Different types of Product Photography explained - what’s the difference and what do I need?11/16/2020 Hi there. We are product photographers, and we’re here to help shed some light on the different types of photography that you may need for your business.
Product photography is a large umbrella term that encompasses things like “Advertising Photography” and “Catalogue Photography”. In addition to providing professional product photography, we also help clients with Branding work, branding photos, lifestyle photos, event photography, and more. So, let’s take a deeper look at these terms and figure this thing out. Product Photography can refer to advertising photos, catalogue photos, and more. Advertising photography typically refers to photos paired with ads. Think billboard photos, Google Ads (AdWords), Instagram and Facebook ads, and more. Catalogue Photography refers to more simple, consistent, and straightforward photos that are used for the sales / catalogue pages of a site. When thinking of catalogue photography, we typically think of things like a high-end clothing site’s catalogue. The goal is for all of your catalogue photography (all of your different products) to look good together on the same page, to be consistent, to present a professional look and feel to your customers. For Catalogue Photography, we recommend 3-10 photos per product, depending on the complexity of the product. If you are selling a Ferrari, you may want 40 or 70 photos. For a wristwatch, you may want 10. And for cologne, you only need 2-3 photos per product most of the time. Branding photography is also a bit of an umbrella term. This can be any sort of photography that helps with you or your company’s branding. This could be a photo of the CEO, some behind-the-scenes footage of you working on your company or building your product, and more. Anything that demonstrates value, authenticity, trust, professionalism, exclusivity, etc. When we work with you, we will figure out what you’re trying to convey to your customers and go from there to help you build content that will create the correct types of emotional impacts for your business. Lifestyle photography would sometimes be placed under the branding photography umbrella. Lifestyle photography is usually more relevant to influencers or a small team of people (at the most) who are trying to build a group of online followers that feel connected to whomever they are following. Lifestyle photos are great for specific types of businesses and business models. Used tastefully, it can also be used to demonstrate the value of products and services. Have a question? We’re here to help. Visit our Contact page to send us an email directly.
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(Hi there. If you don’t know us, we are Product Photographers in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We specialize in many types of photography, including product, advertising, catalogue, branding, and lifestyle photography. We also have the ability to serve national and international clients. For all types of product photography, this process is usually quite seamless. Most larger companies will simply mail products to their product photographers of choice in order to have photos taken. Okay, read on.)
Product Photography is a large umbrella term, so we like to break it down further. We separate different types of photography to keep things simple for our clients. Within Product Photography, you have both “Catalogue Photography” and "Advertising Photography". When you are shopping on the Banana Republic website, you’ll see mostly Catalogue Photography. Catalogue photos will have the product on a simple background (grey or white) with a tasteful lighting setup and maybe a prop or two. Catalogue photos are simple and are designed to showcase the product without any distraction. Advertising Photography is more flashy. Think of this as the giant photo of an ice-cold Coca-Cola on a massive billboard. Advertising photos may incorporate motion, as well as bold, eye catching backgrounds. Advertising Photography is at home on Instagram and the large banners of your website. It is designed to catch the viewer’s attention. It can be used for branding, a call to action, and more. So, it certainly has similarities to catalogue photography, but where catalogue photography is simple and to the point, advertising photography is bold, exciting, and flashy. Your catalogue of products on your website needs to be in typical catalogue-style. Keep it classy, but not too distracting or fancy. All of the photos need the same background and lighting setup in order to communicate consistency. This is extremely important for attracting first time buyers. They must see consistency, because consistency will allow them to trust your business much more quickly. Take a few minutes to browse some of your favorite brands’ websites. On their product pages, you’ll notice that the products are photographed very consistently to one another. This consistency communicates professionalism. Simply put, advertising photography is important for advertising. SUMMARY: -Catalogue Photography is simple and straightforward. Consistent Catalogue Photography is essential for generating trust and sales. -Advertising Photography is at home on the banner of your website, when used in Adwords Ads, and on Instagram. It’s BOLD and catchy and it leaves an impression. It’s a “WOW” photo. One might look at photos like this and think, “how on Earth did they accomplish that photo?” We work with all shapes and sizes of clients.
Even though we are Product Photographers near Chattanooga, Tennessee, we shoot photos for products that come from all over the US, and we can even serve international clients very easily and with low hassle. Some clients are larger companies that have already been collaborating with product and advertising photographers for quite some time now. A lot of clients that approach us are actually smaller businesses, though. They know that they need to bring their A-game online. They want stunning photography. They aren’t sure if they need photos the most for Instagram, for website catalogue photography, or another avenue. When a client asks us to work with them on photography for their brand or product(s), we are excited to help. We will typically send you a short questionnaire to fill out that tells us a little bit about the project. We want to know how our product photography or advertising photography can help your business. While some companies may just instantly agree to work on your project and receive payment, that’s not us. We want to make sure that we are a good fit for you and your project. If you’re doing business with us, it is our priority to make sure that you’re completely satisfied with the photography and creative direction that we provide. Sometimes, we will politely disagree with you or pushback on an idea. This is because we have your best interests in mind. We don’t want you to spend money on anything that will not improve your business, and we use this information to check ideas. Likewise, we will caution you against any idea that won’t be helpful or profitable in the long-term for your business. We don’t want to just get paid. We want to help. Have any questions? Send us an email! First impressions are everything.
We LOVE product and advertising photography. We’re extremely passionate about what we do. Not only that, we’re passionate about helping you bring your company to the next level. We work with small businesses and larger companies alike, and each project requires a different solution. Some version of Lifestyle, Branding, or Product Photography is an essential tool, and a powerful tool, for almost every single business in 2020. Your photography is your online presence. Low quality photography says bad things about your business. It says that you are lazy. That you don’t care. That “that’ll do” is good enough for you and your business. It speaks to how you treat your customers, too. Imagine that someone applied for work at your business. When they show up to the interview, they are wearing a wrinkled yellow tee-shirt, ripped jean shorts (jorts, gross!) and old sneakers. Even worse, their breath stinks. That person isn’t getting a call back. They’re not even getting an interview in the first place, probably. What they wear tells you a lot about them. You start to get ideas about how poorly they might treat you and your clients just based on how they take care of their physical appearance. When you have a lack of photography or unprofessional photography on your website or social media such as Instagram or Facebook, it doesn’t look good to new clients. If we put two identical businesses side by side, but one business has good advertising photography, that business is going to get the new clients 100% of the time. Now, picture that you have beautiful professional photography on your website and social media pages. All of your photography is consistent, and beautiful. This makes your business seem much more professional, instantly. It paints a more honest picture of the quality that customers can expect to receive from your business. Importantly, it completely sets you apart from your competition. You’re in a completely different league from a business that doesn’t have consistently beautiful imagery. |
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