The business side of photography
Today, I received a “Dear Photographer” e-mail which proclaimed that I’m being considered for “free” inclusion in the next edition of a prestigious “Who’s Who” book. Supposedly, I’m one of the top, most distinguished photographers in North America. Being included in this book will mark my high level of achievement.
Yeah, right.
For fun, I visited this company’s web site:
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Public relations photography, or PR photography, is about producing editorial photography that puts the client in a favourable light and increases their name recognition.
PR photography must be editorial in nature simply because that’s the style demanded by publications which use public relations photography. Newspapers, magazines, trade magazines, news websites and other publishers of PR photography use only editorial photography and not, for example, advertising photography because it directly impacts the publication’s credibility.
Every photographer who has ever tray-processed prints in a darkroom knows the magic of watching a picture appear on a piece of photo paper. It doesn’t matter if it’s their first print or their 10,000th print, an image appearing in the developer tray never ceases to amaze.
With digital cameras, the magic of the photo process is gone. Digital photography is so commonplace, antiseptic and automatic that most people take it for granted. Push a button, look at the LCD screen.
The technology involved in turning light into electricity, then into bits of digital information stored on a memory card, and finally into an electronic image on a computer screen is no longer considered magical, if it ever was. Digital pictures are today’s normal, everyday routine.
But the miracle of photography itself has never changed.
The ability of photography to capture the right moment, tell a story, inspire hope, enhance emotion, send a message, influence a belief, change opinion or illustrate what words cannot, is still as strong as it ever was.
This is why smart businesses always use custom photography for their press releases, annual reports, web sites and other marketing collateral. These companies understand the ordinary miracle of photography.
A business looking to hire a photographer doesn’t want value in photography but rather value from photography. No company buys photography for the sake of having some pictures. Photography is a tool that can be used by a company to create some sort of advantage over its competitors.
Business photography, corporate photography and commercial photography should be regarded as an investment in a company’s future. Such photography can build trust, enhance brand image and attract customer attention. If the photography helps a business achieve its goals, then cost is just a transactional detail.
It’s not what the photography costs a business, it’s what the photography earns for that business.
Customers don’t buy from strangers or from anyone they don’t trust. Quality, authentic photography can help build trust. The right photography can help make a business appear more friendly. Effective photography can add power and credibility to the business message.
Choosing the right photographer is never about lowest cost but about highest values: value from the photography and value of the photographer.
While most professional photographers already know this, the hard part is letting customers in on this secret.
The start of a new year is a good time for a company to re-evaluate its existing business photography and consider updating the pictures. Just as every school has a “picture day” at the beginning of each new school year, a business would be smart to do the same at the start of each new year.
Like a loaf of bread, business headshots go stale after their “best before” date. While we may like to use a 12-year-old portrait from when we had fewer wrinkles and less grey hairs, the shelf life of a business portrait is, perhaps, about two years. There’s a reason why most annual reports require new executive portraits each and every year. Maybe it’s time to show your customers that your president now has a tie made this century?
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Today, I received an information package from an insurance company from which I might buy a policy. The opening page uses the phrase “trust us” three times, including in a headline. But why should I trust them?
• The information package uses only cheap stock pictures of anonymous, generic people including the cliché woman-wearing-telephone-headset.
• The generic message from the company president has no photo.
• The company’s address is a post office box. If it had a photo of their office, at least that would’ve added some credibility.
A few random thoughts as we start a new year of photography:
Creating a good photograph is like a savings account. The more you put into it, the more interest you earn.
Behind every good photographer is a thousand bad pictures.
Bad pictures can often be caused by a loose screw behind the viewfinder.
It’s not a mistake unless someone notices.
Never judge a photographer by their pictures.
Sometimes the best photographs happen only after reading the camera manual.
