A lot of small businesses nowadays are opting to sell their products online. People like it because of its convenience. Even I shop online these days too, and it seems online shopping is going to be the new norm during and after the Covid19 quarantine period.
So, have you tried it yet and took pictures of your products?
I’ll share with you a few things that can make your product photography awesome (and help you sell them too!) and perfect for your online shop.
All of us at some point blames the camera for missed shots. Our cameras have shutter lag, not sharp enough, slow AF, misfocused, noisy ISO, aperture not wide enough, not fullframe, and a lot of other stuff… What if our cameras can talk back to us?
Here are some stuff I think our cameras will tell us.
I never thought that galvanized iron can be used to make functional furnitures and at the same time becomes an art piece in your home or space.
All of us need a portrait. We use it on our social media accounts. We pick our “best picture”, best expressing the image or status we want to project to our peers, relatives, friends, etc. Some use it for their professional sites such as LinkedIn, or corporate website. But do you think your portrait sells?
My wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary in Japan. It was my first time to go around Kyoto and Osaka so before our trip, I planned what camera to bring with me to take some nice photos.
About a couple of months ago, me and my friend Bob Cristuta, COO/Co-founder of Timebox Consulting, KroniklrPH and SlowMoManila, got a chance to talk to Diego Ramos, Co-founder of Horsepower.ph. At that time, I was looking for new subjects to add to my portfolio. Luckily, Diego allowed us to take some portraits for their team. I started with one light and then added some more for the white background shots. I used my Fujifilm X-pro1 for this shoot which was amazing as always. I had a nice conversation with each of the subject that made it easier to capture their best portrait. It was an amazing day of shoot with great people and an awesome company.
I think that every business should have great pictures not only for their products, but also for the team behind the business. It is always great to know who you are doing business with. So it’s better to update the corporate portraits with a better one and drop those id pictures away.
By the way, Horsepower.ph is what we entrepreneurs, freelancers, and SMEs are waiting for. Checkout their amazing website for more info and also checkout their team photos. Click here for their site.
Here are some of the shots from our shoot.
Jojy Azurin – Co-Founder
Diego Jose Ramos – Co-Founder
Hannah Crisostomo – Co-Founder
The team of Horsepower.ph
a great candid moment captured during our shoot
And here are some BTS shots
Shooting and having a nice conversation with Diego
Just browsing though photos in Lightroom and came across a set of photographs I took for Watson Institute Philippines. Watson Institute Philippines is an eight-week long accelerator in Manila, Philippines for student innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs. I met Andy Rapista, Co-founder of Watson Institute Philippines, during one of the dinner organized by the Diego Ramos, awesome guy and co-founder of Horsepower.ph. We talked about what Watson is and I also showed her some of my shots. I was telling her that I coach my subjects so that they look their best in front of the camera. She asked me if I can do a workshop for the amazing students of Watson Institute.. I figured out my schedule and said yes. Glad I did the workshop for them. It was an amazing experience for me and hopefully for them. A decent portrait can improve your self confidence and maybe land more opportunities for you and your business.
I’ll just end this post with this line.
Everybody deserves to have a decent portrait.
Please checkout Watson Institute Philippines
Here are some of the photos I took after the workshop.
I recently went for a vacation in Hong Kong with my wife. I usually do portraits of people on the street. I talk to them, ask some stuff about what they do then ask them if I can take a portrait of them. It gives me more story to my images and learn more about the place.
A small used stuff store in Central, Hongkong. He was really nice to let me take a photo of him.
I always observe random people when travelling and I noticed that a lot of them are looking down.. looking down at their mobile phones. So I thought of shooting people on their mobile phone.
Looking for her partner
MTR Subway
It became addictive for me. I began shooting a lot of people on their mobile phones. While browsing through my pictures, I saw photos that looks connected so I tried to combine them.
Why can’t we talk
Busy street at Causeway Bay
Inside the train
Selfie!
Today, we are too attached to our mobile devices. Sometimes we just have to look infront of us, on our side, or above us to appreciate life.
I am glad that I took these photos. Of course, I did took some other photos. We just have to look around to find something interesting to shoot.
Taco Loco
All photos are taken using my Fujifilm X100T which is the only camera I brought for this trip. It is an amazing camera for candid photos. It is fast, silent and jpegs are great. One thing I wish was a Fujifilm TCL-X100 for some closer shots. The 23mm focal length can be too wide for some shots. I also did minor adjustment in Lightroom for some of the photos.
Here are more photos.
Lately, I have been shooting a lot with my Fuji X100T. After I got this camera, I started using it without reading the manual. I just thought that it will be just like my Fuji X-Pro1. I was wrong.
Here are some stuff I recently learned.
Fujifilm did an awesome job on giving us an option to adjust the button configuration depending on your shooting style. I still have to figure out the best configuration for me. As of now, all I did was assign the ISO button instead of video recording and adding the silent mode on the Q menu. You just have to keep on shooting to understand more about your gear.
Last Saturday, I went on a train ride with my wife. Rather than taking our car to Manila, we opt to just take the LRT2. I brought my Fuji X100T so I can take some photos on the way. I am really amazed with how the camera lets me focus on my shot and not the technicality of shooting. Metering is spot on. Focusing is fast. Shutter lag is almost gone. Working with the OVF is way better than my X-Pro1. Dials and buttons are placed correctly which allows me to adjust settings without removing my eye from the OVF. It is silent and not flashy since I got the black X100T. Although I still can’t figure out how to turn it to Silent mode like my X-Pro1. Holding the disp/back button doesn’t work. Anyways, still learning a lot from my camera.
Here are some of my shots.
