Anything that has LOTS of colors and is creative in
commercial photography is something that will catch my attention. I especially find that facial and make-up
products use fruit and sometimes they make them appear “edible” in the
photos. I found this commercial photo
online which is showing lipsticks in the form of popsiscles and they have added
a “melting” appearance to give it a realistic comparison to ice cream. And all the warm spring colors they use are
so pretty. I don’t wear make-up, but
this photo makes me want to go out and buy some of these shades of lipsticks.
Another photo I found online was a facial cleanser that is
being placed into the water with raspberries surrounding the product. I have seen
many commercials with face cleansers that involve splashing water on the face,
but I assumed that in photography the water splashing was photo shopped since
it looks so perfect. All the water
droplets are in a perfect pose. I
learned from our guest speaker, Jim Wend that high resolution camera are being
used for those photo shots and that it takes a long time to get that perfect picture. Also, Jim explained that lighting is very
important. Lighting can drastically change the look of a product and during a
photo shoot it is important that the lighting is just right. Another photo I found was one with ice cream
and paint brushes. I’m not sure which of
the two they are trying to sell, but I wanted to buy both once I saw how well
the colors worked with the bright lighting in the picture.
Besides lighting, colors, and
using a creative approach to marketing these products in commercial photography
our textbook discusses the ethics of when you should and shouldn’t alter or
edit a photo. Any news or documentary
photos should stay true to the photo. “…strictly
adheres to the principles of truth, accuracy, fairness, and balance. Such principles are necessary to maintain
viewer trust that such images are factual and reality-based.” (p.144) This makes
complete sense that we know when to create a photo that will be used for
marketing to consumers and then when to keep the integrity of a photo for news
or photojournalism.
All in all, I found that I am
easily convinced to buy something based on marketing techniques as long as they
use warm colors, make water look “cool” and use the right lighting :)
Michelle
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the photographer used to make the melting underneath the lipstick popsicles? It looks almost like wax or plastic. The shades of colors are so pretty!
Wow, Christy, great job of finding excellent examples of commercial photos! Your discussion of each was equally compelling.
ReplyDeleteThe top photo with the lipstick-les (get it?) was cute: I'm a sucker for miniatures, and these chubby guys are especially cute. Michelle wondered about the melted stuff underneath the lipsticks. No doubt the entire image was Photoshopped, but it's especially apparent on the melted lipstick and shadows. Simply too perfect in terms of shape and color.
I, too, am drawn to bright colors, and I found the Clearasil ad particularly attractive. The product comes alive in the shot: the dynamism of being dropped into the water surrounded by bubbling water and fresh raspberries--how could anyone not be seduced by the image and all it connotes? (Well, if one doesn't like raspberries, I guess that would make a difference.) Side note: I just recently bought a water bottle with a fruit infuser and the ad reminded me of that. Just last night I used it for the first time with diced strawberries. The water was so visually appealing that I drank twice as much as I normally might--and then ate the strawberries. I want to reach into that ad and grab the raspberries for my H2O!
With regard to the third image--well, I have to tell you that even though the concept was clever and the colors lovely, I found it off-putting. I guess I'm too literal, but all I could think was, "What a mess!" Painting with ice cream? Ick. What a sticky nightmare to clean. I do, however, appreciate what you wrote about it. Like you, I wasn't sure what the ad was selling. LOL
Good reference to the text. Thanks for sharing the images and your thoughts!
Dawn