Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, link building, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
We rely on photos to sell product online, that is the bottom line for so many of us. Whether you use cool locations, beautiful models, or fancy retouching, photos have to convince someone that it's OK for them to give you their hard earned money.
If you're comfortable revealing some of your photo shoot secrets please showcase some shots and discuss here.
This photo below is from our most recent shoot, and I was really pleased with it. Our challenge was to figure out how to sell a flashing t-shirt in situations where we could only use photos. The concept our photographer came up was really solid, ipod'esque but perfect for what we needed to do. It illustrates the function of the shirt really well. That said, if someone doesn't understand what they're looking at immediately, the photo delivers enough information to make people want to know more.
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T-Qualizer: the t-shirt that flashes to the beat of your music - http://www.tqualizer.biz
That looks great!
I go simple and as I am not a professional photographer, and the times Ive tried taking pics of people wearing my stuff, they dont come out bery good, this is how I go about it now:
Simple, but showing the actual shirt (which I think is better than a computer mock up).
Simple, but showing the actual shirt (which I think is better than a computer mock up).
Yes, a real photo is always so much better than a computer representation. They can only ever give a an idea of how it will look for real, never use them as guides for exact colours etc.
I just had my first photo shoot a couple of months ago, and it turned out really great.
There are two things that I would have done differently:
1. Had an icechest full of cold drinks - It was summer in TX
2. Have clean towels for the models to dry off with - it was really hot
Other than that, I had a garment rack that I had girls shirts on one side, and guy shirts on the other. I would let the models choose what to wear, and I would tell them what I wanted. Most of the time, I didn't have to do much.
The photoshoot took maybe an hour and a half, so it went pretty fast. I would recomend scouting out where you want to take the photos before hand.
Here are a couple of photos from the photo shoot. These where taken under an outside staircase. I thought they turned out pretty good.
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n o r m www.normsbrand.com - Saving the World, One Chest at a Time
The concept our photographer came up was really solid, ipod'esque but perfect for what we needed to do. It illustrates the function of the shirt really well. That said, if someone doesn't understand what they're looking at immediately, the photo delivers enough information to make people want to know more.
I'll be honest.
It doesn't cut it with me.
the shirt is a little loose and because the concept is music driven, the photo should have a sense of movement. Not a stand still freeze frame. I find the message is lost.
That's the kind of opinion I should be paying for T-Bot. Never even thought about the looseness, so thank you for that.
You know, generally we rely on flash video and animated GIFs to relay the message of our product -- but for these photos we were looking for the best way to communicate the product's function in situations (like brochures) where we could only use still photography.
T-Bot, we are about to do some product display stands for retail shops where we intend on using these photos (but we may reshoot now thanks to your advice) and we're going to have three similar photos (different poses) side by side where the equalizer panel is shown at different stages of illumination. What do you think?
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Originally Posted by T-BOT
I'll be honest.
It doesn't cut it with me.
the shirt is a little loose and because the concept is music driven, the photo should have a sense of movement. Not a stand still freeze frame. I find the message is lost.
just an opinion here.
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T-Qualizer: the t-shirt that flashes to the beat of your music - http://www.tqualizer.biz
cant you use the same technology printed right on the brochure (super-mini-version)???? ...over printed on top of a girl/guy model/shirt type thing on the brochure?
yeah, your 3 version sequence/stage type of effect could work to.
I just had my first photo shoot a couple of months ago, and it turned out really great.
really nice pictures, norm. what kind of camera are you using?
i just recently completed all the photography for our new catalog. it's the most product photography i've ever done. i was really please with the results. a little PS work, and voila, i'm almost a pro.
here's a few before and after PS. taken with my trusty rebel xt
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"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." Groucho Marx
Those photos were taken with a Nikon D40x. My wife took them. She did an awesome job.
The guy cuts my hair, and I have talked about my shirts abunch and he volunteered his time, and his friend's time. It turns out that she is connected with the Kidd Kradic morning radio show. Too bad I didn't get any publicity with that group.
Norm
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n o r m www.normsbrand.com - Saving the World, One Chest at a Time
How do you guys do that packaging? I am imagining a huge vacumm and a bunch of molds. Do you have any photos of that setup? That is some awesome stuff.
norm
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n o r m www.normsbrand.com - Saving the World, One Chest at a Time
Photo Shoot thread - Post your promo photos 
They look good. Great idea for a thread.
