Design Matters: The High and Low of Photographs

TILT was shortlisted by Singapore Polytechnic for a 5-day corporate photoshoot. During our presentation, the client asked us if we provide contact prints. When we informed them our process is such that we do not provide contact prints, they were pretty surprised.

Perhaps, I can share on the TILT process and why we do not provide contact prints.

After each photoshoot, these are the few steps which we will undertake
a) Download all photographs
b) DI all photographs (the DI process includes colour correction, exposure correction, cropping, etc) [ A tutorial on this process will be provided in the future]
c) Rename all photographs (eg. SAF_HydroSapiens_###.jpg)
d) These photographs will be copied to a folder (named “High Resolution”)
e) A duplicate of the “High Resolution” folder will be made and all photographs will be downsized and placed in another folder (named “Low Resolution”)

The end product which the client will receive will be a CD / DVD consisting of High and Low Resolution photographs. Now, why is this better as compared to the client receiving a CD of High Resolution images with a few pieces of contact sheets?

The reasons are as follows:
1) With the low resolution pictures, the client can immediately email the photographs out to the colleagues instead of passing to the fellow colleagues the CD. This way, it becomes more efficient for the client and the client can save time and do other more important things!

2) With the contact sheet, the client has additional papers on his already very crowded desk. The possibility of losing this can be very high in the long run. With the pictures in a low resolution folder, the client can view them as thumbnails on his laptop and this will never be lost. If necessary, he can zip up the full folder and send them out to his fellow colleagues and this goes back to point 1 again. It saves time!

3) Not every client has softwares on his laptop that can downsize pictures conveniently. As such, if the client (usually from corporate communications) need to post something on the web, having the low resolution pictures, they can immediately post the pictures on the web to form a photo gallery without additional hassel. This again goes back to point 1. It saves time!

In addition, it assists clients who are not so IT savvy to be able to do their job conveniently as well!

There is without a doubt that when all of us are exposed to paper for the majority of our lives, it does take a little getting used to this system which TILT has developed. But do give us a try, this method is definitely useful in helping you manage your large photo library in the long run.