Posts Tagged ‘florists’

Troubleshooting your digital images

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words and the definitely holds true in the flower biz. A photograph of your designs can instantly convey your talent and expertise to your customers. Not only are good snapshots important when it comes to building portfolio of your work, it’s also a perfect way to lure customers in when they’re browsing online for a florist. One of the most effective tools a florist can have in the shop is a digital camera. Toda’s digital point-and-shoots have made the art of photography a relative snap and it’s quick and easy to get an image of an arrangement before it heads out in a delivery truck. Read on to find out how you can capture a quality image that illustrates the true beauty of the design.

What’s behind does matter

A simple background is key to a great product picture. You want customers to focus on the flowers in the picture, not the people or products lurking in behind. Buy a few coloured fabric swatches to use as a background and make sure the fabric hangs flat – either wall, stand or the back of a chair. Avoid black, which can drown out detail or white, which is hard to light (unless you have a light tent, see our web site for more info) and go with a solid colour

Light it up

You need to properly light your photos to capture the true colours of the flowers and avoid any dark shadows or overexposed area. Often the camera’s flash out the image and produce using a soft light source that shines from behind you – either a window with natural lightening or a 100 watt bulb a carefully positioned piece of white cardboard, held just behind the camera can also help redirect light onto your product. Play around with the lighting and see what works best.

Get close and snap away

Fill the picture frame with the design so your customers can see all the finer details – either step closer to the design or zoom in to get a nice, tight shot. Kneel down so you are eye level with the product or invest in a mini tripod to make sure you take steady, level shots. Take both horizontal and vertical pictures as well as a few different angles to showcase the various aspects of the arrangement.

Putting those pictures into use

If you’re a tech whiz, then playing with editing software can sharpen or lighten your photos. Their area numbers of editing programs available to buy as well as a few free online editors. But if your happy with the way the pictures look, then select our favourites and print away, keep a back-up CD with all your images just in case you want to print more. Organise your designs into themes in a photo album or portfolio so they are readily available when customers asks.

Let the we see what you’ve got

Add the new photos to your web site so potential online customers can view samples of your style. On the web, you don’t need large files – the bigger the file, the longer the photos will take to load your site. Similarly, many web site providers won’t allow you to upload large files. There are a few simple ways you can go about reducing the size of the file to make them web-ready. Make sure when you’re shrinking a photo you keep a copy of the original saved somewhere. Many photo editing programs have an option that lets you shrink the picture, but you can also do it for free online (and you don’t have to download a thing) at www.shrinkpictures.com or www.easyphotoresize.com. These sites allow you to shrink by a percentage or reduce them to a certain pixel size. Figure out which size looks best on your site and keep all of the pictures uniform size.

Once you get the hang of your camera and your software, it’s always easier the second time round don’t forget to update your print and web portfolio frequently with your latest and greatest!

Article taken from the Canadian florist magazine (August / September issue)

New Stock Photos

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

Thank you to Syndicate Sales of Kokomo, IN.  They have been kind enough to supply florists using Direct2Florist with 31 photographs of flower arrangements that any florist can deliver on any given day.  They will in part be used as default photos until florists can load up their own photos.  The photos feature simple arrangements with common containers.

Any comment or guidance that you can offer as a florist will be greatly appreciated.  We want to do all we can to make this an effective tool for you.

Florists in Historical Buildings…

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

lorists around the world in unusual and historical premises. Are you a florist in unusual premises? Please send your shop picture to simon@florist2florist.com - Tell us your story!

This is Regina Florist, in Regina, Saskatchewan in Canada
Regina Florist Direct2florist
The florist has been in the family for nearly 100 years (surely this must be some kind of record!!)
And now proudly resides in an old Bank premises complete with walk in safe and heavy metal door!
Thats one way to keep the roses safe at Valentines!

The 2nd one to feature is Occasions florist and Venue dresser in Halifax, Yorkshire UK.
Flowers Halifax UK
Brief history of Piece Hall is as follows:

The Piece Hall was opened on 1st January 1779. It was built as a place for handloom weavers to sell their “pieces of cloth”, hence the name.

In 1928 the Piece Hall was officially recognised as an ancient monument but it was not until 1972
that the decision was made to restore the building. The hall was converted into shops - one of which is Occasions Florist and Event Dressers.

In Tasmania we have a florist in the most beautiful looking property. The florist is called Chloes in Hobart.
Flowers Tasmania

Chloes flower shop is situated in a beautiful 1832 building two blocks from the centre of Hobart. Chloes specializes in corporate arrangements and special bouquets for special occasions which is why our logo is …simply gorgeous flowers

American and British Flower styles

Monday, April 14th, 2008

Floristry styles differ all around the world. For example funeral work in United States is completely different from funeral work found in United Kingdom. This blog takes a closer look at the different styles using real florists work which has been submitted to the Direct2florist website.

USA

Avante Gardens florist in Anaheim, California Avante Gardens Florist

Cathy at Avant Gardens is widely regarded as a leading florist in the American florist industry.
Her style of work predominately includes bright funky flowers and is very modern. Its nice to see she uses imaginative and fun names for her creations. IMO This style of floristry looks great - If I were to send to California I would definately want to use Avante! Click here to see pictures of Cathys work.

But lets look closer at the difference in styles between Europe and United States. Almost every gift made by Cathy is in a container. Either a glass vase or dish. The arrangements too are presented in a different style. Many UK florists may describe this style of floristry as “country garden” meaning natural or not stylised. To provide comparison here are pictures from leading UK florist The Olive Branch in London.

The funeral work displayed by Avante Gardens is typical in style of all American style funeral work. That is the main characteristic being the flowers are presented on an upright stand. The stands are 3-4ft tall and using oasis they provide a great platform for the florist to show every flower. This is the reason why Funeral work in United States is so much more expensive than in the UK. It is generally expected a person sending funeral flowers will spend a great deal more on a funeral floral tribute.

UK style funeral work includes coffin sprays - known as double or single ended sprays and a variety of floral tributes that often take on shapes like an Angel or words like “Mum” or “Grandad.”

As well as the basic items such as hearts, wreath rings and pillows, many florists in the UK offer speciality shapes like dart boards, golf clubs, flags, the list goes on and on!!!

Direct2florist New Members

Monday, April 14th, 2008

Here I will talk about new members on Direct2florist.

We will see how this blog goes as there are lots of shops coming onboard so I might change it a bit further down the line.

1st new member taking a mention here is Lefkis Elgia Flowershop in Lemassol, Cyprus. This is a great signing as we now have full cover of non-turkish Cyprus. It was nice speaking to Leo as he is quite a character - certainly he has seen a lot of the world!!!

Flowers Cyprus
I was really pleased to see that he has already received 2 orders from direct2florist in his 1st week.