Our WORDS are vitally important to our messages, yes. But in the pedal-to-the-metal, “Look! Over there!” world of today, capturing attention is the first goal. And nothing grabs a viewer’s eyes like stunning imagery. Sure, your words will (should!) retain, educate and motivate the viewer. But, you gotta prevent them from jumping over to TMZ.com or worse, your competitor’s site, first.

You may grow and provide the freshest eggplant with the most intense deep purple color and sheen, but if your last product photo shoot was in 1994, odds are that beauty isn’t captured nor conveyed to your potential customers. Don’t allow your potentials to be scared off by out-of-date photos that don’t represent your current products and scream the opposite of FRESH. If you have an opportunity to express a thousand words or more via one image, make them the right words and go well beyond a thousand.

As digital technology allows this art form to become more and more accessible, putting the tools in the hands of many, the result is a much larger talent pool that is ready, willing and able to help you showcase your products in their best light. Speaking of your products, they’re, collectively, some of the most colorful, naturally gorgeous objects on Earth. Still-life painters have been screaming this for years (and photographers are echoing this sentiment now). And now there’s an ever-improving medium that can portray the brilliance of fresh fruits and veggies in an emotion stirring way that’s just short of a real-life experience.

Images should be the in-your-face feature of your website homepage or brochure cover. Like an inviting handshake (or, let’s be honest, a flawless fitness model looking lonely at the hotel bar), quality photography is the best first impression and should draw the viewer into your world, open to being retained, educated and motivated.
(more…)