Since the changes in the retail marketplace have accelerated during the Covid problem we have seen a number of companies looking for quick turnround product photography sometimes on a very tight budget.
An issue is the perception that the quality of images for use on the internet need not be that good; that cost can be cut by either DIY or using a cheaper photography service rather than a studio. The idea is that lower quality images are smaller and therefore quicker to load especially to smart devices.
This is not a good idea for the follwoing reasons;
- Poor quality images do not retain viewer interest.
- Images that are not an accurate representation of the product lead to lots of problems and easily damage credibility.
- Poor quality images that do not show adequate levels of detail are not useful to a viewer at all.
Retaining viewer interest and ideally using this to spread the word about your company perhaps by sharing your site or product is the reason why most businesses have websites. It is vital to have adequate product images or the company website is basically a non starter.
A key to any product image is accuracy of representation. If colour, dimensions and factors like product finish quality are not accurately represented in the images then the result is customer dissatisfaction, product returns, potentially litigation and certainly a low success rate for the site.
Any product image on a web site needs to answer the questions that the viewer may have so adequate levels of detail are very necessary. Poor quality, badly lit and blurred images do not do this and need to be avoided.
A product photograph can be high enough quality to meet the criteria of visual interest, accuracy and adequacy without being massive slow loading files. Companies like Amazon and Ebay require these elements in their ecommerce business on systems that handle unimaginably large numbers of views each day.
So how is this achieved? The mantra of any photography service must be that the images it provides are a true represention of the product item; the images need to correctly show colour, adequate detail and be set in such a manner as to make the key elements in the subject clearly visible to the viewer.
The requirements to achieve this are threefold; environment, equipment and instructions.
Environment means adequate, consistent lighting. This usually means controlled lighting; studio lights. Each image on a web site should be shot to the same high standard to achieve the quality that attracts and retains customers. Work with the photographer to make sure each shoot is the same as the last, that each image is designed to sell the product by making it desirable and accurately represented.
Studio lighting does not mean having to go to a studio - many photographers have mobile studio facilities, all that is required is space and power and a bit of time to set up before the shoot starts. Working on site has a lot of advantages, not least access to more of the same product in the event there is damage to the first one supplied. Also any product or marketing expertise needed is generall more available.
There is a lot of talk among photographers about good results being due to the photographer and not the camera he is using; this is to some extent true. But when shooting detail and looking for accurate product representation a standard of equipment is a necessity particularly in the type of camera and the lens choice. Without getting technical issues like front to back sharpness and colour capture require suitable equipment, without it consistency will be very difficult to achieve.
The continued increase in speed of the internet and mobile services plus the general increase in website storage available means that image size is not the issue that it was even a couple of years ago. It is not necessary to create huge files to provide perfectly acceptable standards of image detail - certainly nothing like the size of file that would be required for large prints.
As with many things in photography the final result depends on the skill the photographer brings to understanding the clients needs and knowing how to achieve those.
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