“Components of successful photography project” it looks like a new term to the people who don’t know what they are. Well, to be precise, product photography has become a business and just like any other business, PP has also various divisions.
Here we are just trying to oversimplify some basic concepts to you that involve product photography. You are investing a whole lot of money in these projects, least you need to know is the components of a successful project. There are poor image quality served by the photographers that you need to assimilate, and plenty of other things that we will target here in this article. Shall we begin?
Tying Knots With The Right People
Well, this is the first thing. You need to associate with the people who have great level of experience in the field. Its not like that any photographer will be able to solve the purpose, you need to assemble specialized forces. Below are the skills that a professional must possess in order to get the job.
- Product Lighting– Lighting plays an interesting and highly impactful role in any kind of photography. This is necessary for best image quality and production. If you come across a photographer who does not have much experience with product lighting then it is best to leave him there. This is a serious business and you cannot afford to get tangled with the people of small or less experience. There is no point spending money on such professionals who cannot produce good quality pictures.
- Turnaround Time– The promptness of the delivery of work by the professionals certainly depend on the way they are hired. We do not recommend hiring a professional on hourly or daily basis. The professionals have to be production minded and understand the requirement of time. They need to own the art of balancing production with quality. Only an experienced photographer will be able to understand quality, creativity and will be able to streamline everything seamlessly.
- Equipments– The professional must have basic equipment for still photography. Well, for product photography, you need to own these equipments such as camera stand, table tops, lights, and strobe. One more thing, the professional must have a studio or a retail space where he can get the job done.
Quality Essentials-
Well, everything that a professional have should ensure positive quality. The camera quality should be the top-notch so that he can deliver high volume high quality product images. What else you will require is-
- Transparent or translucent photography tables
- Backdrops with stands
- Camera Stands
- Sufficient lighting system
- Semi pro or pro digital SLR
- Laptop tethered to a camera
- Barcode Scanner
So these are the tools needed for a product photography studio that a professional must have.
Working Area-
Wouldn’t it be strange if a highly experienced professional don’t own a studio? Most of these assignments take place in large warehouses or distribution center or photography studios. Production rates largely depend on the size of the space. I mean that if someone will have large space for the production, he will surely charge you more. Why would a professional need more space, here are the details-
- If the production space will be larger, it will allow the photographer to have more inventory stored and get done. Thus it will decrease the production time.
- The frequency of the products ordered and get done will be increased
- If the space will be enough then it will help in accommodating more number of people on the assignment
- Bigger spaces are ideal for bigger products
- More space will help in categorizing the products and stack them
- Space is also needed to repackage the products after photographing them
Responsible–
Who could settle with a professional who is not responsible for the merchandise that has come for photographing? It is best to work in a pattern such as making accurate product lists. Product listing also makes the tasks more productive as you can quickly match the products with the list and stack the same ones at one place and photograph them quickly. They can also have an assistant who takes charge of maintaining the list, counting the number of products, stacking them in right category and then bringing them for photographing. Anyways, it is significant that the professional need to take full responsibility of the merchandise and not damage the products.
Seamless Workflow–
Staring from committing with the timeline to making preparations for the shoot, each and everything is crucial. The workflow at photographer’s end has to be seamless. Most of the time, the efficiency of the work is hampered when photographer has to multitask. But at the same time, it is his responsibility to hire staff that can assist him with the routine endeavours. The criticality increases while ordering the inventory, preparing the merchandise for photographing and then sending the inventory back. Considering the short timeline issued by the companies, no photographer can afford to work in an unorganized way.
This is where I would like to conclude my work for today. These are some basic components of a successful product photography project that every company must know before hiring a professional. This will help in better development of coordination among the employers and the photographers.
