The Intention of the Photographer

Click on the image to see it larger

Click on the image to see it larger

Click on the image to see it larger

In my opinion, when evaluating the work of photographers to decide who to hire, it's important to try to discern the intention of the photographer.

Now yes, technical aspects of the images are also essential. Photographs are only as good as the weakest link that created them. (Unless the photographer got lucky).

This includes the quality and consistency of the lighting in addition to the quality of the cameras and lenses. It also consists of the skills of the photographer: technical knowledge, mastery of light, attention to detail, compositional skills, problem solving abilities, creativity, their expertise and artistic ability with Photoshop and other post-production programs; and the interpersonal skills that are so necessary to evoke the desired expressions and body language when people are photographed.

Assuming the photographer has all of this down, there is still another problem. Many photographers see themselves as artists and try to create images that will draw attention to themselves so everyone will be impressed at how great they are. It's like a writer who wants to write the great American novel that will impress everyone with his or her writing skills. What makes a writer great though, is when the reader gets so involved with the story that they are unaware of the writing. It's the same way with photography.

When someone engages my services for a project, unless specifically instructed otherwise, I intend to create images that will improve their image and increase their sales.

It's not my goal for people to say "that's a great photo." My goal is for the viewer to see a product and feel it's beautifully made and desirable to buy. For the viewer of a room to think, what a beautiful space. For the viewer of a person to think: they look attractive, professional, intelligent, and trustworthy. I trust them enough to do business with them.

Without a doubt, the intention of the photographer matters. Remember, it's only creative if it sells.

Indeed, we "buy with our eyes." 

Who is your target audience?

Your marketing will be much more effective if you tailor your message to a particular target audience. Those people who have absolutely the most to gain by using your product or service.

People buy for their reasons, not yours. You must figure out all the benefits of what you offer, who will benefit the most, and how to communicate those benefits to them in a way that gets and holds their attention as quickly as possible. Photos greatly speed up communication, but they too must be crafted to communicate the message you want and designed to appeal to the demographics of your target audience.

Recent assignment for a jewelry ad

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This image was created for a full page ad for jewelry from Alaska. It will appear in magazines on Alaskan cruise ships in addition to posters.

The jewelry is intentionally the sharpest part of the image so that the viewer's attention is drawn to it. Everything else plays a supporting role to frame and draw attention to the jewelry. 

The cuffs of the coat form the top of a heart.

Some more examples of my jewelry photography.

Quote of the day

"Advertising is totally unnecessary unless you hope to make money."
Jef Richards

Images for print ads.

You have only a couple of seconds to grab a reader's attention, and a great image is often the most effective way to do it.

When people look at ads, almost all of them look at the image before they'll even think about  looking at the words. However, the image must relate to what your selling, otherwise you just create confusion and people won't bother to read your ad.

The image should be custom made to reinforce the words in your ad. If you don't, you risk wasting your entire ad budget. If you're selling a product it should also create desire.

Quote of the day

"I don't regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information."

David Ogilvy

Recent project

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This was shot for a business to business advertisement for a corporation that provides consumer financing. It's from a series of ads showing business owners having fun running their business. The ads communicate that their lives are better because sales are increased since customers are able to finance their purchases.

The ad agency is in Tennessee and no one from the agency was able to attend the shoot. The direction I was given was to make the image "fun". Featured in this ad is the owner of a chain of music stores.

Quote of the day

"Advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on."

Jerry Della Femina

How much should you budget for your photography?

This is a key question that buyers need to ask themselves before hiring a photographer.

A skilled photographer may be able to create a much better image in 5 minutes than a less skilled photographer could create in an hour. Nevertheless, every image, every piece of art, is going to reflect the thought, time and energy that goes into it.

It's said that Leonardo da Vinci spent 4 years on the Mona Lisa. Now, I'm sure that that wasn't continuous effort. It probably sat in a corner for a while and he'd look at it and think "That fingernail could look better" and then change it. At the same time, he was a great sketcher. Are his sketches as good as his paintings? Of course not. He put much less thought, time and energy into them.

Likewise, with photography, I can crank out a quick snapshot or spend a day or more creating a single image between photography and Photoshop.

When my clients come to me and ask for a quote, the major question in my mind is "What is the proper amount of time that I should devote to each image?" What drives my decisions (and the buyer should also be thinking of this) is "What approach is likely to give the buyer the highest return on their investment?"

If a company's use of a photo is for internal use then they should probably take their own photos or buy cheap stock photos. They just need a "sketch".

But if a business wants images that will attract customers, enhance perceptions and increase sales then it's a whole different ball game. They should spend enough to ensure that their marketing materials and websites are effective. People compare websites and brochures to decide where to buy. Because we buy with our eyes, the importance of the photos can hardly be overstated.

However, you don't want to overspend on photography either, you want to maximize your return on investment.

You need to figure out:

How much profit is involved in an average sale?

How many times a year does an average buyer make a purchase?

How many years do we keep an average customer?

Multiply those three numbers together and you get the value of an average customer to your business.

With that number in mind, you can make a much more informed choice on what you should be spending to get new customers and how much you should spend on photography.

Think of it as buying a customer. If an average customer has a value of $2500 to you would you be wise or foolish to try and save money by hiring a cheap photographer? If the photos that they took brought in just one less customer a year, your savings would be more than wiped out - those photos would be costing you more in lost business the longer you used them.

Another way of looking at it is this - if you go with a cheaper photographer, the most you stand to gain is the difference in price from the better photographer. The amount you can lose from lost sales may be much greater. They may make your marketing ineffective. If you go with better photos, the most you could possibly lose is the difference in price from the cheaper photographer, but the potential upside from increased sales they bring is unlimited.

The better you understand what new customers are worth to you, the better you can communicate to your photographer how good the images need to be to accomplish your goals. Let him or her know what you're trying to accomplish with your photos. Then you'll get an estimate that better reflects the type of image you should be using.

Quote of the day

"If you can't turn yourself into your customer, you probably shouldn't be in the ad writing business at all."

Leo Burnett

Learn from Apple

Apple has some of the best marketing and branding (and products) on the planet. Learn from them, study their website - www.apple.com.

They understand that people buy based on their emotions and then look for logical reasons to justify their purchases. They get people to pay a premium for their products (premiums which I happily pay myself). Look how they use images to communicate their message.

They use beautiful images and almost always combine them with a caption or headline. (They understand that people are busy and that photos communicate much faster than words.) People also read captions on photos much more than body copy.

They use large photos on each page. Photos that make their products look great.

They have more photos and less words - only increasing the amount text as the viewer is drawn into learning the details about the products benefits and features.

They never, never, never use stock photos.

Almost every selling point is reduced to a few lines or a paragraph and has an accompanying photo or illustration. They say less and show more.

They communicate beauty and simplicity with everything that they do. Their products, their marketing, their packaging, their instructions, and their software. All of these things strengthen their brand, increase their sales, allow them to have higher profit margins, and improve their customer's experience and satisfaction.

They get it.

Shooting clear objects

(click on the image to see it larger)

This image is one of several that I did the other day for a very well known brand of acrylic plastics. It's for a marketing piece targeting companies that manufacture single use medical products, and is meant to show a both a wide range of types of products and an ability to produce very complex devices. When marketing to high end buyers such as are in the medical industry, it's really important to have images that convey quality.

Clear, shiny objects are especially difficult to shoot and even more difficult to make look good. The concept of the shoot and the art direction was done by Barbara Craig, who always manages to come up with an interesting approach - it was her idea to have them floating in space.

All I had to do was throw them up in the air and shoot quickly. :)

Stock photos are the new clip art.

If you're trying to differentiate your business from the sea of look-alikes in your industry you must understand that stock photos aren't going to cut it for you. Stock photos are the new clip art. That's all they are. Most are crap. Any competitor of yours can use the same images (along with any other business in any other industry) and there is nothing strategic about them.

I realize that I have strong opinions about this and motivation for doing so, but I really believe every word that I'm saying. I believe that stock photos have only very limited applications and are are a smart choice in only very limited situations. (They're excellent for making sub par businesses look as good as an average player in their industry.) To show my sincerity in all this, I've never submitted a single image to a stock photo agency in my entire 35 years in business as a photographer. During this time, many other photographers were telling me that I should be doing this to earn additional income. (And I could have really used the money at the time.)

Use them at your own peril. Most people can tell that they're stock. They don't inform. They don't make you look unique. They don't inspire trust, they undermine it.

In short, they make you look second rate.

Why are some photos worthless from a sales perspective?

What makes some photos worthless is when they're just dropped into a page for decoration like clip art. They don't create curiosity. They don't create desire. They don't convey quality. They don't inform.

Unfortunately, there are many otherwise talented photographers, graphic artists and even creative directors at ad agencies that just don't get it. They're not effective marketers. They're so caught up in attempting to make some cool looking photo or hip website that they're often too clever for their own good. It's not creative unless it sells.

The photos need to be relevant and unique to your company. You can't simply drop photos into a page and expect them to work. They need to reinforce the message for your particular service or product. Captions under or next to the photos can be used to strengthen your message. People look at the photos and then read the descriptions. Captions are read far more often than body copy.

Use captions with your photos

According to David Ogilvy in his classic book "Ogilvy on Advertising", it's wise to include captions with any photos you use. They're many more times likely to be read than body copy, so use them to both describe the photo and further the message that you're communicating in your body copy. 

Quote of the day

"The more information in your advertising, the more persuasive it will be."

David Ogilvy

Why stock photos suck - Part 1

Think about what makes good stock photos for business - photos that are useful to many buyers.

1 - They're generic - they could work equally well for many buyers.

2 - They often have lots of negative (or empty) space around them so they can be cropped many ways and have room to overlay text on them.

3 - They can be interpreted in several ways, or they communicate an idea that lots of companies can use.

4 - They usually have no clearly identifiable sense of place. Certainly not a particular business.

The very things that make them good stock photos are their weaknesses. 

If they can be interpreted in several ways, they communicate nothing. They're just clip art.

If it's an image that a competitor could use, you're not showing any compelling reason to choose you.

Because they have so many traits in common, they're instantly recognizable as stock. They don't ring true. They destroy trust.

When companies use them in their marketing, prospects think - what are they hiding? Why are they afraid to show who they really are? Is this enterprise that talks about being able to do such great things so small that they can't afford to hire a photographer for a few hours?

At the very least, they'll just be treated as noise and ignored.

Given the opportunity to communicate to the prospect a few photos that show what makes them different and why prospects should choose them, they've elected to look just like everyone else.

Their marketing sucks. The small amount of money that they thought they saved in photography has lost them new customers worth far more. 

And they don't even know it.

It's not creative unless it increases sales.

(click on the image to see it larger)

The purpose of your images should always be to increase sales. They should be eye-catching, convey quality and create desire. 

Unfortunately, many professional photographers, graphic designers, creative directors and ad agencies just don't get it. They get so caught up in their desire to "be creative", win an award or copy the latest fad that they totally miss the point. They forget that the whole reason they're hired is to increase sales.

In the right light (and with some help in post-production), everything is beautiful.

The six images above are from a series of about 40 that I just shot for a housewares manufacturer. They've been digitally enhanced and retouched as the prototypes provided were scratched up and didn't match the colors desired for the final products.  The colors were modified in post-production to match the PMS colors specified. 

The photos you use create powerful perceptions of your products or service. High quality professional photos provide a great return on your investment through increased sales.

Images that aren't high quality create the perception of an inferior company and inferior products. The money you think you're saving is small compared to the sales you'll lose.

Images that increase sales will return profits that far exceed their modest cost. Cheap shots  will lose you sales without you even knowing it.

Transforming the ordinary

Too often, companies think that what they have to photograph is too ordinary and not worth shooting. With the right viewpoint and the right light, nothing is ordinary - everything is extraordinary.

 This image was created for a business to business ad for a manufacturer and distributer of party supplies. 

Great photos can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.  They capture attention, convey quality, build trust and create desire. And they're memorable. 

Don't think for a second that you'll save money by doing it yourself or hiring whoever is the cheapest.  If the images are part of your efforts to gain new customers it's false economy to go cheap. Shoot cheap and you'll look like a third rate operation. Don't believe me? Buy a balloon; photograph it; compare. If your image falls short, then anything else you shoot would fall short of how it could look too.

Perception is everything. Cheap photos won't attract new customers. The money you'll save that day pales in comparison with the income you'll lose by failing to attract new customers. Great photos aren't an expense, they're an investment. 

Quote of the day

"I don't regard advertising as an art form, but as a medium of information."

David Ogilvy