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A Photo Opportunity Without Any Opportunity

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Yesterday I photographed a press event / photo op / reception in Toronto. It had bad lighting, bad staging and bad media flaks. It was run by the Prime Minister’s Office.

For “security reasons,” the media had to be searched both by police and by sniffer dog. The audience? They just walked in.

There were lots of rules for the media: where to stand, where not to go, what not to shoot. Reporters weren’t allowed to ask any questions nor interview anyone. The audience? They could do anything they wanted.

The audience was standing and the three political VIPs (Canadian Prime Minister and two European Union presidents) were seated on a low stage. This meant that when the three were seated, (far enough apart to prevent a group picture), they could barely be seen by the photographers and TV cameras who were on a riser at the back of the room:
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Toronto Film Festival 2014

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(You may want to do yourself a favour and skip this absurdly long post.)

Each year I write about covering the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) hoping that it’ll be my last post on the subject. But each year, TIFF finds new ways to mess things up even more than the previous year.

The Good

First, the good things about the 2014 film festival:

• It’s over. :-)

 

• When picking up media accreditation, TIFF no longer gives photographers a shopping bag full of useless promotional material. Sadly though, photographers still don’t get the information they need to do their job – a full schedule with dates and times. More on this later.

 

• WiFi was added at one venue. Considering that the country’s largest ISP is the main sponsor of the event, it’s a wonder why it took so long. Sadly though, photographers still have to sit on the ground to work.
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Things you need to know about lists of things you need to know

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On the Web, in magazines and in newspapers, there are an infinite number of articles with titles like, “10 things you need to know about . . .”, “12 tops tips for . . .”, “24 best ideas for . . .”, ad nauseam.

In keeping with this silly trend, here are the top seven things you need to know about meaningless lists of things you need to know:

 

1. Magazine readership studies, going back to at least the 1990s, have shown that using numbers on cover blurbs increases readership. Using a non-round number such as “Top 12” rather than “Top 10” will increase readership even more. An odd non-round number is even more effective: “Top 11” will attract more attention than “Top 12.”

The next time you’re in a supermarket checkout line, look at all the magazine covers and note the numbers in their cover blurbs: “47 Ultimate Summer Fashion Tips”, “63 ways to boost your love life”, “21 foods you must avoid”, etc.
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Braking for photography

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Have you been shopping for car tires recently?

The cost of new tires for my car, here in Toronto, ranges from $80 to $220 each. The higher priced tire is almost triple that of the cheaper tire. What’s the difference between the two?

The more expensive tire is made better, handles better and lasts longer. Another key difference is that more expensive tires stop quicker than cheaper tires. Better quality tires have, by design, better braking performance.

Higher priced photography also has, by design, better braking performance. High quality photography will stop people’s wandering eyes faster and get their attention quicker. Getting attention for your business is the goal of corporate photography.

If potential customers are speeding through your web site, zipping past your newspaper or magazine advertisements, or not bothering to slow down to read your content, then you might need to improve the braking performance of your marketing materials by using better photography.

 

Photography Sandwich

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Different breads, various vegetables, a number of cheeses, an assortment of meats and a selection of dressings. There are many ways to combine these ingredients to produce a sandwich. And each sandwich would taste quite different.

Different ideas, various lenses, a number of camera angles, an assortment of lighting styles and a selection of editing techniques. There are many ways to combine these ingredients to produce a photo. And each photo would look quite different.

Just as every restaurant has a different recipe for common foods such as a club sandwich or a grilled cheese, every photographer has a different recipe for common corporate photography services such as a business headshot or a product shot.

While some customers may shop only for the cheapest sandwich, most people will prefer to order a good-tasting sandwich. Similarly some people may shop for the cheapest photographer but others will prefer the photographer who can produce the best pictures.

When looking to hire a professional photographer for your next business project, instead of shopping price, why not shop photography? After all, when the work is done, you’ll be displaying a photograph not a sales receipt showing what you paid.

 

Hello, this is me

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It should be no surprise to anyone that many celebrities and politicians don’t actually make their own tweets on Twitter. They either have an assistant, an employee, a small staff, or a PR company, who write and send each message.

It might come as a surprise to some that not every “selfie” posted online is actually a self-portrait taken by that person. A new(?) trend is having someone else shoot one’s “self-portrait” as this provides for more picture possibilities. This probably defeats the concept of a selfie.

Some folks will even use a professional photographer to shoot their selfie. But this is now a portrait rather than a selfie, unless you define “selfie” as being a picture of yourself.

If a professional portrait photographer does a self-portrait, is it a selfie or a portrait? Some of Yousuf Karsh’s most well-known portraits are self-portraits (also here, here and here).

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Press releases need a good story to tell

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Years ago when I worked at a daily newspaper, the photo editor would each morning sort through the pile of press releases on his desk. On busy days, he would simply throw all of them in the garbage without reading any.

“Sorry folks, we’ve got real news today,” he would say as he pushed all the press releases into the trash.

On slow news days, he would look through the press releases and summarize the bad ones as: “Help me make more money,” “Help me sell more crap,” or “Give me some free advertising.”

“Don’t these people know we’re a newspaper? Where’s the news?” he would say as he dumped the rejected press releases into the garbage.
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