How To Take Great Photographs

We have a special passion for photography here at Keystone Ridge Designs. It is a key element to telling our story of quality and showcasing onsite installations of our products nationwide. We enjoy working closely with our professional photographers and have learned so much from them on how to set up a shot.

We often ask our clients to send us photos of their products after they are installed. We love seeing the finished project and it’s always helpful to have more photos to share throughout our marketing materials. For that reason, we consulted one of our staff photographers for tips and tricks for photographing site furniture and its surrounding landscape like a pro.

The Right Angle

Anyone can take a picture, but the best pictures come from the angles in which they are taken. For instance, a great shot is getting at eye level with the seat of the bench and focusing on the arm. You want the viewer’s eye to follow points in the image, not be overwhelmed and unsure what to look at first. Get variety by changing the viewpoint from up close and personal to landscape shots that direct the eye from a key focal point on the product and then on to the background.

Keep it Clear

Whether you’re using a digital camera or just your smart phone, it is important to keep your main subject (the site furniture piece) as clear as possible. This means focusing on the product and keeping the background simple or even out of focus. Try to keep the background clear of clutter such as construction signs, pedestrians or other distractions. When we look at a picture, our eye is immediately directed towards something that stands out the most, so make the furniture be that centerpiece.

Light the Way

Contrast, exposure, shadows, highlights: all extremely important factors in the perfect shot. Morning and evening or the "golden hours" of dusk and dawn tend to be the best times to get the most dramatic shadows and lighting. Avoid shooting directly into the sun for best results.

After the Shot

Taking the photo is sometimes only half the work. You can bring out additional beauty, color and effects with simple editing tools that adjust contrast, saturation, temperature, tint and other photo attributes. Remember, for a photo to be usable for print or other mediums, keep the file size in a large high-resolution format without any image compression.

These tips not only apply to our benches and trash cans but can carry over to your personal photography as well. And if you take that perfect once-in-a-lifetime shot, consider combining our passion for photography with our passion for site furniture using our KeyshieldArt™ technology. With this process, we can fuse any high-definition image into a durable powder coat finish. Create table tops, cover bench slats or make a stand-alone sign that can showcase your photography while maintaining the strength, gloss and weather-proof quality of powder coated metal.