Why photography?

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There are many photography web sites that offer advice on “how to”.

How to photograph portraits, how to photograph children, how to take pictures of pets, how to shoot sports, how to take pictures at night, how to use a wide angle lens, how to take pictures with a flash, how to take pictures without a flash, how to . . . ad nauseam.

But there are few sites that talk about “why”.

Why photograph portraits, why photograph children, why shoot sports, why use a wide angle, why use a flash, . . . ?
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Don’t call me maybe

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(Sorry about the title and this post has nothing to do with photography.)

Canada’s National Do Not Call List turns five years old in September. If you registered your phone number(s) with the Do Not Call List back in 2008, remember that registration lasts only five years. To keep your number(s) on the list, you must re-register every five years. Thanks to a recent change, once you register a phone number, it stays on the Do Not Call List indefinitely unless you de-register it.

Political parties are exempt from the Do Not Call List. A provincial by-election is being held later this week in the area of Toronto where I live. Today I received 14 phone calls, between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm, from the three candidates running for election. A few of these calls were from real people but most were automated “robocalls.” This telephone assault started a few days ago and will continue right up to election day.

Business to business telemarketing calls are also exempt. You are not supposed to register a business phone number, or even a personal number used for business purposes, with the Do Not Call List.

Surveys and opinion polls are exempt from the Do Not Call. So some telemarketers will use a fake, meaningless survey as a prelude to their sales pitch. Sometimes they will offer a fake prize for completing their pretend survey. To collect your “prize,” you have to phone another number which leads to their sales people.

Speaking of scams and fraud: the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

 

Three Little Rules

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A recent book, The Three Rules (link to PDF), written by Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed confirms that competing on price is not a successful business strategy.

The two business authors spent five years studying more than 25,000 companies, in hundreds of industries, covering a 45-year span. They narrowed down the list of companies to 344. These were companies whose long-term success was not due to luck but rather to specific business decisions.

They found that these companies did three things in common from which the authors formulated their three rules for how successful companies think:
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How not to run a photo business

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Many photographers struggle with their pricing. This is normal. The best way for a photographer to establish their business is to understand how their business operates and, for that matter, how any (photography) business operates.

The photographer learns to price according to their location, their business plans and their market positioning. This takes time and effort and, yes, mistakes will be made along the way.

And then there are photographers who like to take shortcuts.

I got a phone call today from someone claiming to be an office manager. She said they needed some business portraits. She asked how much I charged, how the pictures would be shot, whether I use softboxes or umbrellas, what type of backgrounds are best, how the photos are selected, what amount of retouching I would do, and how the pictures would be delivered. After I answered all her questions, she suddenly hung up.
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More than just cost

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It seems that the mantra of most businesses is “cut costs”. Many companies are not just concerned about controlling their costs but also about reducing costs to the absolute minimum. These companies want to spend less but still, somehow, earn more.

Most companies view a professional photographer as an expense. So they immediately think that photography is a cost like any other and it has to be minimized. This is the barrier that a commercial or corporate photographer has to get around. There are two ways to do this:

1) Be the cheapest photographer in town.

2) Stop being seen as an expense but rather as an investment.

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Consistent Business Portraits

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A potential corporate client called to say they were looking for a photographer who could match the look of their previous business portraits. The company needed some new employees photographed in the same way as its existing pictures.

Matching previous business portraits is a common request. It shows the company understands the importance of being consistent in its corporate communications. Consistency shows stability which enhances corporate credibility.

It’s usually easy to match the look of previous business portraits and most professional photographers can do it. But just to be sure, I asked the company to provide samples of its previous portraits.

Oiy!
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Failing a class

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It’s not even necessary to read the news story. The picture says it all.

In a Grade 2 class photo, all the students are grouped together in the centre. Except one. A student in a wheelchair is off to the side. The child’s father said he cried when he saw the photo.

The picture is not just thoughtless, it’s also bad photography. It shows how not to do a group photo. It shows what happens when a photographer doesn’t know what they’re doing. It shows what happens when a photographer or school portrait company, in this case, Lifetouch, is too busy being fast and cheap.

Lifetouch says, “Our school photographers take their role in preserving memories seriously” and “Our school photographers are committed to making each child feel special and valued.” It seems the company failed this class.
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