Stills To Catch The Eye

Our goal—as per the needs of our client—was to create thumbnail images that were as clear as they were competitive. They would be a customer’s first impression after all. Therefor they had to be unapologetic—frank in their visual aspect. They had to act as a hook, something to catch the eye of the client, and draw it away from the tough competition.

These images are extremely effective in their intended purpose. They show the detail down to the last fleck of woodgrain on a bouffant door, the gleam of chrome on the feet of an end table, or the matte-textured surface of a pure white coffee table.

First Impressions

Calligaris reached out to us here at C&I Studios with a specific set of instructions to follow. First, they wanted us to quote them on a photoshoot, one which would take place indoors, ideally in a photography studio, and it would involve nothing other than a white background.

It was simplicity they were after, and we did not flinch at the challenge.

The endgame for Calligaris, a designer and manufacturer furniture of furniture who offer a wide range of products and made-to-order pieces, was to walk away with a set of well-refined still images featuring a select number of items lifted from their vast, high-end catalogue. These images would be used for online purposes; on their website and other digital market-place portals as thumbnails to foster ease in the online purchasing environment.

The purpose of the white background was not only a brand-guideline, something to follow in order to highlight the modernist style and simplistic designs which are characteristic of much of the Calligaris catalogue—it was a calculated strategy that would, if done correctly, draw the eye of the prospective customer.

In order to compete successfully in the already crowded online marketplace—particularly a field as saturated as that of high-end furniture—first impressions matter. In fact, they are paramount to driving sales and moving revenue. And we were no strangers to that. It is an imperative of many of the clients with whom we work, that their products come over easily in a visual setting, especially one as straightforward as a 2-D photograph; one glimpsed as but one item in an online market index that might seem to scroll on forever.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, the overall dimensions must be clear, and the product itself must be seen in its best and most flattering light. You might say this was in our wheelhouse…

The Shoot

Calligaris wanted to shoot a number of high-end tables positioned before a pure white background. Because thumbnails online are often small and difficult to discern, it was important that these instructions be followed to the letter.

But their concern was: would C&I have a white backdrop large enough?

Thankfully, our spacious studio in Fort Lauderdale was more than sufficient to host the items Calligaris brought in as the subjects for our shoot. And the white backdrop we unfurled blew their expectations out of the water. It was just one of many options we had in store, but true to our client’s requests, we stuck with the tried and tested white.

In all, the project took just under two days. It was done on the Monstro, our reliable, high-end RED camera with a 35.4 Megapixel CMOS Sensor and 8K quality.

The trained eyes of both our production crew and our creative team mitigated the need for arduous edits in the end. And though color-grading is a necessity whenever it comes to finalizing our end products, these images were already next to perfect by the time the initial shoot had come to an end.

Nevertheless, our talented editors rendered these images on Photoshop until they were as true to the real product as possible. And by the time we delivered them to our grinning client, they possessed a clarity and a sharpness that was striking, if not downright magnetic.

LET'S WORK TOGETHER