The business side of photography
Very off-topic but just for Valentine’s Day:
Although these will make little sense to non-photographers, here are some of the best photography pick-up lines:
Let me focus only on you.
Picture us together.
I’ve got you in my viewfinder.
Will you be my long-term project?
I Leica you.
Do you do it RAW?
True love can never be Photoshopped.
Let’s get together for a horizontal composition.
I’m not sure if this is an indication of anything but last month I received three similar photo requests. I wasn’t asked to shoot any photos but instead, the customers wanted me to fix pictures they had shot themselves:
• The first was to fix a group photo that an employee had taken. The people in the picture are now back in their respective hometowns so there’s no chance of a reshoot. The group picture was under-exposed, slightly out-of-focus, had red-eye and was poorly composed with some bad shadows. Photoshop can only do so much but the customer was happy with the results of the emergency retouch surgery. The picture will now have a happy life in a company newsletter.
• The second request was another do-it-yourself picture. But unfortunately this one was inoperable. I diagnosed a terminal case of the blurs. A photo may look okay on the camera’s tiny LCD screen but when viewed at a larger size, any and all imperfections become very obvious. I suspect the company already knew this and just wanted a second opinion.
• The third request was to pull out one person from a group photo and make it look like a business portrait of that person. This image was rushed into the operating room for some complicated photo surgery. It was touch-and-go and, sadly, a few body parts had to be amputated in the process. The photo, now reduced to a head-and-shoulders, is recovering and will be strong enough to appear in a Powerpoint presentation.
Everyone loves to take pictures and this is great for personal photos. But if your company is thinking about doing your own business photos, here are three suggestions:
(i) Don’t.
(ii) Take lots of pictures and hope one hits the target.
(iii) Know where the closest photo emergency room is located.
Q: What’s the difference between an Executive Portrait and a Business Portrait?
A: About $500. (It’s an old joke but sometimes it’s true. Read on.)
This is usually a head-and-shoulders photo against a plain background. Eye contact with the camera is important and a bit of a smile never hurts. A plain background, while not absolutely necessary, won’t distract the viewer. It’s also easy for any other photographer to duplicate a plain background in any future business portraits of other employees, should the need arise.
This type of portrait should never look like a passport picture, a driver’s license photo or a family snapshot. On the other hand, depending on the company, a business portrait doesn’t have to be a serious suit-and-tie picture.
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What’s the difference between a photographer and a photojournalist?
A photographer takes pictures of nouns whereas a photojournalist, or news photographer, takes pictures of verbs.
If you remember way back to grade school: a noun is a part of speech that’s used to name a person, place or thing. A verb expresses an action or state of being, and is the most important part of a sentence.
The average photographer usually takes pictures of animals, nature, architecture and still life. Nothing wrong with that but all nouns.
Photojournalists take pictures of people expressing or enacting such things as anger, joy, sadness, happiness, victory, protest, excitement and more. These are images of people engaged in some sort of physical or emotional state of being. Verbs.
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Some companies have reacted to the recession by circling the wagons, laying-off staff and raising prices. It’s about protecting themselves and putting the company’s self interests first.
If customers aren’t buying, then raising prices to compensate for low sales volume only closes the door even more. Raising the price of a product or service can often boost sales, but not during a recession.
Close doors or open new paths?
Let’s say you own a restaurant and people aren’t coming into your place as often as before. Folks are either going to a lower-priced fast food outlet or they’re eating at home more often. What can you do?
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Which is more important to your business: saving money or making money?
While everyone loves “free”, that usually isn’t even on the menu. For businesses that are considering hiring a photographer, here are a few suggestions that will help save some money.
First, congratulations! Hiring a photographer to help with your business, corporate or commercial photography needs means that you know the value of having a professional photographer create original images for your web site, public relations or other marketing needs.
But what if your budget doesn’t quite match your plans?
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The Wall Street Journal published the Best and Worst Jobs in the USA, based on a recently-released 2009 study. The list is based on five criteria: environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress.
The methodology and the criteria used are limited and subjective. There really is no way to produce an accurate and objective list since best and worst are relative terms.
Take this list with a grain of salt and a big dose of humour. Just for fun, see where your job ranks.
