Printable View
Attached are 4 views of the domestic satin espresso Sierra-2. Domestic meaning these are the cabinets made here in the US that aren't yet listed on our website.
With our forthcoming new website, we plan on using these same 4 views for every speaker.
I think they look great but we are looking for some feedback, comments etc before we commit to these views...
Thanks!
I would always ike to see square-on views of the front of each model, with and without grill. I then use these to see how these speakers would look in an installation. With AR coming onto the scene, these photos may become even more desirable.
I do like the views but I would like if the background is totally pure white with only a small shadow on the bottom of the speakers. I will look cleaner when showed on the new website. Four weeks ago we did our photo shot session at Rythmik as well and we decided to do it the way I'm telling you. Also, we haven't decided yet on vertical or square photos. Here is a sample of both. This is the F18 Piano Black with silver cone and FV18 black oak.
Attachment 1574
Attachment 1573
This is a toughie. Showing people what they need to see without going overboard isn't easy. And I'm sure that you'll get a huge variation in feedback. I'm not sure how much will be useful to you either. That said...Quote:
Originally Posted by davef
The people buying probably aren't buying on looks, at least not as a primary factor. I know I didn't -- I bought what was in stock and on sale, which turned out to be piano black. Not my favorite, but I'm not looking at it, I'm listening to it.
My wife OTOH, is very much interested in what it looks like, in particular what it looks like in her den. And what she sees when she's walking around the den is a speaker that's more or less at waist height -- so she sees a lot of the top. This is something your pictures go through some effort to avoid. Why? This is a question you really should have an answer to. Because often the spouses have veto power over a purchase such as this. So you should be thinking about selling to the spouses as well as selling to the buyer. You know this, yes?
I'm just sayin' that you have to look at this thing from different perspectives. You as the designer/manufacturer are proud of certain aspects and want to show those off. But you should restrain this instinct, because that's not what your website is trying to accomplish. What your website is trying to accomplish is sales. And there's usually two parts of these sales -- the person buying, and the spouse who may have veto power over the purchase. The buyer is probably more interested in the technical, and the spouse is probably more interested in the aesthetic. Not always, but more often than not.
So... prioritize. I'd put making the "main" pictures (the ones you first see on the Sierra 2 webpage for example) toward selling the buyer. Then I'd want the "beauty" shots a click away (so as not to clutter the Sierra 2 webpage) as a tool for the buyer to sell to the spouse. I'd save the "technical" shots for webpages farther removed where you give the technical details about construction and components -- where you can show off the stuff you, the designer/manufacturer, is really proud of.
I don't know if I'm being clear; I'm not the most articulate guy in writing.
Back to the four pix you show. I'd loose the second one. You want a perspective with a known stable horizon line -- so called "dutch angles" like this are used mainly to instill in the viewer a sense of unease and "wrongness". This is why you see them used in, say, horror movies, when the person is reaching out her hand (and it's almost always a her I'm sorry to say) toward that door knob to the door the audience knows she should not be opening. I'm just saying, no dutch angles.
Then, I'd raise the camera up relative to the speakers and show a view that includes some of the top. Because this is how people will see them in real life.
Other than that, I don't know what to advise.
The sub pics look good Enrico. When you get a moment, can you please forward all of them to me so we can also them.Quote:
Originally Posted by enricoclaudio
Agreed regarding the background. We will likely go all white with a small shadow.
Sure, Dave. I will send you a Dropbox link for you to download the pictures so you can use them in the new website as well.
Hi Bruce,Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Watson
Thanks for the excellent feedback.
As I understand it, you prefer a view more like this one:
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/image...E_tl_ng_hr.jpg
I am honestly not sure why the vast majority of manufacturers post images of their speakers typically only showing 2 baffles, front and side. Top is rarely seen and I will definitely consider it.
To clarify, only one of these images will be shown on the actual product page, which will be the front & side view image with no grille (the last pic of the 4 posted). There will then be thumbnail images that a user can click on that will then change the main image to correspond with the thumbnail that was clicked on. In each view, the user will also be able to change the finish etc.
The dutch angle image, what we are calling the hero shot, gives a good view of the front baffle, top baffle, joinery, reveal, edge radius and a closer shot of the drivers. I have spent far too much time playing with different views to show all of these details in a single image and have come to the conclusion that this is the best camera angle to detail these features.
However, as mentioned, viewing this image will be an option that the user can click on only if desired. At present, the product page design is limited to 4 different views, each of which will be presented with all of the various finishes, cabinet options and even tweeter options if available. For example, with Sierra-2 (with 5 domestic cabinet finish options and 4 standard cabinet finish options) - that ends up being a total of 36 different images that can be viewed. It is really a huge undertaking but we want to get this right.
I will investigate adding another view that is similar to the main product view but with the camera a bit higher so that it includes some of the top baffle...
Additionally, the new site also has a wonderful photo gallery of customer supplied images so that viewers can scroll through and see the various speakers in many different settings.
Great - thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by enricoclaudio
The only thing I’d want added to a head on pic is an object for scale. A jewel case, ruler, something we all know so that we can picture it. For me the size of the Luna’s and the size of the Horizon could use something like that.
All those pics look great. I'd like to see a shot straight from the front as well.
here is head on front view. Not sure I like it as detail gets washed out a bit.
For the sierra line:
- towers, horizon, sierra 1, sierra 2 and luna
I would like to see them all side by side in ascending order of size to get a perspective of each, maybe the tower in the center then on stands surrounding the tower would be the smaller ones. If you are going that far, may as well pop the subs in on the ends, both the 12's and 15's.
I know when I was by and saw the Luna next to the Sierra 2's, I was shocked how small they are.
Probably the same type of product family shot for the CM, CB & HT.
This would give a good perspective of what would fit best into the aesthetics (sp?) of my house.
Dave,Quote:
Originally Posted by davef
Is there a reason all of the pictures have the right front corner toward the viewer? I find the pictures of the subs having more appeal because of their placing the left corner toward the viewer. Perhaps, because we read left to right so, we look to the left automatically first even though it is a picture and not words.
No real reason, other than using the same angles we previously used for the Sierra-2 pictures and many others on our site. I always felt the images Paradigm used on their website looked good and they use the same angle etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil+WAF
It is not a problem for us to horizontally flip the view, I will compare both options and get some feedback from the graphic designer pro who has been assisting us.
Thanks for the feedback!
Dave, what about those interactive views you can rotate 360* that allow the viewer to see the item from any angle they desire? Is that difficult to implement? Would picture quality be compromised?
I Have considered this and it is something we may implement in the future. It is quite time consuming to get this right and also slows down the website as all images must be pre-loaded, but we may give it a go sometime in the future.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mag_Neato
Personally, I like the original views and the straight on frontal shot to me doesn't do justice to the beauty of the cabinet. That said, I find the pictures a bit dark which fails to capture the detail in a woofer which is truly something to look at. Not to insult the photographer (my wife is one so I know to watch my words) but a bit more attention to lighting would really make them pop.
Yes, this. Here's the thing about photography: it doesn't have to be documentary. IOW, just because the thing is black in real life doesn't mean it has to be black in a photograph. If you want people to see it, you have to pull the value up from black into the dark gray range where the human eye/brain visual system can discern texture and detail.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaybeez
Absolutely the best way to do this is with lighting. The massive softboxes used in your examples are like what you'd use to light a young beauty's face for the cover of Vogue. The problem here is that your speakers aren't human faces. IMHO it's rather silly to treat them as if they are.
Your speaker photographs would almost certainly benefit from more directional lighting that can show some texture and detail.
What your photographer needs (what all photographers need, and that includes me; my 2nd edition copy is well worn) is a copy of Hunter and Fuqua's Light Science & Magic, the best book on photographic lighting I've ever found.