on the platform and image you are using.
It is important to try different hashtags from different categories to test which ones work best, and which ones fall flat. Each social media platform will show you how your posts are performing, and how many people viewed your posts based on the hashtags used. Once you find the best hashtags for your content, you can continue to test more using the seven categories below, in addition to your proven successful hashtags.
Simple Hashtags
Sometimes, it is best to keep it simple if you want to see results from your hashtags. Using a basic description of the image or photography category is an easy way to use hashtags to accompany your photos.
Here are some examples of simple product photography hashtags that you can use:
- #productphotography
- #productphotographer
- #advertisingphotographer
- #advertisingphotography
- #commercialphotography
- #commercialphotographer
- #photography
- #photooftheday
- #beautyphotography
- #foodphotography
- #newproducts
- #designerproducts
2. Current Events
Current events trend easily on social media. As things happen in the news, holidays occur, and other important events occur, they trend on social media with hashtags. If you have product photography related to current events, you can use these hashtags to get your photography noticed, and you may even want to create content around these events specifically.
For example, if you have content related to Halloween, you can get your photos noticed with hashtags like “#happyHalloween” or “#spookyseason.”
Here are some examples of current event hashtags that you can use:
- #MerryChristmas
- #PresidentialElection2024
- #SummerOlympics
- #HappyBirthdayAmerica
- #BacktoSchool
3. Hashtags That Express Feelings
Use hashtags that express how people feel when they look at the picture or use the product. For example, if you have a photo or product representing love, like a bouquet of roses, use hashtags like #love or #beautiful.
Here are some examples of hashtags that go well with product photos that express feelings:
- #HappyDays
- #RainyDay
- #InLove
- #Excited
- #WeddingReady
- #FeelingBeautiful
4. Places and Locations
Using hashtags with a place or location is a great way for potential local clients to notice your photography. For example, if you have photos of Wedding Cakes from Julie’s Bakery, you can use “#JuliesBakery” and “JuliesWeddingCakes” so people can easily find all the cakes you have from the bakery. Competitors of Julie’s Bakery might see those photos as well and reach out to you for similar work.
Here are some examples of location hashtags that you can use:
- #TorontoCanada
- #NashvilleBBQ
- #Jimmy’sPizza
- #LosAngeles
- #TheRedwoodForest
5. Behind the Scenes
Sometimes, you may have product photographs representing a work in progress or the steps used to create your product. For example, if you have photos of cupcakes, you can add images of the cupcakes being made as a bonus. You can use hashtags like “#stepbysteprecipe” or “#bakinginprogress.”
Here are some examples of behind the scenes hashtags that you can use:
- #behindthescenes
- #sneakpeek
- #insidelook
- #photographysecrets
- #howitismade
6. Trending Hashtags
Trending hashtags are one of the easiest ways to get your product photography noticed since many people are looking at posts with those hashtags. For example, if it is New Year’s Eve, you can use hashtags like “#happynewyear” or the “#newyear2021”.
Trending hashtags will differ every day, so you will need to monitor each platform for what is trending. Twitter and Instagram both have their trending hashtags in a section specifically for popular posts. They will be easy to find, so you just need to choose which ones work for you.
7. Fresh Hashtags
Fresh hashtags are a great way to break through on Instagram. These are hashtags that are not used too often but still exist. When you search hashtags on Instagram, you can see how many posts use a specific hashtag. Using a hashtag with between one thousand and one hundred thousand posts are fresh hashtags.
By using fresh hashtags, you will be able to move to the “Top” post section easier for that hashtag, where more people will see your post. For fresh hashtags, you will need to do your research on which hashtags are commonly used and which ones are relatively unused.
For example, using “#pizza” is a very popular hashtag, but “#pizzaobsessed” has just over five thousand posts, making it a great fresh hashtag. Thinking outside the box is the best way to find fresh hashtags.
More Social Media Resources

If you want to grow your social media using more than just hashtags, the book Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennessy (available on Amazon.com) will be a huge help. You will learn more about hashtags, how to build and keep your audience, and how to grow your engagement.
In addition to the Influencer book, you can use the Wifi Editions Social Media Organizer (available on Amazon.com) to keep track of all your photography posts, hashtags, and how your engagement is doing. This book is a great way to track what hashtags are good for your photos and which ones are not working.
Final Thoughts
Using good hashtags is crucial if you want your product photography to be noticed on social media. There are many categories of hashtags that you can use, and you can stick with one category or use a combination of them. It may take some testing to find which hashtags work well and which ones do not, but the effort will be well worth it when you grow your engagement and followers.