For Customers

Fix your profile

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Business portrait, executive portrait, headshot, social media portrait or profile picture. No matter what you call it, a picture of yourself is important for your business. Really.

For social media, the most important picture is the author’s own portrait. For businesses, both small and large, having online portraits of key employees is very important. Really.

People trust what (and who) they can see more than what (and who) they can’t. A profile without a photo is like a day without sunshine. (Okay, I made up that last bit but hopefully you get my point).

From an Inc. Magazine article titled Fix Your Profile Picture:

Your profile picture is about branding you and the business you own. Are you handling it that way?

(. . .)

Invest the money in a professional photographer. Profile pictures are a booming sideline for many professional photographers. Hire one. It should cost about $200 depending on where you live and what you need specificially [sic].

(. . .)

Update your picture every couple of years.

 

Why journalism can be the best marketing

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In my tiny corner of the Web, (i.e. this blog), I’ve mentioned that the best thing a business can do for its marketing photography and public relations photography is to hire a photographer with a journalism background.

I’ve also written that one of the best things a company should be doing to enhance its brand, increase public awareness and even do a little good for their community is to put editorial content on its corporate web site, (e.g. photojournalism, photo essays, documentaries).
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Cheap stock pictures strike again

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Yet again, another large organization decided to save a few dollars on its marketing by buying cheap stock pictures. Yet again, it has backfired into the daily papers and TV newscasts. Yet again, another organization is scrambling to explain its short-sightedness and to minimize the ridicule.

In three months, Ontario will have a provincial election. The provincial NDP party has started its campaign with a 48-page booklet telling voters that it will put Ontario citizens first, create and protect Ontario jobs, make sure public money supports local business, help Ontarians put more money in their pockets and above all, “Buy Ontario” and “help small businesses”.

So how did the NDP decide to show that it means what it says? By ignoring Ontario photographers and buying cheap pictures from US stock photo agencies. (Hint to NDP: cheap stock pictures are instantly recognizable for what they are. Studies have shown that readers hate them.)
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Best photographer excuses

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When things go wrong, what are some excuses photographers use?

My computer crashed.

The lab didn’t print it right.

This is how all photographers dress.

The sun moved.

You can fix it in Photoshop.

No one told me it would start on time.

The picture is fine, the building is crooked.

It’s art. It’s supposed to be out of focus.

It’s not underexposed, it’s “moody.”

It’s called “negative space.”

It’s supposed to look like that. That’s my style.

The bride’s dress was too white.

It was subject failure.
(This was Kodak’s excuse when a Kodak camera or Kodak printer failed to produce a good picture).

I’m a photographer not a magician.

I’m a photographer not a plastic surgeon.

 

Misleading Intentions

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A new online stock agency (of sorts), called ImageBrief, recently launched in Australia. What’s different about this stock photo agency is that a photo buyer first posts a description of the picture(s) they’re seeking along with the price they’re willing to pay. Interested photographers can then post any of their stock pictures which meet the buyer’s description. The photo buyer chooses the “winning” picture(s) and pays the photographer. The stock agency gets a commission.

Okay, so far so good.

But look at some of the photo buyers:

• A coffee shop/bakery was looking for a picture to market its store. Rather than hiring a photographer to produce authentic photography of the store’s own products, the shop bought a stock photo which featured another company’s coffee and someone else’s baked goods.

Would you consider this to be misleading advertising by the coffee shop?

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A timely message

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Many people outside of the photo industry (and even some in the industry) are under the misconception that photography today is much cheaper than it was, say, ten to fifteen years ago. But the truth is that it’s far more expensive today, despite the miracle of reusable memory cards.

Cameras and lenses certainly get better as technology improves. But they’re much more expensive than in years gone by. Even if the purchase cost of an item goes down as technology advances, the product life cycle gets shorter which means more frequent updating. Computers and software also require frequent replacing.

Most folks are also surprised to learn that post-production can take as long, or longer, than the actual photography. Post-production includes, but isn’t limited to, image selection, raw format conversion, captioning, correcting for verticals, removing blemishes, cropping, resizing, and both global and local adjustments for colour, white balance, saturation, brightness, contrast and sharpness.

For many commercial assignments, a rule of thumb is two hours of post-production for each hour of photography.

Photography is not cheaper today. It’s just a lot better.

 

At Your Service

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Contrary to what some may think, professional photography is not a commodity business. Looking for the right photographer is not like shopping for a TV set where you decide on the make and model of TV and then search around to find the lowest price.

When a company is looking to hire a commercial photographer, it can expect to get a variety of photo quotes. For a common assignment like a business portrait, the prices may vary by a few hundred dollars. For a large project, photography quotes can vary by many thousands of dollars.

The difference in pricing reflects the photographers’ different experience, talents, production methods and overhead expenses.
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