Quality Photos In Your Catalog Is Winning Half The Battle

What do you think of when you think of catalogs? Photos and buying stuff, I bet! The photos in a catalog are what people rely on to make their purchasing choices. There are plenty of ways to make sure your photos when printing catalogs represent your products accurately and in the best way.

Lighting
Professional photographers have studied how light casts shadows that are either attractive or repulsive. Ever notice how a model can look great in one photo with natural lighting, but look like a totally different person (maybe even evil!) in bad lighting? Shadows play tricks on our eyes, so you need to light your products in a way that doesn’t create any negative shadows.

Typical commercial lighting requires a lighting box, strobe lights to create depth, a high resolution camera, reflectors and macro lenses for close-up shots.

The best light to shoot in is natural light; if there’s any way to take your products outside for the photo shoot, do it! If not, photographing next to a large window or series of windows will work wonders for your photo. If you don’t have any large windows to give you enough light, a light box works best to illuminate your product from all sides. You can get a light box at 5StarDeal.com. You can also make your own cheap light box by creating a box of four bright white poster boards taped together with spot lamps set at 45-degree angles to the product.

The Right Stage
A river raft photo shot in a studio scene or house scene doesn’t quite say “buy me!” A river raft shot out on a beautiful river or on the banks of a river is much more enticing. Why? Because the customer can see himself using the river raft in the stage you set. Catalog photos must create a mood and they must allow the readers to imagine themselves using the product.

Quality Images
A quality camera produces quality photos. For catalogs, a digital camera with digital files will generally not produce the best photos. A good ol’ film camera with a high resolution is your best bet for quality photos. Also, a tripod is a must to prevent blurry photos. Any camera shake will produce a blurry photo. You may not think you’re moving, but just pressing the button on the camera will cause the camera to move slightly, which could result in your photo being slightly “off.”

Create Consistency between Photos
A consistent look of all of your photos, such as a straight-on shot or a slight 30-degree angle to the right of each product, will help all of your catalog photos look more professional. It’s fine to change the backgrounds, but by making all of the items roughly the same size and angled in the same manner, you’ll make it easier for readers’ minds to process the items and recognize which ones they want.

If you aren’t confident in your photographing abilities, hire a professional photographer. It might seem like an expensive unnecessary item to add to your budget, but it will be worth it since the photographer will be able to make your products look their best.