Beginners Guide to Commercial Photography
With the constant new number of websites popping up in Singapore. Multiple startups and new businesses requiring a more professional setting for their product photography. This means that commercial photography in Singapore has been and still will be highly requested in the the market. When it comes to knowing where to start the commercial photography journey, it is always important to have a budget and to know what you intend to have photographed.
As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Then a perfectly taken product image is worth many website visits. Depending on what your e-commerce or digital marketing strategy is, commercial photography is valuable component in running any business.
Starting up with what you have
In a perfect world, you will have your own high end camera setup and photo studio for all your photography needs. However, this is not the world we live in. For commercial photography of course, the perfect setting equipped with the best gear is always ideal. But that is not always the deciding factor whether the image will turn out to be what you want it to be.
You will always want to start and start somewhere where you do not need to invest a lot. Use what you currently have access to and that will already be sufficient. Do not be afraid to shoot yours photos with a smartphone. That is what most people already have easy access to. Of course some of the earlier smartphones from back then may not be adequate enough for a high quality image. But we believe most people today may have move towards a more technologically advanced smartphone with sufficient camera technology. These lenses will allow you to adjust the temperature for different light settings you need.
Photo Consistency
Our hands may be the actual extension of our body. Which most may believe to be the best option when taking consistent photos. This may not be the case most of the time and the situation calls for a mobile tripod. Tripods for photography comes in many sizes and is readily available anywhere.
The reason for this is that, when your e-commerce business grows and it will. You will need to standardise your image across your products so that there is consistency in the style and orientation of the products when customers are viewing them. There are many different tripod styles you can pick from and is not considered a major investment in your commercial photography journey. The different ones are traditional, flexible, and mobile grips. These will help keep your camera or smartphone steady as you take the picture.
Lighting
Lighting in visual aspect can make a huge difference in how the object appears. This is even more noticeable in product commercial photography in the e-commerce industry. It is important for product photos to be clear so that your customer can view the product before they make the final decision of purchasing it.
Natural Light VS Artificial Light
Natural light is mostly known as a light source mainly from the sun. This also means that the light is considered a soft light and has a larger and softer range towards an object. This style of light is mostly used when you are trying to showcase a product around a natural surrounding while not making the product stand out too much.
Artificial Light is a source that can be created and replicated easily. Light bulbs are the most common of these options and this also creates a more hard light effect on the object. The main purpose for having a hard light is to have a more focused and smaller range of light surface. This will showcase the products details and texture more clearly.
Variety of Shoots
As shooting for every product in your store can be a tedious process, try to get as many shoots as possible for each product. Especially for the product that you know will sell well. This is mainly for the customers so that they can properly view the product from every angles similar to how they would view the product within a physical store.
At the end of the day, commercial photography is a simple yet power strategy for any e-commerce business. We can say that a picture can make or break a sale. If the picture is taken professionally it will definitely gain more attention compared to a photo that is taken without any consideration.