editorial photography

Authentic photography for corporate social media

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Press junkets are common in the newspaper industry. A junket is a third-party-sponsored event where that third party is looking for some free publicity. For example:

• A car manufacturer will take a group of writers to an exotic location where they can test drive a new vehicle. Of course, the car company will pay all the expenses.

• A travel company will pay for everything when it flies reporters to a series of tropical destinations so they can experience the locations firsthand and then write about their adventures. (Although I’ve been told by one such travel writer that these excursions can often visit a number of destinations in as many days and it can become a gruelling endurance test.)

• An entertainment network will fly writers to Hollywood, New York City or the location of a movie shoot so they can meet and interview the actors and director.

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Corporate photos are like sports announcers

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When it comes to producing effective photography for corporate marketing, there are two general types of images: those with story appeal and those that demonstrate something. The former is used to convey an idea or emotion and the latter is used to deliver a fact. The two types can overlap.

Pictures with story appeal are said to have human interest. These pictures, which are usually editorial in nature, will attract attention because editorial photography is the most interesting to, and the most trusted by, the public. Conveying a message through human interest is always persuasive because such photography creates an emotional response in the viewer.
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Photo Editing Skills

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Customers know which pictures they like to look at but they may not understand why. Very few people understand the art and craft of photo editing.

Few publications today have a real photo editor. It would be surprising if any non-media business has a photo editor. Instead, photographers are left to edit their own work and then someone at the client-end selects the pictures they like to look at.
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Public Relations and Publicity Photography

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Celebrities (and wannabe celebrities) depend on this. Politicians depend on this. All professional sports depend on this. The entertainment industry depends on this.

Publicity and public relations photography are exceptional marketing tools because photography is the number one way to get attention. The public loves looking at photography and they trust photography. News editors love free hand-out pictures not only because it’s free content but also because photos can greatly increase readership.

One of today’s catchy(?) buzzwords is “content marketing” but many folks will remember when it was called “public relations”. The Merriam-Webster dictionary says:
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Memorable (part 2)

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In his 2011 book, Moonwalking with Einstein, science writer Joshua Foer describes how someone can increase their memory. He learned of a technique while covering a national memory competition. The following year, Foer won that same competition using this very technique.

To improve one’s memory, Foer learned that one has to associate an image with the information that needs to be remembered. The more memorable that image, the better the chance of remembering. It’s possible that Allan Paivio’s Dual Coding Theory (visual explanation here ;-) ) might help explain this.

Alexandra Horowitz, a PhD in cognitive science who teaches psychology at Barnard College in the US, wrote, “… a simple fact of human cognition: we naturally remember visual images. … The less banal, the better. Quotidian scenes are forgettable. What snags the cells of our brains are disgusting, bizarre and novel images.”
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Who pays what

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Who Pays Photographers? is a fairly new blog with a spreadsheet listing rates received by photographers for, mostly, editorial assignments. It’s based on anonymous submissions but looking at a few entries, the numbers do seem accurate.

Keep in mind that better rates can sometimes be had. Don’t be afraid to ask for more. In many cases, I’ve been able to get 50% to 100% more than what was initially offered by a daily newspaper or magazine. In cases where I couldn’t, the solution was to say “no thanks.”

A similar site for writers: Who pays writers?

 

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