The business side of photography
If you made products for digital cameras, what kind of camera would you show on your web site to help market your products?
If you’re Eye-Fi, which makes WiFi-enabled memory cards, you would use an old film camera from last century. [Sorry, the link has gone dead. Screengrab below]. And to make it worse, you would state “The power of WiFi for the camera you love.”
When a company needs a number of business portraits, is it better for those headshots to have a uniform look or a uniform style?
A uniform look means all the portraits have the same, or very similar, lighting, background and pose. This shows consistency and a strong brand.
Having a uniform look in business headshots is common at law firms, insurance companies, banks and any other company that wants, or needs, to create a feeling of stability, consistency and comfort.
A business that has many locations may want a uniform look to imply that the company is the same no matter which location you visit.
A consistent appearance creates a consistent message which helps build customer trust.
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According to former US Navy Rear Admiral and computer scientist Grace Hopper, the most dangerous phrase in the English language is: “We’ve always done it this way.”
Hmmm…
We’ve always used stock pictures.
We’ve always done a big group photo.
We’ve always done our business headshots against that wall over there.
We’ve always had our president photographed at his desk.
We’ve always done a cheque presentation ceremony.
We’ve always done our product shots on white.
We’ve always used only small pictures on our web site.
We’ve always had little media interest in our press releases.
We’ve always thought business portraits were like passport pictures.
We’ve always chosen the cheapest photographer.
Some photographers offer their customers a disc with all the pictures they shot on that particular job. Similarly, some customers want a disc containing all the photos taken. Why?
To me, this suggests that the photographer can’t edit, the customer can’t make a decision, or the customer doesn’t trust the photographer to do the job properly.
Certainly there may be times when having all the photos might be a good thing, for example, when the pictures are used as evidence in a trial. But quantity is not quality.
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When searching for a supplier or vendor, many companies seek the lowest bidder, the cheapest price. But imagine what might happen if these companies searched for the best supplier.
Imagine what might happen if a company chose the best they could afford rather than the least they can get away with.
Imagine what might happen when the best they can afford helps enhance their corporate image.
Imagine what might happen when their enhanced image earns more attention.
Imagine what might happen when more attention means more business.
Imagine hiring a professional photographer next time.
There was a time when headshots were only for models, actors, politicians and CEOs. Those days are long gone. The world is now more photo-orientated than ever before.
If you’re planning to get a new business portrait then get in front of a mirror and practice your best baby face.
According to a study by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem:
Previous studies have shown that viewers can form judgments of trustworthiness after as little as 100 ms exposure to a novel face, and certain facial features evoke feelings of warmth, trust and cooperation while minimizing feelings of threat and competition. People with relatively babyish facial characteristics such as proportionally large eyes, a round chin, and thick pudgy lips are perceived as kinder, warmer, more honest and more trustworthy…
It takes us only a moment to form our first opinion of someone. This first impression will tell us whether that person might be friendly, smart, honest, kind, trustworthy … or not.
Judging a person by their appearance may not always be the best thing to do but it’s something that we’ve been trained to do by our parents, the media and many thousands of years of evolution.
Pop quiz: which of the following people would you trust enough to do business with:
