"Still? Is it to eat? " This is just one of the variations of the question I heard most when I chose to work with Still photography: what is Still? And it may seem strange, but several photographers asked me that. The fact is that this mode of photography is very little commented (compared to marriage, newborn, pregnant, etc.), so the purpose of this text is to introduce to you who is not a photographer or is but not familiar with theme, in a simplified way: what it is, what it serves, and how Still photography works.
WHAT IS STILL PHOTOGRAPHY?
You certainly have seen pictures of fruits, vases, etc., out there. This mode of painting is called Still Life. It is basically from there that derives the term ensaio newborn, used in the photography. To better illustrate Still's photography these days, I invite you, the reader, to look around and find the first packaging, which has the picture of a product. Found? Great! You have just seen Still photography in its most palpable form.But not only that! Do you know when you want to buy that great product that you are going to release and date your photos on the manufacturer's website? Or are you reading a magazine and advertising a shampoo or a watch? Or when you go to a Japanese restaurant and you have no idea what is written on the menu, but choose what you want to eat from the photo? Ah! Now all makes sense! We can conclude then that Still photography is the photograph of objects / products. And answering the question asked at the beginning: It is not to eat, but it may be food!
WHAT DO STILL PHOTOGRAPHY SERVE?
Pasme: Product photography is also a marketing investment! So your goal is to sell! Score. Of course, every photographer loves to make copyrighted photographs, without a commercial purpose (and this is already another discussion), but there is no denying that the public that buys this type of photography, mostly overwhelming is corporate and does so with the to sell the products that were photographed. Not by chance, Still photography is popularly known as e-commerce photography. I could also: there are virtual stores and many of the demand for this type of photo comes from them. In fact, especially on the Internet photos have a fundamental role, precisely because your client can not touch the product and check the quality of the material, texture, smell, etc. And I do not know you, but I have often left (and still leave) to buy over the internet for not being able to identify in the photo of the product, whether or not it would meet my need.As we have seen before, the role of Still photography is to be able to demonstrate the product. For this, issues such as values, philosophy, ideas and everything else that one wishes to convey to the potential buyer - outside the strengths of the product as a commodity itself - all these things can and should be taken into account before the production of the images . Therefore it is important that the marketing team and the photographer are aligned as to the goals of the photo that will be produced. A good briefing is key.
Still photography is essentially performed in studio, although in some cases it can be done outdoors. Because it is a specific type of photo, it requires specific equipment and techniques as well. So much so that there are photographers who specialize in certain areas of Still, such as jewelry, food, cars, among others. And, of course, all this combined with a dose of sensitivity, to be able to convey in an image the ideas that were discussed previously.
