Everything that was product photography for catalog has been transformed into product photography for e-commerce, with the addition of well-curated process organization.
Let’s take it one step at a time.
It used to be that about two catalogs a year were created and dates for shoots were well defined. Now the photographic material is constantly being produced so that the virtual showcases are constantly updated.
Several skills have come into play: the logistics and storage of the sample collection, the increasingly fast and immediate realization of the photo shoots, the management of the file flow, the post production of the photographed material, the various authorizations, and last but not least the online publication of the showcase.
The product (still life) photographer has transformed or will have to transform into an image service industry, specializing not only in photographic shooting but also in file flow management, with dedicated software (DAM).
Time and again I am asked this question:
“In your opinion, is it better for a company to put in-house a “photo system” than to outsource it?”
There is no one answer, there are very important brands that have delegated and in the future then internalized the system and brands that have done the opposite.
So I usually answer this question with my personal opinion.
In my opinion, outsourcing this business phase is still the most correct solution, because the photographer/image producer has in-house (as well as a background) resources specialized to the creation of the photographic, video and illustration material. It is not enough to buy lights, cameras, soft boxes, etc., put in a freelance photographer and send everything to Thailand to be cropped. There must be a need not only to produce images that go into an automatic workflow, but to be a reference point to the client on future technologies and the flexibility to give multiple services of banner creation, specialized data entry, focus and video contributions, etc. Only a professional in the field is able to produce, propose and be up-to-date on trends and technologies that are changing faster and faster, but increasingly have to do with a still indispensable force called creativity.
Just as a fashion brand has a designer and his production, an image agency has its creatives and its production that is increasingly specialized and constantly changing.
Internalizing all of this for a brand may come at an excessive cost that over time, if not updated, may stagnate.
We wanted to intersperse the article with some of our own examples of methodology. Below is a Case History of how an optical start-up Alba Optics is growing thanks, in part, to the decision to outsource e-commerce and communication materials, focusing on brand management.
