Photographs that create desire

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This image is the most recent in a series shot for a flooring manufacturer.  Each image features a particular product line. This image was for "The Stone Collection".

They need photographs that make their flooring look beautiful and luxurious, photographs that create desire.

Mike Ticcino,  the art director and designer came up with the terrific idea of using cast shadows on the product. He also styled this image. We've used several types of shadows - most of them of different types of windows. This one is made to appear like dappled sunlight filtering through a window although the lighting is completely fabricated in the studio for purposes of control since the sun is constantly moving.

The client just brings a box of floor tiles and we arrange them on the studio floor and then light them beautifully (and add some post-production magic). 

Quote of the day

"A photograph is not an accident - it's a concept."

Ansel Adams - famous photographer

Do you believe in your company's future?

As we enter the holiday season, people are now wondering whether it's wise to buy gift cards from many businesses. They're worried about them going out of business.

Buyers looking at your sales literature and website wonder the same thing. No one wants to get involved with a business that doesn't look like it's here to stay.

The quality of your marketing materials sends a huge message. That includes the quality of the paper, the printing, the design and the photographs.

Customers need to believe you're here to stay. The quality of your sales literature and website says volumes about whether you believe enough in your own company to invest in it yourself. 

If you don't believe in your business - why should anyone else?

Quote of the day

"Trust is the single most important factor when marketing to the affluent."

Dan Kennedy - marketing expert 

What makes you different?

How are you different from your competitors? If it will benefit your customers tell them about it. Better yet - show them.

After all, if you're seen as the same as everybody else in your field, why should they buy from you unless you're the cheapest? Remember though, if they come for the price, they'll leave for the price.

Educate buyers. If your product or service has clear advantages show them! If you can't come up with any then fix your company.

Do your images show what makes you special?

Quote of the day

"Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand."

David Ogilvy - advertising executive and author

The importance of a unified look

A strong, unified look in all of your marketing materials gives you an edge over your competitors. Your sales literature, brochures and website all need to look like they're from the same company. You need to build a brand.

If your sales pieces lack unity in their design you'll leave negative impressions. Your business comes across as disorganized and unpredictable. 

People want to deal with a company they can count on, that won't throw them surprises. To be trustworthy be consistent.

Likewise, the pieces themselves need unity. Stock photos should be kept to a minimum and preferably not used at all. Every image originating from a different source reduces their cohesiveness. 

Quote of the day

"Consumers build an image [of a brand] as birds build nests. From the scraps and straws they chance upon."

Jeremy Bullmore - author and advertising executive

What makes a great headshot?

A compelling headshot (click on the image to see it larger)

Headshots are very useful in humanizing a business and building trust. Who do you trust more, a corporation or a person? They often form the first impression a person gets of your company's key people. Because you only get one shot at a first impression, you'd better make it as good as you can.

They don't have to be formal - it depends on the audience that you're trying to appeal to.

For business use, a headshot should give the impression of an intelligent, warm individual that looks trustworthy and approachable. They should look important while remaining likable. They should express vitality. Good eye contact with the viewer is extremely important - you want viewers to be able to connect with them and picture themselves doing business with them. 

I shot and retouched this image recently. It's a very typical shot for use on a corporate website. Like most of my images, it's been digitally enhanced in many subtle ways. 

His eyes and teeth have been brightened, skin color enhanced, pores reduced, blemishes removed, bulge in coat removed, eyes enhanced, shadows lightened under the eyes, enhanced the background and more. He's a handsome guy, but the image was made much stronger by post-production. The retouching and enhancing took me about 40 minutes. 

Everybody needs some retouching. If supermodels and movie stars need it, your staff does too. You don't need your key people to look like movie stars but you need to present them at their best.

Retouching has to be subtle though. Done properly it's invisible. It should be difficult for even the subject to detect. Cameras are cruel and record every pore. People don't even see most of the flaws that photos bring to our attention. 

Great headshots give you an edge. They leave your prospects with a first impression that creates strong positive feelings and associations.

Quote of the day

"It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances."

Oscar Wilde - playwright, poet and author

Creating an iconic image

Enhanced (click on the image to see it larger)

Before (click on the image to see it larger)

This image was just created for Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ. I was contacted by the marketing director because they wanted a photo of their new $220 million dollar patient care pavilion for a PR release inviting the media to their grand opening. The only problem was that the outside of the building was not finished.

They didn't have the budget for me to scout the facility in person so that part was done by looking at snapshots that were sent to me and by surveying satellite images of the site. Because there was no landscaping and the ground was filled with construction equipment and workers I decided to shoot up on it and eliminate ground level. This would also make it look heroic and more important.

After determining what approach that I was going to take, the sun positions were calculated for the day of the shoot. I wanted the brightest reflections to be near the Cooper sign, and figured 1-3 pm was my window of opportunity. This was shot just after 2pm.

When I'm shooting an image like this, my primary thought is that of capturing information. I know that I'm going to be working on the image to give it more drama. When an attempt is made to do that in camera, there's a huge risk of losing highlight or shadow detail that can never be recovered.

The canopy and fascia on the front of the building (the sign is on the side of the building) had to be constructed in Photoshop be me using the architect's rendering as a guide. There were also many wires coming down from hoists on the roof. These were also reflected in windows and casting shadows. The retouching and enhancing took me about 8 hours to complete.

They now have an iconic image that they'll be able to use for years.

You can see more architectural images in my architectural photography portfolio.

How to save money on photography

When hiring a photographer, have in mind a realistic list of shots that you want to accomplish. Keep in mind that the more shots you cram into a session, the average quality of each image MUST go down. The quality of your images will generally be in direct proportion to the thought, energy and time and effort that goes into planning and executing them (and your photographer's ability). There is no free lunch.

Leonardo da Vinci was a great sketcher, but he's best known for the Mona Lisa. He worked on it four years.

I personally think that there are two ways to go about saving money. The first is to use a photographer that shoots royalty-free images (as I do). That way you'll be able to build your own corporate stock library. Images that will be connected by the thread of your photographer's personal style. You'll find you can use many of them for years, re-using and re-purposing them for brochures, web, trade shows, and perhaps even office decor. Because they're shot by the same photographer, they'll have a "look" that ties them together.

The second thing to consider is this: Do you really need as many images as you think you do? Think about what images you need in order to show that you're different, that show unique capabilities, that can be used in your branding, that will help your image, that humanize your company, that can build trust and desire or communicate quality. Think benefits, benefits, benefits. Your customers don't care about you - they care about what you can do for them. 

You're better off with a smaller number of high quality images than lots of images that aren't as compelling.

Quote of the day

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

Leonardo da Vinci 

Eye-catching images

Enhanced (click on the image to see it larger)

Before (click on the image to see it larger)

This image was just made for an annual report to illustrate an article on their commitment to working on the repair and improvement of infrastructure. We shot at a few locations that day.

When we drove up to the excavated area where the men were working there was a large cloud of dust coming up from the pit. I requested permission to go down with the workers and was given a few minutes to stage a shot. In just under two minutes of shooting I was able to get about 20 images (I know by the time stamps on the images). Total time in the pit - under 5 minutes.

This is a good example of digitally enhanced photography and it's power to improve images. One worker's shirt had printing on it that needed to be removed (it was the sub-contractor's t-shirt), there was some litter on the ground, major changes to color and tone were made. I decided before I shot to add my own dust cloud in post-production in order to control where it appeared and also to keep it from damaging a $6000 camera. Total time retouching and enhancing the image - about 2 hours.

You can more easily compare the before and after versions of this photo and others in my digitally enhanced photography portfolio.

The secret to great photos

I'm going to let you in on photography's dirty little secret . . . It's not the camera. It's more than great lighting, composition, viewpoint, focus, color and capturing good expression. In addition to amazing lighting, and great color, the best images you see in ads are almost always digitally enhanced and retouched.

Products, places, people . . . (even supermodels).

The best photographer in the world can't deliver perfection unless the subject is perfect . . . and they never are!

If you want to maximize the impact of your images you're going to want to have them enhanced. Sometimes this can be done in a few minutes, sometimes it's much more involved. In addition to a good photographer you'll need to have someone who is talented and knowledgeable with Photoshop and preferably many other programs and plug-ins. It's a good idea to have the person doing the post-production present at the shoot so they're sure to get what's needed to put the image together.

One of the benefits that my clients get is that I'm both an advertising photographer with over 30 years of experience and a Photoshop expert. That gives me the ability to visualize what I want to end up with while I'm shooting, and make sure that I'm getting what I need in order to construct the image I've imagined. I'm also sure to end up with the image that I pre-visualized since there's no chance for miscommunication.

See before and after samples of my digitally enhanced photography.

Quote of the day

"It's not what we get, but who we become, what we contribute . . . that gives meaning to our lives."

Anthony Robbins - Authority on personal development

Images that convey quality

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Perception is everything. This image is one of a series done this summer for a local artist who makes handcrafted art-deco lamps. Great guy, beautiful work. He called me because he'd been struggling for years to get good images of his lamps. They're nightmares to shoot. Their heavily chromed surfaces act as large curved mirrors that reflect the room and everything in it, the lights, the camera and the photographer.

He'd had a bad experience with another photographer and wasn't at all happy with his photos - his money was wasted. He was a bit gun shy about hiring me, but when I informed him about my 100% no-risk guarantee he decided to proceed.

I decided to approach them as if they were museum pieces on display.

He told me afterward that his first thought when he saw the working proof that I e-mailed him was " Ka-Ching! ". The day he put them up on his site he raised his prices 50% - about $300 extra for his least expensive lamps. Demand has increased and with the help of these images he's already picked up agents in London and L.A. to represent his work.

You can see more in my product photography portfolio.

Quote of the day

"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary."

Aaron Rose - Film Director

Photos that cut through the noise

One problem with stock photos is this: using them is like trying to cut through a thick steak with a butter knife.

We live in an over-communicated world. Because we're bombarded from all sides by companies wanting our attention, strong images are more important than ever. We are wired to remember visually. Since, as the saying goes, a picture's worth a thousand words, images have the ability to communicate a great deal of information in an instant. In this environment it's important that every image communicates clearly.

Think about what makes a good stock photo. Many buyers across many industries will find it useful. It can be interpreted in many ways. It has lots of negative space around it so that there is room for type. It lacks specifics. It's generic. Because it can say so many things it says nothing. It looks like a stock photo. It's ambiguous and easy to ignore.

Quote of the day

"Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind."

Walter Landor - Legendary branding and design pioneer

Photos that build trust

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Images are key to building trust. This is one of a series of images of company executives done for their website. When I shoot portraits of employees my goal is usually to portray them as intelligent and warm individuals that you'd like to do business with.

When you're selling a service you are selling trust; good feelings. You're selling a relationship. There is no way to show the customer in advance what his tax return will look like.

I feel it's usually a mistake to hire models to pose as employees. (They're fine posing as customers.) Almost everybody can look good with the proper lighting, framing, angle and cropping. I also believe it's a big mistake to use stock photos. They just don't ring true. Rather than build trust, they erode it.

You can see more sample images in my people photography portfolio.

There's no such thing as a cheap photo

Some people fool themselves thinking they're saving money by either shooting photos themselves, hiring a cheap photographer or buying stock photos. I'll address the specific problems with each of these choices in future posts. For the purpose of this discussion though I just want you to think about this: 

Imagine a typical sale for your business. How much is that sale worth in profit? Do you usually get repeat business? What is the average lifetime value of a customer to your company?  That's how much profits are lost every time a prospect doesn't respond to your marketing and goes elsewhere. Money lost that you're not even aware of. If you have high value clients, cheap photos can cost you a fortune.

Now when you think about those "free" or "cheap" photos you'll realize how expensive they really are. Savvy marketers understand this. 

High quality images that are strategically planned and executed to convey quality, create desire and build trust are an investment that can pay big dividends. Properly used they'll pay for themselves very quickly.

Photos that create desire

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I recently created this P.O.P. (Point of Purchase) image for a chocolatier. The goal was to create an image that would be both eye catching and create desire.

If the image is properly put to use, I have no doubt it will generate sales.

Photos with a purpose

Too many people in business see photos as a not much more than something to just make their websites or brochures look a little prettier. BIG MISTAKE. If your company is approaching photography this way you're missing out on big opportunities.

Buyers are bombarded with information, overworked and more than a little busy. They need to quickly find a particular product or service and they'll compare your marketing materials with your competitors. Most will quickly scan your materials and look at the photos to get a feel for the quality of your company and what you're selling. 

Because people think in pictures (think of your car - does a picture come into thought or words?), images influence perceptions. You'd better have images that convey quality, create desire and build trust. Images that are at least as good as your major competitors and preferably better.

Quote of the day

"In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." 

Eric Hoffer - Author

News

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An eight page feature article consisting of an interview and over a dozen of my images was published in Commercial Images, China's leading magazine for commercial photographers. It's published by the Chinese Photography Association.

Philadelphia photographer Rich Quindry welcomes you.

Hi, I'm Rich Quindry, a Philadelphia photographer and Photoshop expert. I help companies increase their sales by crafting digitally enhanced images that create desire, convey quality and build trust. I do this by combining my skills as both an advertising photographer and a Photoshop expert. I have several multinational clients.

I'm hoping to start a conversation on effective marketing and branding, with an emphasis on using images to influence buyers perceptions and attitudes. I've been doing photography for advertising and marketing a long time and have seen many changes in this industry - not always in ways that improve sales. 

This blog will be a place where I post recent projects and discuss the purpose of the images. It is my intent to also share ideas relating to photography, advertising, Photoshop, branding and marketing. Most of these ideas do not originate with me, but rather from the hundreds of authors that I've had as my mentors by way of reading their books. 

Whenever I can remember the original source of an idea, I'll attempt to give appropriate credit. I've learned a lot from these mentors, but by no means will I ever consider my knowledge complete - it's all work in progess. I hope that these posts are helpful to anyone wanting to improve their effectiveness in these areas. I welcome your comments. 

All images on this site are copyrighted by Rich Quindry and may not be used without permission.