7 Benefits of Hiring a Product Photographer for Your Company
7 Benefits of Hiring a Product Photographer for Your Company
In today’s digital world, taking photos is easier than ever. Anyone with a smartphone can be a photographer, right? But being a good product photographer is another story.
And quality commercial photography is critical to setting your company apart from the competition. It’s the element that influences online shoppers more than any other.
One major online retailer reports that product photography is the most important factor affecting purchases. 90% of their shoppers are more influenced by quality product photos than anything else – customer reviews, shipping cost, or price!
Customers rely on photographs when they can’t pick up, touch, feel, and hold your product. And that’s why hiring a commercial photographer is a great investment for your business. Let’s look at the seven top reasons to hire a professional.
1. Consistent and Professional Quality
When 83% of smartphone shoppers say that product photos are very or extremely important, they are telling you something. Clean, crisp professional images are critical to your product promotion and sales.
It’s possible that an amateur with a decent camera – or even a cell phone – might produce the occasional photograph worthy of representing your company. But do you want to trust your sales to chance?
You know how important good photography studio is. An experienced commercial photographer will produce great images, shot after shot. That consistency also creates a look that’s unique to your business and your brand.
2. Artistic Vision Brought to Life
Professionals bring more than high-end equipment and technical skill to their work. They also bring creativity and an artistic flair developed over a career in the business. That’s what separates the mundane from the exceptional.
We all see hundreds, maybe thousands, of photos every day. How many stand out? Not many. Most are immediately forgotten. The ones that do stand out are invariably the work of professionals.
These are the photos that combine technical skill with an artistic vision – and that’s what you want in your business photography.
3. Greater Capability With Professional Equipment
It’s true that having expensive, high-end professional cameras, lenses, and lighting equipment doesn’t guarantee great photos. That only comes with the right equipment, technical expertise, and experience – and that’s what a professional photographer brings.
What high-end gear does is give the photographer the option to handle any shot under any condition. The ability to use a range of focal lengths, f-stops, apertures, ISOs, color profiles, and more means great shots time after time. Whether your photographer works with controlled lighting in the studio or out in the rain, they know how to get the shot.
And professionals don’t shoot low-resolution images, which may be ok on the web. Instead, they shoot – and save – high-resolution, full-frame images that capture every detail and nuance. That means the same image they shot for your website can also be used to make a larger-than-life print or even a billboard. Try that with a smartphone!
4. Professional Editing
Using professional photography equipment and combining that with artistic vision is one skill a good product photographer has. Learning how to correctly and quickly edit images using today’s sophisticated software like PhotoShop and Lightroom is another professional skill.
Becoming good at editing takes hours and hours of hands-on experience. There’s a steep learning curve in photo editing. And there aren’t any shortcuts.
A professional knows how to adjust exposure, noise, color, white balance, and contrast. They know how to remove backgrounds or elements and how to correct portraits. They know the value of working with the original RAW file, not a compressed JPEG.
The result is that your product photography images have that polished, consistent look and feel that makes them stand out – shot after shot.
5. A Look and Style of Your Own
What separates one company’s product photography and overall image from the pack? Outstanding photography that is creative and consistent from shot to shot. That comes from working with a professional photographer and developing a specific look – a feel.
Think of the great, iconic advertising campaigns – Tiffany, Nike, Absolut, Ralph Lauren. Consumers know the company just from the photograph. They don’t have to read the print.
Crisp, clean, well-executed product photography reinforces your company’s image with every shot. That’s key to building brand awareness – and generating sales.
Poorly executed photographs, different from shot to shot, do just the opposite – they detract from your company’s image.
6. Professionals Act Professionally
When you hire a good product photographer, you’re hiring a professional. They act professionally and take every client’s work seriously. They understand the need for clear communication.
Professionals show up on time, put their best into every shot, and always meet the deadline. It’s their reputation that’s at stake, after all. You’ll be treated as a valued customer, and they have a vested interest in your opinion of them and their work.
7. Maximize Your Return on Investment
It’s a cliche, but it’s true. You have to invest money to make money. That applies to building your company’s brand, and a key part of that is photography. But, of course, you have photography options. You’re trying to build your brand and stay under budget. So you can hire your cousin’s friend who has a semi-pro camera and tells you they can take care of your product shots.
But there’s another cliche: you get what you pay for. Investing in high-quality images is at the foundation of building your brand. Good professional photographs can be used time after time.
Why You Should Hire a Product Photographer
Now you know how important good product photography is to building your brand. And you know that numerous studies show that online shoppers are influenced more by good photography than any other factor.
Only a professional product photographer has the equipment, the skill, the training, and the vision to bring your brand to life. And that’s why investing in professional photography pays off over the long run. Boost your sales and build your brand. Hire a professional!
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