| DO-IT-YOURSELF (DIY) PHOTOGRAPHY |
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 Swimming pool and landscape companies that do not necessarily have the budget to hire a professional photographer can improve their project photography for their digital portfolios using the following tips:1. Use the best camera available with a wide-angle lens. 2. If a camera phone is the only option, try taking the pictures from a lower angle (e.g. around the knee or hip). Gardens and yards tend to look wider from a lower angle. 3. The sun should be at the photographer’s back and watch out for sun reflection and glare. Sun glare is always worse when captured through the camera lens. 4. Use a simple program to edit photos (e.g. iPhoto or an online service such as Picnik). Experiment with the different options, tools, and presets as most programs are different. 5. Never alter the original image. Make any edits or adjustments to a duplicate image and store the original photo as a backup. 6. Take photos early or later in the day, or on slightly cloudy day with diffused light. 7. Take the time to capture good images. Great photos are used more often than ones; therefore, it is important not to rush and to always plan ahead. 8. Keep an address list of the company’s best projects and return to these clients to take pictures after a year or two. By this time, all of the landscaping and improvements will be done and the plant material will look better after it has grown in. 9. Make a note of which day the maintenance is scheduled and plan to take pictures of the project just after the lawn has been freshly cut and raked, and the planting beds cleaned and mulched. 10. If the project might be featured in a magazine advertisement or feature article, let the client know. Having a client’s home featured in a magazine can be the greatest form of flattery and sometimes the client will assist in having the site cleaned and even partially staged if they are notified ahead of time. |
Always have a digital portfolio ready
All swimming pool and landscape businesses, small or large, should have a website. Those without one should promote their work by having sample photos of recent projects readily available for e-mailing to prospective clients.
It is not hard to create a digital portfolio. Most well-known image software programs, such as ‘iPhoto,’ offer short how-to videos on creating slideshows or photo books that can be saved as a digital file containing multiple photos. There are also several photo upload sites online (e.g. Flicker.com, SmugMug.com), which offer many of the same features.
Software such as Microsoft Word, which most businesses typically have, can also be used to create documents that include photos and descriptions. PDF (portable document format) files, a format used to exchange documents in a manner that is independent of application soft/hardware, and operating system, is another popular method for exchanging digital portfolios as the program that reads these files (Adobe Reader) is free to download.
Have professional photos prepared
Most can tell the difference between a photo taken by a professional and one taken via cell phone or pocket camera. Why do some photos not look like the glamour shots everyone sees in the magazines? What is the difference? Was it the camera, angle, content, light, and/or colour? The answer is all of the above. Most advertisement photography found in magazines that a pool/landscape business portfolio is competing against is taken with many notable differences, including:
Focal length
Most landscape and interior photos included in magazines are taken with a professional-grade wide-angle lens, typically 16-24 mm or wider. Further, most professional architectural images are taken with a specialty tilt-shift lens, which does not distort the straight/architectural lines or become manipulated in software programs such as Photoshop.
Most camera phones have a focal length equivalent to approximately 35 mm or more, (the higher the number in focal length, the more ‘telephoto’ the image will appear). In terms of landscape and swimming pool photography, these lenses may be considered too narrow as they do not provide a wide, relaxing view of the landscape. When this happens, photos look confined and too tight.
Keep in mind, however, should a higher-end camera with a wide-angle or zoom lens be used, or the photographer zooms out for a wider perspective, distortion/bending at the edges may still occur as the lens ‘pushes’ images wide at the edges, compromising the image quality.
Lighting
Most believe the best time of day to photograph a swimming pool, landscape and/or garden is at noon on a sunny day. However, professional photographers who understand the properties of light will take these photos either early in the morning or just before the sun goes down.
In some cases, the best time to take an interesting photo is in fact during a slightly cloudy or foggy day with diffused light. Further, some pools look better at night when they are illuminated by strategically placed landscape lighting.
A tripod is required when taking these types of photos as they are captured using slower shutter speeds. In some cases, extra lights (or reflectors) are needed to add brightness where it is not normally found to ensure the lighting in the image is balanced.
