Picture preferences?

JB Cases

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
Artsy well composed shots or plain jane detail shots?

I am at a little bit of a crossroads. I try to provide plain jane detail shots of our cases with close ups of all the details including the interiors.

My competition does well composed elegant shots that are short on detail but make the product look awesome.

Sometimes I feel that my shots are too plain and thus the cases don't quite get the reverence that others do based on the composition of the image.

So.......although I don't really want to spend the extra time setting up a studio and photoshopping the images I have to ask what turns you on more as a consumer? The elegant studio-style pics or the here-it-is-warts-and-all details pics?

An example of our plain style:

Whole case -
arts-a-front.jpg


Detail -
arts-c-toppocket.jpg



A nice example of a well done and I think photoshopped image:
1.JPG


And here is one that is just well arranged with a good eye for lighting:
BP1.jpg


I am not sure if Brandon did the photos or Jack did but the arrangement and lighting really makes the case look fantastic. (The case is fantastic)

I personally like the images Ritch does and they scream AWESOME LEATHER WORK to me. But it seems like a lot of work to do these type of images and I want to know what you all think.

I have tried for 20 years to figure out the best way to photograph my cases. Along with singing this is just one thing I have zero talent for.

Here is what I think; I think we could do a better job with lighting and set up but we don't necessarily need to do a lot of photoshop manipulation. I was thinking that we could do studio style shots for the first look and then maybe the unvarnished detail shots as a separate link for those who are interested enough to want to see more. Would that be a good way to go or am I overthinking this whole thing and the way we do it now is fine?

Help.
 
I am not an aficionado of photograph technology, but I happen to like the first two photos of the brown case. The lighting is good, and I can see the details in the case.

When are you coming to the States again? I got a 50-dollar bill with your name all over it! If I don't see you before 2012, then we're going double or nothing, so I'll either break even or owe you a fat C-note. :p

Be well, John. Hope you are enjoying that little girl of yours! :smile:
 
When it comes to things that I am considering purchase of...........

Just the facts ;)

I prefer seeing high definition, detailed photos of what I am thinking of buying. No photoshop and no artsy fartsy stuff to distract from the detail. I generally make decisions based on plain concise details and not on the sugar coating. This could be the reason why I hate politics.
 
Black case on black background? :yikes::barf::banghead:
That's a sin, like blogs that have made such poor colour choices for text and background that they are unreadable.:D

I like commercial sites that give me lots of detail, both by photos and description. Photos don't have to be "artistic", just clear, and in a size that the detail can be seen on a computer screen.

I avoid sites with no info, or poor photos, or have photos and descriptions that are contradictory, ambiguous, or wrong. For example, a site that offered a variety of leather dyes, had one good picture of all the choices, then mislabeled them in the description, so that the buyer ends up with what he didn't want. Better to have one individual picture for each colour.

Explanations about why some design features are chosen and alternatives are rejected. For example: buckle vs snap fastener vs velcro.
 
JAM said:
I am not an aficionado of photograph technology, but I happen to like the first two photos of the brown case. The lighting is good, and I can see the details in the case.

When are you coming to the States again? I got a 50-dollar bill with your name all over it! If I don't see you before 2012, then we're going double or nothing, so I'll either break even or owe you a fat C-note. :p

Be well, John. Hope you are enjoying that little girl of yours! :smile:
Click to expand...

I am going to double down on brown. I think he is going to pull it off in the home stretch when the economy rebounds as the money from the Marcellus Shale starts flowing steadily and companies start bringing jobs back to look more patriotic and because China's wages and cost of doing business is getting out of hand. With the money flowing people will blame the president for the good times just like they blame him for the bad times.

:-) GoBama 2012. Or is that already taken by the Crimson Tide?
 
JB Cases said:
I am going to double down on brown. I think he is going to pull it off in the home stretch when the economy rebounds as the money from the Marcellus Shale starts flowing steadily and companies start bringing jobs back to look more patriotic and because China's wages and cost of doing business is getting out of hand. With the money flowing people will blame the president for the good times just like they blame him for the bad times.

:-) GoBama 2012. Or is that already taken by the Crimson Tide?
Click to expand...

If Tea Party candidate wins, it's a push. :grin:
 
I think the natural pics look better from a consumers standpint,

I also like to see the detail on a prospective purchase.

Although the pic of the Justis case looks flashy, you can't really see the workmanship at all...........
 
JAM said:
If Tea Party candidate wins, it's a push. :grin:
Click to expand...


If a tea party candidate wins then all the bookies in the world will go broke. I will spot you the TP candidate because all they will do is take votes away from the republican candidate.
 
My opinion is; Your way is perfect.
Pictures are clear & you show every inch of the case inside & out.
 
Your photos are already pretty darn nice

I always liked your style of photographing your cases. It shows the buyer here is what you will be getting and the attention to detail is clear. IMHO taking a clear series of detailed pictures of a case against an appropriate contrasting colored background is all that is needed.

I don't think artistic photos are really necessary unless you want to do a cases calendar, coffee table book or maybe a set for display on your website. When selling and presenting on here I think your work shows well the way you put it together now.

Additionally, if photo-shopping is done incorrectly it may look like there are flaws in the case that are not really there like someone pointed out in a cues thread recently that a stainless joint on a cue with an effect applied looked brushed or scratched when it really wasn't.
 
I prefer your pictures. As an "online" shopper I prefer highly detailed such as the ones you provide. I also appreciate the multiple views with cues placed.
 
I definitely don't like the middle case picture that has been photoshopped.

The most important things to me would be having the correct white balance to show the leather's true color and having a nice sharp image that catches the full detail of each case.

With a decent SLR and the right lighting you can easily make those cases look as beautiful as they do in real life.
 
Your current way is fine, John; nothing fancier needed. A case (or cue) in a "for-sale" picture should look as much as possible like the case will appear in person. Otherwise it can be misleading to the potential customer.
 
pictures

I agree, I like your detailed pictures just fine. You could always do a 'gallery' section on your site if you want to do fancier pics. Maybe with your logo on it for advertising like a pin~up poster.
 
The first two pics are nice and bright, and show details quite effectively, with little to no distortion in color. The pics you provide have been good enough to keep you busy for quite some time....if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!

Now for paper advertisement purposes, 'beauty' shots are always nice because they typically grab someone's attention and make them want to see more....but I honestly think when it comes to actual buyers, they prefer detailed shots over the 'beauty' shots.

JMHO.

Lisa
 
one more thing

My feelings about this can be summed up quite easily:

Why settle for good enough?
-or-
Good enough is less than you best.
-or-
The good is the enemy of the best.

I'm not trying to step on toes, so I apologize in advance if I do that.
Karl
 
I've always liked the lay out of your site John.
The pics seem to tell the story just fine.
You get front and rear pics. Pics of the interior.
What more does a person need in order to make a decision?
 
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