Mastering Photography with Sears Grilling

As a member of Collective Bias, I am asked to create a “Path to Purchase Album” for each shop I complete. I have been working to improve my photos in these shops and am thrilled to be participating in the Social Fabric University: Campaign Photography with Sears Grilling. Our assignment focus this week was visiting our neighbor Sears Grilling Department and demonstrating our understanding of a complete path to purchase shop. Reading over the assignment I realized next week I will be purchasing a grill and accessories! Imagine the shouts of joy resounding around our home. Bryan was ecstatic over the grill and I was equally happy to turn the cooking over to him.

A path to purchase shop begins with a detailed look of how the shopper prepares before the shop. I often write lists of items I need, add screenshots of websites I visit prior to my trip, and document who accompanies me on my experience. While I knew I needed to add a photograph of the front of the store to my album, I didn’t realize I needed to incorporate “special store signage,” allowing the reader to easily identify the store. Technically, I learned less is more. Keep the background as uncluttered as possible to prevent distractions.

I like this shot with less distractions. I cropped out as much of the cars and sky as possible.

Even though I cropped this shot the leaf blowers in the background distract me.
We found a grill we liked and I swooped in, making tons of photographs, zooming in on special features and signage, and photographing from a variety of angles. One factor I am still having trouble with is lighting. I am experimenting with softer lighting but some of my photos still have a glare. To supplement my photo skills, I have begun using Pixlr, a free photo editing site. Presently I am still in the discovery stage as I experiment with the different features, such as level adjustment and the color amount, radius, and threshold.

I enjoyed experimenting with different angles. Before I had always made straight forward shots.

I tried to capture the variety of features available with the grill. 

I learned that large photos capture the attention of the reader. (Still working on that glare!)

The grill has a smoker- a feature we had been wanting. 

I snapped photos of signs I found around the grill. This one is one sale for $200 off and comes with a free accessories set!

A complete path to purchase shop would include photos of other items I looked at while shopping, photos of items that stood out to me,shots of  the variety of items available, including competing brands and their placement and shots of my final purchase.

We spent some time browsing through accessories because I wanted a grill cover and Bryan wanted a grilling basket. 
While I know I still have a ways to go for beautiful photography, I feel more confident experimenting and look forward to seeing progress as the class continues. I’ve begun working with brightness and contrast. Hopefully, we’ll be learning about how to reduce glare soon!

8 Comments

  1. Love your photos. I like the way black lid looks on your photo

  2. Love your photos. I like the way black lid looks on your photo

  3. I think your doing a great job. I loved all the photos.

  4. We need a new grill and I love your post!

  5. great photos,my husband would love a new grill,thanks for sharing

  6. I had an exciting time at my Sears taking photos. 🙂

    It’s so interesting to see the similarities and differences in each store.

  7. I see lots of improvement. I love photoshop or psp for making adjustments. If you have to use a cell for In store photos it’s super hard to get perfection no manner what you use.

  8. Pam, your photos are improving by leaps and bounds! Thanks for sharing your latest!!