Toronto photo retouching

Is It Worth The Trouble To Smile?

January 16, 2014 No Comments

Every real estate agent knows that a friendly face on a lawn sign or billboard will attract more attention than anything else, except perhaps a picture of a baby.

Every politician knows that a professional business portrait helps build trust. No matter what scandal a politician may have been involved in, a good portrait will be a positive influence on voters.

The marketing power of a well-done business portrait can benefit anyone.

A business headshot with a smile builds trust, indicates friendliness, confidence and politeness, and suggests that you are smart and competent. It has also been shown that smiling can increase your customers’ satisfaction and can even help you live longer and be happier.

Is it worth the trouble to smile?

Yes it is, especially in front of the photographer who’s making your new business headshot.

Marginally Cheaper By The Dozen

December 13, 2013 No Comments

You can tell that it’s getting close to year’s end as companies rush to get work done or hurry to spend any remaining budget. I’ve received nine inquiries for business portraits in the past two weeks, and each job had to be delivered and invoiced before December 31. The requests ranged from two to thirty business headshots.

One potential customer asked why I don’t offer a bigger volume discount for multiple business portraits. They wondered why the cost to shoot 30 business headshots didn’t drop to under $50 each.

Here’s why:
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Magic Act

October 11, 2013 No Comments

Some photographers charge more, other photographers charge less, and some photographers undercharge and effectively work for nothing. But I’ve never heard of a photographer who overcharges or gouges customers.

A fellow corporate photographer recently wondered what he should tell potential clients who point out that another photographer charges much less than he does. Perhaps this might help:

Photographers are not economic magicians. When a photographer charges less, it means the customer is getting less. There’s no way around it. Maybe it’s less quality, maybe less service, maybe less experience. But it’s always less. The customer has to decide if they’re willing to settle for less.

If the pictures are not important then it might be okay to take a chance with low-priced photography. But smart companies know to always avoid risk because cheap can sometimes be too expensive.

My photography business doesn’t settle for less, (which is why I buy only premium cameras, lenses, computers, software, etc.), and I refuse to offer less because my customers are important.

I want my customers to succeed in their business marketing and I want my pictures to play a part in that success. I don’t cut corners and give customers less because that would only undermine their business goals.

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Time and Space

October 4, 2013 No Comments

Professional photo shoots can be more complex than clients expect. After seeing multiple equipment cases wheeled into their office and a slew of lights set up, it’s not uncommon for clients to say, “Wow, all this for just one picture?” or “I didn’t think this was a Hollywood movie!”

Some photography can be done with minimal gear in small spaces. But other projects may demand extensive lighting setups which require more time and space.

When a client insists, “It’s just a couple of pictures, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes,” photographers often smile in knowing recognition.
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$900 Headshot

August 20, 2013 11 Comments

Many professional photographers do business headshots. A quick web search shows:

• One Toronto photographer charges $29 for business headshots. One wonders why he even bothers to charge anything at all. In the end, $29 is the same as $0 to his business.

• Another Toronto photographer, who claims 18 years in the business, charges $60 for headshots – cash only, please. Many of the sample photos on his site were stolen from other photographers. Using Google, it’s easy to trace the pictures back to the original sites. In this case, buyer beware.

• A Toronto-area photographer, charges $1,000 for “unlimited” business headshots. The fine print says that, for $1,000, he will come to your office and shoot as many portraits as you want in three hours.

This guy claims that he once did 84 headshots in three hours. He goes on to brag on his web site: “that’s one headshot every two minutes!” If you do the math, that’s about $12 per portrait.

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Consistent Business Portraits

June 25, 2013 No Comments

A potential corporate client reached out, requesting a photographer who could replicate the look of their previous business portraits. Their new employees needed headshots that matched the style of the existing ones.

Matching previous portraits is a common request, and it reflects a company’s understanding of the importance of consistency in business messaging. Consistency fosters a sense of stability, which in turn builds trust.

Trust is built with consistency. – Lincoln Chafee, US state governor

It’s typically easy to match the style of existing business portraits but I asked the company to provide samples of the previous images, just to be sure.

Oiy!
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Lines of Sight

portraits