Saratoga Springs product photographer
Please take a look at my product photography portfolio so that you can see the work I do as a Saratoga Springs product photographer.
Product photography is a distinct discipline within the worlds of corporate photography or business photography.
There are the usual requirements you should have of any Saratoga professional photographer. And these are a high degree of skill in lighting and composition. But going further, a great product photographer has to have a very high degree of technical skill.
The photographer you choose in this specialty area has to understand lighting, color rendition, contrast, texture and capturing detail. They also have to understand how those areas work in relation to their specific cameras, lenses and software. And how working within those technical areas all inter relate to produce the final image. Just having the ability to set up some lights or show up with what many believe tis be an ‘automatic picture making box’ won’t get you great product photography as the final result for all of your time and money.
Ensure you’ll hire a great product photographer in Saratoga
Ask questions! Pick out a few images from the portfolio of a prospective product photographer and ask:
- Was this photograph done using artificial controlled lighting? This will tell you a lot about the photographer and whether they can create or merely can capture what they are given.
- Can you recreate this exact look for me? In other words was this photo a happy accident, or was it dependent on unique conditions of the setting where it was taken? Or was it something deliberate and controlled that the photographer can offer and create again and again?
- Is this something you have to do in your studio, or is it something that can be done on location or at my place of business? That speaks to the convenience you will experience in getting your work done. Getting dozens of products off site to someone’s studio can be logistically challenging, requiring transportation, storage, coordination, insurance of the products, etc. If they can do this on location for you at your place of business all those challenges are eliminated.
- Can you explain how long it took to make this one photo? About how many of these can you do in an hour? In a day? Some of this will be determined by the quality, or ‘production value’ as we like to call it. You may be attracted to a specific look that is just right for your company branding and image. And in fairness that might take a lot of time to achieve. Think of those slick glossy Apple product photos. They take days each.
- What did the photo look like coming out of your camera and how close was it to what we see here in this finished image? You’re trying to figure out if someone has skill or luck. If they had a vision and worked in a direct line towards creating that vision. Or if they were kind of picking around, putting together enough happy accidents to make your images.
- Was there a lot of retouching done to make the photo look like this? How much retouching was done to this photo? Was it done to remove imperfections? Or was it done to create this look? This will help you know if it will take a lot of time and expense to create this look.
- Did you do the retouching or is this handled by a third party? Do you send photos to services offshore and out of the country for retouching? Maybe you don’t want your product photos in the hands of someone in another country.
- Is this a composite, meaning the result of several images combined? or was it one photo? Again this goes to the time-factor. Composites take more time to photograph and more time on the back end during post production. If you have that time, great. If not you need to know that up front.
- How large/small was this item? Can you handle our (very small or very large, perhaps very heavy) type of item? This goes to the ability to solve logistical challenges from moving sometimes heavy items. Or technical skill at handling the high magnification needed to create images of smaller items.
Would you like to speak with me about your project?
It’s easy to get in touch with me
To have a direct conversation you can call 1 (518) 843-0414 and we can talk about things right away. Of course, I’m often out in the field working on photo projects!
Or you can use My Contact Form At This Link. That will be the most efficient as I always return inquiries within 12 hours and most often much more rapidly.
Let’s talk about making some great product photos for you!
Mitch
