I need help taking good before and after pictures!!

[tim]

I get some amazing results cleaning that I would like to take pictures of for marketing and webiste purposes but I always seem to be too far away, take at different angles than the "before" shot, use too much light and wash out the results...they never look as good as seeing it in person. Can anyone share some tips on taking good before and after photos and how they avoid making the customer feel bad about their carpet. It seems like it is insulting to the homeowner.

 

[Supersucker]

Well, I don't take photos with the customer standing there, so they shouldn't feel embarrassed. I use something like a doorjamb for reference so that I can get the same angle again.
Adjust blinds & lighting as well as possible. You may want to bring in a small work light to augment available light.

A camera exposes film (or sensor) to get a certain average exposure level for the frame. Read your manual & find out how to over & under expose the shot. Using that info, 'bracket' the shot, taking one shot overexposed, one shot like the camera wants, and one underexposed. This will compensate for darker or lighter carpets, making them show up with more true colors.

For example, if cleaning a white carpet with heavy soil, the before shot would be more accurate if underexposed, while the after would need to be overexposed (assuming a good portion of the frame is the carpet itself).

 

[Scott S.]

I take alot of picture before and after and i must say, get a good digital camera and take a bunch of pictures and within about 20 min of eachother. u can setup a tripod and leave the camera in the same spot. i use a program that lets me adjust light and color along with crop the pictures so if its a little off i can fix it. i hope this helps
i use a 10meg kodak with a one gig card, it also has alot of differant settings that let me adjust on the spot for the contrast change. digitals rule.
pm me if you want more info, i can also send ya a brochure i made that has all of my own photos. customers think its professional

 

[Dolly Llama]

Can anyone share some tips on taking good before and after photos and how they avoid making the customer feel bad about their carpet. It seems like it is insulting to the homeowner.

first off, I'll echo what Matt said.
I wouldn't take pics that might embarrass the custy
BIG no-no there, imHo

I donno what kind of camera you have.
I don't jack about them anyway, so that don't matter.

If the flash is washing out the pic, turn the flash off for a shot or two and see how that looks


..L.T.A.

 

[bob vawter]

DoaKilla took some awesome shots of the Homeless Shelter Grease Pit From Hell on his fancy dancy telephone....i couldn't believe the difference....and how it showed up.....have NO idea what kinna phone it was.........

 

[KevinL]

It's a cel phone Bob. They have cameras in them now. Just pullin your chain.

 

[Roland]

It would depend on your cameras features. Can you adjust speed and aperture settings, film speed. Lighting will have a lot to do with results. You really need to know your camera and play with it to understand settings and results. Faster shutter speed will freeze a fast moving object, but usually need more light and faster film. On digital cameras these are the same but with different terminology and many are not adjustable. Try to get as much natural light as possible and not use a flash to prevent washout.