Below are the latest articles published in Supermarket News.
July 2010
By Barry Pyle
Managing Director
Images in Space Ltd
Photography seems a simple process - shine some light on a product, focus the reflected light through a camera lens and record the result. Simple. But simple does not mean you get a great photo. Given that without any light there would be nothing to record, the lighting of your product becomes a critical factor in creating a great photo. In a studio, professional photographers are able to control all aspects of the lighting using professional studio lights and reflectors etc.
By using quality studio lighting to maintain consistency of colour and brightness, we are able to get the best results for each product and reproduce those results repeatedly, even months later.
If the cost of a professional photographer is a concern for you, remember that a good quality high resolution image will last for the lifetime of your product packaging and can be used over and over again in a multitude of situations each helping to generate sales of your product. This makes the cost of the initial photo seem insignificant. So do yourself a favour and trust the experts. Your sales will benefit as a result.
August 2010
By Barry Pyle
Managing Director
Images in Space Ltd
When it comes product photography many suppliers may not appreciate the full extent of how a product image is used, and therefore not understand what their customer's needs are.
You may have heard about space management but not be directly involved in the process. You may have your own web site, but not appreciate the intricacies of image specs for web pages let alone what the retailers require for their own web sites.
Progressive’s e-commerce web sites have a consistent look across all products. Other retailers have web versions of their mailers which require different specs from the printed versions of these mailers.
In addition the planograms used throughout the industry have specific image requirements that are different again.
There is also the question of the angle a product is photographed at to consider.
For space management the image MUST be shot front-on. This 2D image can also be useful for e-commerce web sites since it consumes the maximum area of the limited size allocated to a product image so big and simple is the key here.
For advertising you want to show off as many products attributes as possible. An angled shot can be more appropriate in this case.
Consider getting both 2D and 3D shots done so that you are covered for all the uses and remember that the investment will last for the lifetime of the product's packaging. Relative to the cost of designing the product the cost of photography is insignificant.
September 2010
By Barry Pyle,
Images in Space
and Katrina Crooks,
James & Wells Intellectual Property
The term “copyright” refers to abundle of exclusive rights given to owners of original works like photographs, including the exclusive right to copy the work and issue it to the public. In New Zealand copyright is an automatic right that comes into existence when an ‘original work’ covered by the Copyright Act 1994 is created.
Photographic images are covered in the Act as artistic works, which also includes paintings, drawings, diagrams, maps, models and sculptures.
Usually the creator of an artistic work is the owner of the copyright, except in the case of certain artistic works (including photographs), where if someone commissions and agrees to pay for the work, the commissioner owns the copyright in the image unless a different agreement is reached.
So unless there is an agreement to the contrary, a supplier who commissions a photographer to photograph their product for payment will retain ownership of the copyright in the image and all of the rights to copy, record, store and download the image or allow others to do so (subject to the circumstances set out in the Act as not amounting to copyright infringement).
In the case of the images in the Images in Space libraries, the suppliers are the owners of copyright in the images, and they grant us a licence to distribute the images in the normal course of business, as per our terms and conditions.
If we are asked to remove an image from the library by the supplier we must obey that directive or risk infringing the copyright in the images. If someone is in possession of an original work that you own copyright in (or a copy of it), unless you have already agreed to the contrary, you should have the right to ask them to delete it, and potentially take further action through the courts if they do not.
October 2010
By Barry Pyle
Managing Director
Images in Space Ltd
We are often asked “when is the best time to get my products photographed?” The answer is well before you need the images.
Usually, the first time a product image is needed, is when the product is being presented to a retailer. The presentation templates used by retailers require various details about the product, including a product image. Suppliers must also provide a UBF with all the relevant data including which image supplier manages the images, and a recent barcode verification report etc.
The future of your product is decided at this meeting, so why wouldn’t you do everything you can to make your presentation look stunning?
By having us photograph your product well before your presentation, you will be in a position to show off the benefits of your product in the best possible way. The images will be available for any advertising you do straight away, and also for any planograms that are produced as part of the next category review.
Of course there will be times when providing a sample for photography ahead of the retailer presentation is either difficult or simply impossible. In these circumstances, try to get the product to us before you do any advertising, or better still, as soon as a sample becomes available.