Photo Notes A place to talk about making images.

Here are the shameless plugs: my book Understanding and Controlling Strobe Lighting: A Guide for Digital Photographers is on Amazon.com. Here is a sample chapter from the book. There has been nothing but good feedback on this book, so I would guess that you’ll like it. Of course I still hope that you will consider purchasing my fine art book B Four: pictures of beach, beauty, beings and buildings. Frankly purchases of this book mean a lot to me, and it is also a fine gift for any occasion. I lowered the price a couple of weeks ago, and that has helped. As you know I teach for BetterPhoto.com. I really hope you’ll sign up my class: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting.

I just started doing some consulting for an importer. I am helping them to create better product photos for the web and other uses. I used to do a lot of product work, and, as with many types of photography, I do less product work now. It is just easier to do this work with a digital camera, so a lot of companies want to do the work in house. I’ve done a lot of this kind of consulting in the past and hope to do a lot more. I used to do a couple of courses at BetterPhoto that covered this kind of work, but they aren’t currently offered. In the last few days I have been thinking about doing a book on product photography that would be aimed at businesses. Please let me know if you need any help in this area, or other kinds of photography.

2 vases in a room set. Some times a set will help to make products more attractive.

Of course there are many different kinds of product photographs. The simplest is a shot that proves that you have the thing. Many people do this kind of shot with their phones and post the images on eBay. This is a very simple level of communication: you can trust me to send you the item because you can see that I have the thing. The next big step up is doing images for catalog or the web. These are the sorts of images that give you real information about the item. Often you may make the decision to purchase the item from the picture. Where a description might say Chinese style vase, 24 inches high. A photograph can give you a wealth of information about the design, shape and color of the product. I can’t imagine making most buying decisions without a picture. Most businesses, especially if they already have a designer, can do this sort of work in house. While they may need to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars, getting better product shots is worth it.

The foil is a bit of a challenge. There is a nice gradation of light that gives shape to a simple box.

At the highest level product photographs are designed to make people really want the product. So if you are making a shot of tomato soup or of a motorcycle the goal is to make people want to take out their wallet. Very often a professional photographer is better suited to this work than trying to do it in house. A photographer should have more equipment, and may have very specialized equipment. Of at least as much importance as the equipment a photographer should understand how to design an image for maximum impact. In addition to a skilled photographer, a stylist is often essential. This is a person with skills in presenting a product in the best environment and in the best condition.

A good product photograph should define the shape of the product: Not just the front, but how deep is it? You want to pick an angle that gives a good sense of all the dimensions of the product. If the product does something, lights turn on or wheels turn, it is often important to show these details. Accurate color is impossible on the web, because users set their monitors differently, but you should do the best you can with color in all circumstances. If the food looks sort of green it won’t help sales. When you do photographs for print you can control color, so find out about what color space will be used for your shots. Very often I like to show products in and out of packaging. If you are selling grape nuts well you might want to have some in the shot, but you will also need the package so people will know what to buy.

This micro shot shows the details of a very small product, and also helps to define the size of the product. It can help to use an object of known size in a shot.

The light should also help to define the shape of the product. So the light on the top of the product should be different from the light on the front. This will make things more three-dimensional. You may want to have a gradation across the product as well. All of this helps to make the shot of the product feel real, and that helps to sell the product. Remember that your job is to make shots that do sell the product, and to do that you want to know about the way the shot will be used. A shot for a large print option is different than a thumbnail for the web.

Who knows I may be talking about product for more blogs? Let me know if you have any questions on this topic. I have changes the blogs so it is easier to leave a comment. As a result I have had many people try to post information about pharmaceuticals and pornography, so  I would value real comments.

I hope that this weeks images feel at least marginally related to the subject of the blog, they are all jobs I’ve done for clients. Thanks, for your attention.

The blog is back up! I’m just adding a few recent shots and some information about them. I’ll be adding more information soon. Thanks for your attention.

This shot is for Chusid Associates. It reminded me how difficult it is to work with dry ice. Some version of this shot will be a magazine cover. You can visit the client’s blog for more information on this entertaining shoot. Please visit the clients site at www.chusid.com and www.BuildingProductMarketing.com, particularly if you work with building materials.

This shot is for Terry Beeler and Son Contractors Inc. you can see their site at www.beelerbuildsembetter.com. I hope you will take a look at the site because there are thousands of my photographs there. This shot was taken with a wide-angle lens and a strobe to create a little more drama.

Finally this is a shot of an egg on a white piece of paper. Just goes to prove how much you can do with light. This shot was part of an article on lighting with projectors. The article was in Photo Techniques Magazine.  I have an article in the current issue of Photo Technique magazine. I hope you’ll check it out at a local bookstore. You can see more of my articles here.

Please consider taking one of my classes, or even recommending them. I have three classes at BetterPhoto:
An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
Portrait Lighting on Location and in the Studio
Getting Started in Commercial Photography

I saw the first copy of my book last week. What a thrill! It really looks great. I hope you’ll pre-order the book: Understanding and Controlling Strobe Lighting: A Guide for Digital Photographers

All of my clients are businesses. I would estimate that three quarters of my students at BetterPhoto, or more, want to be professional photographers. The strange thing is that almost none of my students want to work for businesses. The business model that most photographers have involves working for individuals doing portraits and events, like weddings. There are a number of reasons that I don’t go after that business: first your clients don’t do much repeat business. Second your clients have limited budgets, because they aren’t making any money off your photographs. Third you do the same kind of jobs all the time.
Any business needs to communicate with its clients. While a family might want a new portrait every couple of years many businesses HAVE to make a catalog four times a year. Even if a business only has a dozen clients it needs to tell them things about capabilities and products. So I get more business from a business client then I would from any individual. I help businesses to show what they do, how they do it and what they can do; these are important stories for any business.
While any healthy business is very concerned about the bottom line, it is the bottom line not the actual expense that should concern them. So, while the costs of doing a printed catalog may be large, the potential profit is also large. Businesses value experience over price. They want to know that the provider has delivered in the past. Both these attitudes make my job more profitable. Since I have worked with a lot of different businesses I bring a lot of experience and capability to the table. If you are starting out you’ll need to offer attractive prices and perhaps prove yourself with a sample shoot. Still getting any new business client can be important for any photograph, so it is usually worth any extra effort.
My favorite part of commercial photography is the variety of work I can do for clients. I have experience in shooting, products, portraits and microscopy. If I shot for individuals I would rarely get to do more than portraits and events. I find shooting the same sorts of work is boring.
I use a variety of tools to find my clients. I think my favorite is html mail. You can see samples here and here . This gives me a way to show clients what I do in a professional way. Also I can help businesses to use the same tool. I also use direct mail and the phone, but not as much as I used to. You can see samples of html mail here and here.
I teach a class in commercial photography, as well as classes in lighting and portraiture at BetterPhoto.com. I hope you will check out the classes soon. My first book: Understanding and Controlling Strobe Lighting: A Guide for Digital Photographers will be published in the fall you can pre-order it. I have a new magazine article coming out in September about strobe power. You can see it in Photo Technique Magazine.

Thanks, John

A few ideas and images I thought I might share. The photos are from cameras I built, check out the links and this one as well:

Shot with the super wide camera I built.

I like generators better than battery packs. They weigh more, but will work for hours on a tank of gas. Easy to refill. They don’t recycle slower as the day goes on. You can get a two-stroke generator for about $100.00 at Home Depot.

The more advertising there is in your cases the more likely they are to be stolen, whether it is advertising for you or the case manufacturer. It is always best to keep a low profile. Military surplus cases can be very good. Don’t pack anything you can’t lift.

If you are going to do any complex lighting find a way to tether your camera to a laptop. There is just no way to really evaluate the details of your image on the back of the camera. Viewing size matters.

Keep model releases in your camera bag.

Keep a chain-pod and a shoe cover in the bag as well. You never know.

You can always crop into an image, but you can’t create more space around the image, so leave a little room.

If you’re going to shoot kids keep cheap toys around to give them. Bribery is your best way of motivating children. Come to think of it, it works on adults as well.

Remember to thank people, especially assistants.

Remember the Odd Couple? Felix Unger was a photographer. It is important to be obsessed with detail; it is your job.

Shoot in raw. Always.

Learn to pre-visualize. Look at people and things and decide how you would light them. Imagine your sensor is an empty canvas, what do you want to put in it?

If you don’t practice you won’t be able to shoot well. Musicians practice. Masters of martial arts practice. You need to practice seeing, which you can do without a camera, but you also need to practice technique which requires any equipment you plan on using. Lighting requires more practice than most aspects of photography.

You might even consider taking a class, perhaps one of mine?

An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Portrait Lighting on Location and in the Studio

Getting Started In Commercial Photography