Artist’s Blog: Photography Secrets (Part 2)

Published In: Company News
gerbilby Tim Reese

Welcome back to the big ol’ artsy artist’s blog thing. Sorry for the delay, for the last couple weeks I was being eaten alive by an oversized gerbil I was photographing, and thus couldn’t write any blogs. Thankfully, I am back! And even more thankfully I got the shot.
 
When we left off, in Part 1 of the ‘Photography Secrets’ series, we talked about how to start preparing for a product photo shoot. If you didn’t read that, go ahead and do that now. I’ll wait.

You back? Great! Took you long enough. Onto part 2!

So you’re ready to take some pictures! Okay- what kind of picture? And how can you make sure that your picture is going to help catch someone’s attention enough to buy something because of it? Interestingly enough, corporate art is much more of a science than you might think. Here are the main types of product photos that I take, along with some tips that will help your product be as eye catching and professional as possible.
 

1.    The “Epic” Shot

This image type goes by a few names depending on what industry you’re working in. It may also be referred to as the “Key art” or the “Hero shot”, but basically this image serves as the main photo that will be used the most to represent the product that you want to sell. If you’re selling online through outside websites like Amazon or Ebay, usually they will require you to have a solid white background. Because of this, it takes a lot of effort to make your product stand out. Think of it as the product’s profile picture, only instead of filters, there’s a bunch of other camera tricks you’ll be using.
I’ll be using the GOgroove SonaVERSE UBR as an example. This speaker is really beautiful, with interesting textures and a sleek finish.
 
3/4th shotWhen photographing something of this size, it feels natural to stand above the product and take the photo from your eye level, looking down. This is fine, but it’s a bit boring, definitely not something I’d call an “Epic” shot. Let’s try getting closer and moving the camera lower, to just below the table level, looking up at the product. This makes the object appear larger and more visually interesting. Another thing that makes a key image visually interesting is to turn the product to a ¾ths angle instead of shooting it head on.
 
There you go! That’s looking Epic.
 

2.    The “Lifestyle” Shot

lifestyle shotsHere’s a weird thought: You aren’t selling a product, you’re selling what the product does for someone. Does your product improve the life of a customer? Would someone picture themselves using your product? In a best case scenario, the answers to those questions would both be yes, however, that isn’t always apparent to a customer right of the bat. People need to be able to picture how they would use what you’re selling. And, being a photographer, you know that pictures are good for picturing things (For example, a giant rodent). That’s where the lifestyle shot comes in. In this photo style, the product, while prominent, isn’t the main focus of the image. Instead, we’re going to be focusing on a person who for whatever reason is happy while in the proximity of your product. Does your product cause happiness? Well based on this picture it certainly does!

Here’s a couple lifestyle images for the GOgroove BlueSYNC WUD and AUDIOLUX WDX, respectively.
 
Choosing a look for a lifestyle image really helps set the tone for the product. I prefer to hire models and actors for product photo shoots, but if you don’t have access to models (or if your friends are sheepish) I suggest beefing up on your photo shop skills and using some images from a stock photo site like dollarphotoclub.com. (#notsponsored #toomanyhashtags) You’ll be surprised how many good shots are on stock photography websites nowadays.
     
All great examples.
 

3.    Callouts and Other Notations

callouts version 1So you have your Epic image and your Lifestyle image. What’s left? Well, have you actually told what your product does? What are the features? What are the selling points? Sure, you could list those below in a product description or in some other sort of reading, but using imagery to showcase features is an incredibly effective tool.
 
Doing this gives a visual example for any potential customer, and also draws their eye to the most exciting functions of your product. It also gives you a chance to show multiple angles of your product, letting the viewer feel that it exists in a three dimensional space, despite only having seen 2D images of it.

This kind of photo is also good for tech specifications. Does the device require/come with a certain kind of power chord? Is it made of a special kind of fabric? Does it read minds? This is the place for show and tell but with a much greater emphasis on the “show” part. Teach your potential customer about your product visually, and they will be much more engaged.
 
That about wraps it up for photography secrets. That is, if you want your images to look terrible. Assuming you are like me, and would rather be eaten alive by your hamster than create a mediocre image, you’re going to need to add some special touches to your picture in post. Stick around for PART THREE where we’ll be talking about the magic of photoshop and how it can trick people into thinking you’re a good photographer. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to try and photograph that giant snake.