Digital photos are usually considered fun and entertaining and a way to capture moments and memories. There is however another use for digital photos that involves commerce and business.

Not so many years ago all commercial business was done face to face when people met each other in the real physical world. Today with modern technology and communication options many businesses are executed between people that have never met each other. Using telephones, email, fax and video conference technologies people can communicate effectively in order to create business and commerce.

When selling or buying products a good way to communicate the product qualities is by taking high quality digital photos and sending them to the buyer. The only better way is for the buyer to actually see and touch the product.

Today a major portion of commerce is done online. When buying products online the option of touching and seeing the products is not available. The only way to know what you are buying is by reading about the product and looking at digital photos and video clips.

Again and again it was proved that a buyer makes his or her buying decision the first few seconds that they look at a product offering. The best way to maximize the chances of the buyer impression being positive is by inserting high quality digital photos of the product in the listing that emphasize the good qualities of the product. The listing can also include text and many details about the product but these are all secondary to the first and main part of the listing which is the visual part the digital photos. Those photos will really decide on the probability of a potential buyer deeply reading through the listing or skipping to the next seller.

Taking digital photos of products is both similar and different than taking digital photos of other objects. As always you should follow good photography rules of lighting and composition. But just following good photography rules is not enough. Product digital photos have a specific purpose and as such you should make sure you capture photos that best serve that purpose. They need to provide a visual description and sale pitch of the product conveying and emphasizing the good product qualities.

A good example is conveying a product size if the size is an important sale argument. For example if you are trying to sell a miniature digital camera than conveying how small the camera is very important. If you simply take a photo of the camera on a solid background the viewer cannot tell if the digital camera is small or not. To convey size for example you need to use an object that its size is known to every viewer. A quarter coin and a match box are good examples. If you take a digital photo of the camera next to a quarter coin the viewer can instantly tell how small the camera really is. Or for example if you claim that the camera is credit card size you should take a photo of the camera right next to or over a normal credit card.