For Customers

Toronto Film Festival 2012

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With apologies for the length of this post, here’s my annual rant:

The 37th edition of the annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is underway. From a photographers’ point of view, TIFF has always been considered to be very poorly-run event. Although from a movie-goer’s point of view, the film festival might be heaven.

I’ve been covering the film festival since 1988 and little has changed over the years. Off hand, I can count only four positive changes over the past 24 years:

(i) A photo pit was covered to protect against rain;
(ii) Many steel barricades were covered;
(iii) A red carpet was relocated from the small east side of a theatre to the much larger west side;
(iv) The central hub of the film festival (TIFF’s new building) has fast wifi (which works about half of the time – perhaps it’s overloaded during the festival?).

Let’s look at a few things (in no particular order):

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Batter Up

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During yesterday’s Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees game, (the Blue Jays won 8-5), the TV announcers were talking about the value of veteran pitchers.

One announcer explained that, although younger pitchers can often throw the ball faster than the older guys, veteran pitchers have more control and they understand the game better. This means that veteran pitchers can throw exactly the right pitch at the right time and win games. That’s why, the announcer continued, veteran pitchers cost more.

A similar explanation can be used to explain why experienced photographers cost more.

 

Smaller is bigger

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From my own anecdotal viewpoint, it seems that smaller companies often have bigger budgets for corporate photography than do larger companies. For examples:

• Last month, the world’s second largest car manufacturer asked about covering its Toronto press conference. It was apparently budgeting $250 for two hours of shooting, a couple hours of editing, and a disc of images to be used internally and for media handouts.

By comparison, a small publisher in Toronto, with a handful of employees, budgeted $650 to cover its 30-minute press conference with one picture for media handout and a handful of other photos for internal use.

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Size doesn’t matter

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A few days ago, a potential customer asked why a business portrait would cost $500 when the photo is just going to be used small on their web site.

In the 1990s and earlier, many companies had no issue paying hundreds of dollars, or more, for a business portrait. Back then, the cost to publish a brochure, annual report or other form of print marketing was relatively high. The cost for business portrait photography was only a small fraction of the total publishing cost.

Today, every company has a web site where the cost to publish is essentially free. This zero cost has made some folks think that corporate photography should also be very cheap. Their thinking is, “why should we pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for pictures that cost us nothing to publish?”
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Mirror, mirror on the wall

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When a corporate photographer arrives at an office to do business portraits, someone will always say, “I don’t like having my picture taken”, “I hope I don’t break your camera lens” or “I never like pictures of myself”.

The reasons for such comments include:

(1) They’ve never had a decent portrait made of themselves.

(2) They’re exhibiting lateralization of emotion.

(3) They’re very self-conscious or self-critical.

Let’s look at each of these three in more detail.

Better Photographer, Better Portraits

(1) This first issue can be easily solved by hiring an experienced portrait photographer and staying away from cheap, amateur-like photographers. You get what you pay for.

A good photographer can produce a portrait that the customer will like. If you know you’ll be getting a good result, you’ll look forward to the photo session.
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The Three-S Business Portrait

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There was a Toronto photographer who did “three-S” portraits. When someone arrived at her studio for a business portrait, which she hated doing, she would tell them to “sit down, shut-up and smile.” She would then proceed to photograph them as quickly as possible.

Most companies know that business portraits are important. When a business hires a corporate photographer to produce portraits of its key employees, these people should be warned that they will be asked to smile. This is not meant to be cruel and unusual punishment.

A smile need not be a big, toothy grin. But a friendly appearance is important and that comes not just from the mouth but also from the eyes.

By having the employees smile, the photographer is following proven science.

A recent study at Penn State University found that when you smile, you don’t only appear to be more likable and courteous, but you actually appear to be more competent.

– Ron Gutman CEO/founder of HealthTap

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Time to look

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Following on the previous post that photography is much more influential than text, here’s a quote that might be familiar to some:

In a world which is expanding day by day, literature is no longer enough . . . Our busy age does not always have time to read, but it always has time to look.

Those words are from French writer Theophile Gautier who was commenting on the power of visual arts including the new art of photography. The quote is from 1858.
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