When a photoshoot still makes sense
If the product already exists, the shoot is local and the images are about real people using it, photography is often the simpler choice. The same goes for documentary-style brand stories, where the imperfections are part of the point.
Where CGI makes the biggest difference
Picture a kitchen maker launching a new cabinet front in six colours next spring. The fronts are still being tooled, the showroom won't be ready until March, and the catalogue goes to print in January. With a photoshoot, the images have to wait for all of that, and all six colours have to be produced and installed in the set before anyone can shoot them.
With CGI, the kitchen is built from the CAD drawings in the autumn. The six colours are rendered from the same scene in the same light, and the catalogue spread, the dealer pack and the website images all come from that one setup. When a seventh colour arrives a year later, the scene is still in the archive, ready for it.
Four questions to decide
- Does the product physically exist yet?
- How many finishes, fabrics or configurations need images?
- Will you need the same look again next season?
- Is the image about the product, or about people using it?
If the product doesn't exist yet, comes in many variants, or needs a consistent look year after year, CGI is usually the better route. If the story is about real people, a photoshoot often is.
