The business side of photography
During a portrait session, if the subject jokingly asks if my camera will steal their soul, I’ll answer, “I hope so.”
It rubs me the wrong way, a camera. It’s a frightening thing. Cameras make ghosts out of people.
– Robert Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan)
Sometimes a photographer will try to steal a bit of their subject’s soul. This is what separates a great portrait from an average one. Ideally a portrait should allow the viewer a moment’s chance into the subject’s world.
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Another Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone. The day after the US Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November) is “Black Friday” (for in-store sales) and the following Monday is “Cyber Monday” (for online sales). Although, some stores now stretch out their sales to last an entire week. In fact, the Thursday before Black Friday (i.e. US Thanksgiving) is now called Gray Thursday.
While these special shopping days are predominantly a US event, they do get some attention here in Canada. Several Canadian retailers hold their own similarly-themed sales on the same days.
What gets little attention, and absolutely no media coverage whatsoever, is that the Saturday between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is “Small Business Saturday”. The Canadian Small Business Saturday, like Canadian Thanksgiving, occurs in October. On Small Business Saturday, the public is urged to shop at a local small business.
However, none of these special shopping days benefit photographers. One could even argue that these shopping events don’t really benefit consumers (also here, here and maybe even here).
Perhaps photographers should create National Portrait Week which could run during National Photography Month (aka May). This would encourage people to get their portrait made, even a business portrait. This might help many photography businesses and it would most definitely benefit consumers.
The lasting value of a portrait is unmatched by any mass-produced, store-bought item.
(The Irish Professional Photographers Association has an annual National Portrait Day, which lasts a week. Customers can get a portrait for a nominal fee and all proceeds go to charity.)
Over the past two months, I photographed a total of 49 business portraits for a few small to mid-sized Toronto companies.
What never ceases to amaze me is how different each person looks. If you walk along a street and casually glance around at other people, you may think that everyone looks about the same. But, as with snowflakes, no two people are alike.
Face shape, eyes, ears, nose, smile, hair, skin colour and skin texture are quite different from one person to the next. This is very noticeable when photographing people up-close and later when editing and retouching the pictures.
Speaking of retouching, it’s always better to use a makeup artist and hair stylist before the picture is taken rather than relying on retouching afterward.
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The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) just published a rather silly study with the catchy title of “Perspective Distortion from Interpersonal Distance Is an Implicit Visual Cue for Social Judgments of Faces.”
This study claims to show that “the distance at which facial photos are taken influences perception.” The authors of the study even say they’ve broken new ground. (Every photographer is laughing at this.)
Here’s the CalTech press release and the study. Feel free to read them but the study just duplicates what every experienced photographer, model and actor have known for the past plus-90 years:
• If someone takes your picture with a short lens, the closer they stand to you when taking the picture, the more distorted, or unflattering, the picture will be. (This is well-known physics.)
• An unflattering portrait tends to create unfavourable opinions in people who view that portrait. (This is well-known human behaviour.)
This CalTech study certainly qualifies for a Captain Obvious award.
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A potential customer asked why a business portrait would cost $500 when it’s only going to appear small on their website.
Up until the late 1990s, companies had no hesitation paying hundreds of dollars (or more) for a business portrait. Back then, the costs of publishing brochures, annual reports, and other print marketing materials were high, so a business portrait was just a small fraction of the overall expense.
Today, with every company having a website, the cost to publish has essentially become free. This zero-cost publishing has led some people to assume that photography should be equally inexpensive. The common question is: “Why should we pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for photos that cost nothing to publish?”
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When a corporate photographer arrives at an office to do business portraits, someone will always say, “I don’t like having my picture taken”, “I hope I don’t break your camera lens” or “I never like pictures of myself”.
The reasons for such comments include:
(1) They’ve never had a decent portrait made of themselves.
(2) They’re exhibiting lateralization of emotion.
(3) They’re very self-conscious or self-critical.
Let’s look at each of these three in more detail.
(1) This first issue can be easily solved by hiring an experienced portrait photographer and staying away from cheap, amateur-like photographers. You get what you pay for.
A good photographer can produce a portrait that the customer will like. If you know you’ll be getting a good result, you’ll look forward to the photo session.
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There was a Toronto photographer who did “three-S” portraits. When someone arrived at her studio for a business portrait, which she hated doing, she would tell them to “sit down, shut-up and smile.” She would then proceed to photograph them as quickly as possible.
Most companies know that business portraits are important. When a business hires a corporate photographer to produce portraits of its key employees, these people should be warned that they will be asked to smile. This is not meant to be cruel and unusual punishment.
A smile need not be a big, toothy grin. But a friendly appearance is important and that comes not just from the mouth but also from the eyes.
By having the employees smile, the photographer is following proven science.
A recent study at Penn State University found that when you smile, you don’t only appear to be more likable and courteous, but you actually appear to be more competent.
– Ron Gutman CEO/founder of HealthTap
