For Customers

Dump and Run Photography

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A photographer might shoot an event and immediately transfer the digital files to a USB stick or CD. They will then hand that stick or disc to the customer. This is called a “dump and run” or a “shoot and burn.”

A dump and run means the photographer has left the job unfinished and the customer has to complete the work themselves. This photographer is either unwilling or unable to do the necessary editing and post-processing.

If a photographer offers a dump and run then you should do the same. Dump the photographer and run away. You shouldn’t be expected to finish the photographer’s work.

Would you go to Tim Hortons if they sold only packets of coffee and cups of water and expected you to make the coffee? What if your doctor handed you your test results and expected you to interpret them on your own?

A dump-and-run photographer is one who dumps their responsibility and runs away from their work. Why do business with such a photographer?

 

Photographer Shopping

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If you’re shopping for a box of Cheerios breakfast cereal, it’s possible to shop price because Cheerios is exactly the same at every store.

When shopping for shoes, you look at, touch and try on every pair that catches your eye. Shoes usually vary from store to store and shoe shopping is based on look, fit, feel and price.

How do you shop for a commercial or corporate photographer?

Every professional photographer works differently so how do you compare? You can’t see the photos before they’re made so how do you choose something before it exists?

Is the $4,000 photographer twice as good as the $2,000 photographer? Will $750 pictures work as well as $2,000 pictures?
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Unpaid Photo Internships

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Some companies offer unpaid internships to photographers. Typically the company requires the photographer to supply camera equipment, computer, and car. In return, the photographer can work up to full-time hours and get nothing in return except a credit line.

These “internships” are illegal.

From the Ontario Ministry of Labour:

The fact that you are called “an intern” does not mean that you are not an employee for purposes of the [Employment Standards Act]. Generally speaking, if you perform work for another person or a company or other organization and you are not in business for yourself, you would be considered to be an employee, and therefore entitled to [Employment Standards Act] rights such as the minimum wage. There are some exceptions, but they are very limited, and the fact that you are called an intern is not relevant.

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Pass on this pass

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With the proliferation of cameras and web sites, almost everyone is claiming to be a photographer or a journalist. Yesterday, I received an e-mail from a wedding – portrait photographer asking how he can get a Press ID card. And, he was in a hurry because he wanted to get into an event this weekend.

My answer was: Press ID cards are for people who work for the Press.

If you run any event in Canada, be aware that there is no such thing as a generic “Press card” or “Press pass”. Anyone who tries to use such a card to gain entry to your event is a fraud.

Anything that simply says “PRESS PASS”, “PRESS” or “MEDIA” is fake. A business card is not a press pass.
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Increased Earnings

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It’s said that there are three general types of media that a company can use to spread its business message:

Paid: a company buys an advertisement.
Owned: a company self-publishes on its web site, newsletter, etc.
Earned: a company gets free coverage in the news media.

Paid and owned are easy to understand and implement although most companies under-utilize their web site. In these two cases, the company controls the message but both suffer from credibility issues especially with paid media.

Paid advertising only increases brand recognition. It does nothing for brand acceptance (i.e. trust).
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Opinionated Portraits

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A quote from US portrait/fashion photographer Richard Avedon in his book In The American West:

A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion.

When a portrait photographer chooses lighting, lens, camera angle and the moment to click the camera shutter then it’s the photographer’s opinion that matters most. This is the “opinion” that Avedon refers to in the above quote.

But for commercial portrait photographers, when the subject looks at their proofs and chooses their favourite picture then it’s the subject’s opinion that matters most.

When a viewer looks at a finished portrait, it’s the viewer’s opinion that matters most. The viewer gets the last word.

This is why, for a commercial portrait such as a business portrait, the first two opinions have to work together to help positively influence the third and final opinion. A business portrait has to be done with care to create the desired response in the mind of the viewer.

 

Photography for Press Releases

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If a company’s press release gets published but no one reads it, did that company get its money’s worth?

News editors know that a photo can increase readership of a story by up to 300%. In fact, just any picture can boost readership by at least 34%. Readership studies have always confirmed that the first thing a viewer notices on a page is a photograph. The last thing they do is read the text.

If a press release is published without a photo, it may be the last thing a reader sees on the page.

A photograph is the entry point to a page and the invitation to read the article. Studies have proven that including a photo with the text will increase both reader interest and comprehension in that article. The corollary is that readers feel more involved with a story when it’s accompanied by a photo.
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