Many a florist has been disappointed after looking at the photo results of their brilliant :tongue designs. (me included)
I'm starting this thread to offer advice about designing for the camera - which is somewhat different than designing for consumers... at least for most of us. (If your design style is generally clean and crisp, you'll usually have an easier time of it.)
The challenges include:
You'll note that the original shot caught background elements that you wouldn't want to appear in the finished product. The rhythm of the alstroe and dendrobs, which probably looked good to the eye, needed a bit of improving for the camera so I cloned in a few more flowers. (Even a simple angle shift of the camera can quickly distort rhythm and placement.) I also edited out the alstoe leaf draped down on the container and slightly enhanced the color.
Photo editing software, while intuitive, takes practice and experimentation. This quick edit took under five minutes but would have probably taken me an hour when I was first learning.
The shot is not print ready, but IMO the quality is good for the web...
I'm out of time this AM for further elaboration but wanted to create a starting point. Feel free to add comments, questions and/or post shots with requests for advice.
Cathy
I'm starting this thread to offer advice about designing for the camera - which is somewhat different than designing for consumers... at least for most of us. (If your design style is generally clean and crisp, you'll usually have an easier time of it.)
The challenges include:
- Lighting. Too much and the whites look 'blown out', too little and the deep colors fade into black voids.
- Color. Balancing color rhythmically takes practice. Advancing (warm) colors like oranges and yellows can appear to dominate an arrangement, even if used on small amounts. Receding (cool) colors can be harder to read in artificial or low light.
- Background. Cleaner backgrounds are easier to work with. The more elements (accessories, display items, etc) the more to balance with lighting and color. A good, clean photo can often be dropped onto an environmental background with PhotoShop or other editing software.
- Depth. The camera basically reads width and height. Perceived depth is achieved through color and lighting. We often find it necessary to remove some materials in order not to clutter the photos.
- Texture. The shinier the materials, the tougher to photograph, IMO. Shiny textures often darken or lighten and take on more importance than they did in the original composition. Fortunately, photo editing software can usually help with this issue.
You'll note that the original shot caught background elements that you wouldn't want to appear in the finished product. The rhythm of the alstroe and dendrobs, which probably looked good to the eye, needed a bit of improving for the camera so I cloned in a few more flowers. (Even a simple angle shift of the camera can quickly distort rhythm and placement.) I also edited out the alstoe leaf draped down on the container and slightly enhanced the color.
Photo editing software, while intuitive, takes practice and experimentation. This quick edit took under five minutes but would have probably taken me an hour when I was first learning.
The shot is not print ready, but IMO the quality is good for the web...
I'm out of time this AM for further elaboration but wanted to create a starting point. Feel free to add comments, questions and/or post shots with requests for advice.
Cathy
