People don't want to read about how great your
product is; they want to see for themselves. On a website that means photographs to
compliment your product and there is nothing like bad photographs to turn a potential
client off, unless it is no images at all.
Unless you have the money to hire a photographer; buy
a digital camera, a good sized memory card (256 MB) rechargeable batteries and a charger,
and a CD burner if you don't have one.
It shouldn't cost anymore than $700 and it will be
the best investment you'll ever make.
Tip: The cost of hiring a photographer to do
product shoots and then prepare those photographs for presenting your product can cost
several times more than buying a digital camera.
There are excellent used cameras and accessories
available from several online auctions. If you shop around and buy from someplace like
Trademe (www.trademe.co.nz ) or
Ebay ( www.ebay.com ) your costs could
be as little as $200 - $300.
That is exactly what I suggest you do: buy a good
used camera.
What sort of camera
should you buy?
Don't bother with one that has so many settings that it will take
you a year to work out how to use the thing. Point and Shoots are by far the best and
easiest to use.
I would suggest you buy a 2 or 3 megapixel point and
shoot digital camera, and if the product you sell is small, one with a good macro (for
super close-ups).
Sales people will tell you that you need a 5 or 6
megapixel, to be able to print out pictures at a decent size... that's a load of
rubbish... when I started I had a 2 megapixel camera, and it's still my favourite. I have
printed out photos at A3 size that were taken with that camera, and the photos look great.
How often do you want photos larger then that? If you do manage to take that one photo in
a million that you want to use for a billboard; a skilled graphic artist/designer can
usually enlarge your image so it is suitable for an advertisement image of that size.
Look at these sites to read digital camera
reviews:
www.steves-digicams.com
www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
www.dcviews.com/tutors.htm
After you buy your camera
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Check the settings on your
camera (look for a button, or dial that will give you a menu to adjust various settings),
there are only 2 that you need to concern yourself with for a start. 1. The flash settings: Auto generally works best for most
shots.
2. The quality settings (size): adjust your camera so you are taking the largest
photographs your camera is capable of. It is much easier to make a photo smaller than to
enlarge it.
Take photos of your products in many different
conditions: Vary the lighting (take photos inside and outside), the distance you are from
your product, the angle you shoot from and the layout itself. If it is a small product
vary the surface you place your product on. Take photos of the product alone and photos of
someone using the product; take hundreds of photos; it will cost you nothing unless you
decide to have them printed so don't be shy. |
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To illustrate:
On the photos below the product (a pendant) is taken against a variety of
backgrounds under different lighting conditions (inside and outside). Notice how different
the product looks; how some surfaces enhance the product and others make it appear drab or
dark. Interestingly, the photo titled Paper is actually taken on white paper with
artificial lighting. I think the one against the wood background displays the product
best; the colours of the 2 stones and the gold are shown off very nicely with this
background. These photos are an excellent illustration of how different backgrounds can
show off, or detract from your product.
Tip: When you transfer your photos from the
camera to your computer. name the folder something you will remember that has something to
do with the photographs themselves
First view each photo in a viewer; keep you finger on
the delete button; blurry, poorly coloured and unattractive photos should be deleted. That
is the beauty of a digital camera.
Tip: If you do not have an image viewer on
your computer check out this free graphic viewing and editing programme called Irfanview,
it can be downloaded here: www.irfanview.com
If you start off with 100 photos and end up with 15
good ones you are doing well. Continue taking photos until you have 2 or 3 great shots of
each product, from different angles etc. Since you have used your cameras largest quality
setting you will be able to use them for other advertising purposes besides your website.
Remember to burn (write to CD) all your best photos to a CD, for safe keeping, that way
you will always have a copy of the original photos.
Good photo of the
product itself, bad background.
This is one of the biggest problems with photos of products.
It's best to get another photo, but if you can't, don't throw away the photo. A good
graphic artist can probably fix it. We recently built a website/webshop for a couple who
fossick for gemstones in Australia. He facets the gemstones and she is a
jeweller/designer, so they make their own jewellery. The photos of gemstones had to be
taken inside with artificial lighting, and while the photos of the gemstones were crisp
the detail and brightness of the background detracted from the product itself. I blurred
the background, leaving the detail of the gemstone itself intact; what a difference!
Trudy (the jeweller) began taking photos of their
jewellery inside, under lighting with a flash. I suggested that she go outside and find an
interesting stone or piece of wood or bark to use as a background. What a difference it
made to the photos! The natural surfaces give a great contrast to the jewellery, and
enhance the designs, and it cost her nothing in materials. You can see the results
yourself in the photos above.
As an ending note: for
those of you with a child (8 or older)
If you think you don't have time for this, buy a point and shoot
digital camera and teach your child to use it. Have him/her take your product photos;
don't direct them too much…let them experiment and use their imagination…you may
be amazed with the results they get. My daughter was ten when I got my first digital
camera, and she was taking awesome photos within a couple of weeks. I was bedridden, so I
couldn't show her what to do and she took very different photos from what I would have
taken. Her angle, height and perspective worked quite well and looking back at the photos
she took then I am still very impressed with just how good they are. Who knows you may be
teaching your child a great skill for later life.
