The Indextrialist

Taking good photographs for your website does not mean you need a $3000 professional camera to get the job done. With a few little tricks, you can take appropriate pictures that will make your website shine and not look like, well, Uncle Terry’s evil step child built it.

Most people have a small digital camera. And with a little help and your 2 mega pixel camera, you can take some great shots you would be proud to put on your website. Here are some tips to take good pictures:

#10. Always shoot at the highest resolution possible. It is so much easier for your website design company to crop a large picture, rather than try and stretch and fix a small one. Small resolution means small and / or grainy photographs.

#9. Focus, focus, focus. I can’t tell you how many times I have received photographs that are so out of focus, you almost can’t see what it is the client wants to show in the picture. Really, the CSI magic resolution imaging wonder machine you see on TV, it is just that…TV. Photoshop can only do so much.

#8. Take multiple shots of the same thing. In other words, it’s the rule of three. Make sure you take the same picture 3 times in case there was a weird light or something that you might not have seen while taking the picture. It’s digital anyway, you are not wasting film here.

#7. Find the right Lighting. Lighting is such and essential part of good photography and probably the most overlooked. Make sure you have enough light on your subject and try not to shoot into the light or into the sun. Light is a good thing, but not when you shoot straight into it. Make sure the sun or your light source is not shining into the camera. Be careful with the flashes, try not to use them if possible. Most of the time shots come back with a big light ball in the middle of the product.

#6. Framing. Make sure you frame your subject so that it is the focal point in your picture. Shooting a picture of car really has no impact if it is shot on the freeway with 200 other cars around it. Also try to make sure there is nothing encroaching in your shot. If you are going to shoot a company truck that’s great, just don’t do it while someone is bent over checking the tires.

#5. Color. Now this is easy if you have an auto digital camera. If it’s sunny, use the little sun on the dial to take the picture. If it’s cloudy, turn to the cloud setting. I know it seems really easy and self explanatory but if the color is really bad, your picture is going to look unnatural when it’s taken into Photoshop and manipulated.

#4. Shoot only once. Review your photos while you are with the subject you are shooting. This is a real easy way to make sure you have the photos you want before you put everything away. Ideally you would want to throw them on a computer and blow them up for review. It’s a great way to really find out that what you shot is viable.

#3. Tripod if you have one. This goes back to # 9 in that you may think your shot is in focus and it might be when you pushed the button halfway down, but there is always the chance you shook just that little bit and threw the camera out of focus. Again, this is another reason you take 3 pictures of the same shot. It’s your safety net.

#2. Close ups of your subject. This can make such an impact on your website when potential customers go to the sight and see a beautiful close up of a product or a part of your product. A client recently sent pictures of Fueling Tanks and was asked to show the fuel coupling and meter on the front of the tank. Might not sound like much, but when a customer is looking for there product, that can mean the difference in a sale or not. They not only see a good shot of the tank, but the small things that make there product stand out from the competitors company.

#1. Shoot your pictures with YOUR CUSTOMER in mind. When you look at your product, think about what your customers are looking for. What makes your product different? What makes your product special? What do they need to see to make a choice? Is the product clear and easy to view? Are you displaying the product in such a manner that it is easy to view and understandable?

These are all just simple tips to get better shots with out having to spend a lot of money or really take a lot of time. You will also be much happier (and so will your web design company) and end up with a much better representation of who you are as a company. Check back to our blog soon as I will go over indoor lighting and how to shoot industrial equipment and machinery so you can get great images even in the most awkward situations.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 29th, 2007 @ 7:46 pm on the category Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.