The Intention of the Photographer

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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." 

Photography for an Interior Designer

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This is a sampling from 15 interiors that I photographed the other day for Dana Neeld of Staging Spaces, an exceptionally talented interior designer in the Philadelphia region. We were tight for time, so I shot with minimal lighting, averaging about 15 minutes to set up the equipment and shoot each view. I prefer this approach because the photos "feel more real" to me.

The images don't come out of the camera looking anything like this. Cameras don't render scenes the way we perceive them. Extensive post-production is required to make the most of the data captured by the camera and create an image that has depth and looks real. Up to a dozen, images are combined to create each image. The post-production time averaged about 45 minutes for each image.

I show these to illustrate that excellent interior images are possible without going in with a crew and doing extensive lighting.

These images, especially when combined with her "before" photos are invaluable for her marketing as they show potential clients what she brings to the table. Since we buy with our eyes, photographs are by far the most effective way to demonstrate what she does.

Remember, if you're providing a service, you're selling trust. You can't show a buyer in advance what you're going to deliver, but you can show what you've done for others. Perception is everything, so you can't afford to use images that are less than the best.  

Great images aren't an expense, they're an investment.

See more examples of my Philadelphia architectural photography.

Environmental Headshots

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These are from a series of location headshots of employees that I created for a company's website. They were shot on location at the company's headquarter's in NJ. The goal was to make everyone look likable and approachable. The man with his head centered is the company president.

Click on the link to see more examples of my headshot photography.

Think of the internet as a dating site

The internet is a giant match.com, and your website is your "listing". You're competing with other businesses to attract people who are deciding who to "ask out" (someone they'd like to do business with). They're searching, and they're comparing you to others. They have MANY to choose from.

If you were on a dating site what would be the first thing you'd look for?

If you're like most people, you'd check out their photos. What if they didn't have a photo? Would you think they had something to hide?

What if you saw a photo of Angelina Jolie or George Clooney on someone's listing? What would you think then? Could you trust them? That's what happens when the photos used aren't theirs. They're called stock photos.

Most people compare the photos, then if they like what they see they read to find out more.

If you want your website to attract new business, great images are vitally important. It's foolish to skimp on photography because we buy with our eyes. Your website is being compared to others. Lots of others.

You need images that attract, create desire and inspire trust. If you don't have them, they won't even read about what you have to offer. They'll just leave your site and go elsewhere.

Painful, isn't it?

It's not enough to just have images that get attention.

Many who don't know better often think "All I need is a photo that will get attention", figuring that a viewer will then read the copy. It's not that simple.

In the case of an advertisement you do need an image that will stop viewers from flipping past your ad, but it's still not enough. Attention is really very easy to get. An image of a train wreck or a dead cat will get attention, but it most certainly won't make people want to buy. The image also needs to increase desire for the product or service that you're selling.

If your talking about images for a website, attention doesn't even enter into it. If they're at your website already you don't need to get their attention, you've already got that. They're there for information. You need well executed, beautiful and interesting images that communicate benefits to the viewer. You're selling trust, and images such as these go a long way to providing the information and trust that they require before they'll buy.

Recent project for a foundation

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This is one of a series of images that I just finished for a corporate health foundation. Each one goes with a testimonial telling how the individual was either helped by the work that the foundation funds or is a proud supporter of it. Each one was shot in similar style with the subject sharp and appearing to be lit by natural light and the background creamy.

They were shot in several locations.

Use photos that show your uniqueness.

Your sales copy, headline, and photos are all made stronger the more unique they are.

We are surrounded by a sea of companies all trying to get our attention, and most of them are just copying what most in their industry are doing because they haven't thought things out.

If your headline and sales copy could be used by your competitors, you're not giving buyers any compelling reason to buy from you. You must emphasize what makes you different.

Likewise, your photos must do the same. They should convey some of the "personality" of your business, and it must be obvious to the person viewing them that these photos are of real people and show your real facilities. That's the only way to foster trust, which is exactly what stock photos do not do.

Your photos should also have captions whenever possible, as they're read much more often than sales copy. This way you can communicate many of your benefits whether all of your sales copy is read or not.

The role of marketing.

To understand the role of marketing it's essential to understand the way that buyers decide what and where to purchase.

First, a buyer recognizes that they have a need or desire.

Then they seek out information: they have questions. Marketing's role is to educate buyers about what needs your product or service fills and the special advantages that you offer. You can't appeal to all buyers in all ways (you can't be seen as the top quality provider and also the low cost provider). You must carve out your own niche that appeals to a segment of the buyers and then educate them. You must answer the question "Why should I buy from you?".

Your marketing should act both as filter and funnel. It should filter out the buyers who you aren't meant to serve. It should funnel the rest to either buy or contact you for more information (in a frame of mind that's predisposed to doing business with you). Then it's the role of sales (one on one selling) to fine tune the presentation to their specific needs.

If your marketing doesn't educate, if it doesn't clearly explain why they should choose you, then it's not doing its job. You'll lose sales. They'll leave your website in a second to look elsewhere.

Photos are an excellent way to educate. They speed up the process since the brain understands the information in a photo so much faster than text. They provide a way for clients to connect with and relate to you. But only if you use images that are uniquely yours.

If you use stock photos you'll look no different than everybody else. They don't educate and inform. Buyers will wonder what your hiding. Stock photos undermine trust, and without trust you'll lose sales.

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.

Shoot for an interior designer.

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Just shot these for Dana Neeld, a very talented interior designer in the Philadelphia region. These were shot in a 60 year old home that she did an amazing transformation on. They'll be used in her portfolio and on her website.

These images, especially when combined with the "before" images will be invaluable in her marketing when it come to showing potential clients what she brings to the table.

How do you create a brand?

I believe creating a brand is about being totally consistent: making sure everything that you say and everything that you do is in perfect alignment.

A brand is about trust, and trust is in short supply. This short supply increases its value. It's a promise of performance. It's a type of insurance for the customer because it gives them safety and security.

Your particular product or approach should have strong appeal to your ideal customers - those that you are meant to serve. It should also repel or at least have no appeal to those that you are not meant to serve. If you try to appeal to everyone you won't have a strong appeal to anyone.

We're all overwhelmed by choice. There are more products and services out there competing for our attention than we can deal with. Imagine sitting down at a restaurant and being handed a 50 page menu. Would you feel overwhelmed? Yet that's exactly what customers deal with every time they're looking for a service provider or want to purchase a product.

Nobody has the time or desire to research all of these possible choices. We rely on names that we have heard of and the recommendations of others. We can't possibly evaluate which is the BEST choice (and still might not know for sure after wasting a week of our time investigating). We want to reduce or remove the risk of making a poor choice. We choose the SAFE choice.

This is where brands come in. Brands are a shortcut to buying. They allow a consumer to narrow their search or eliminate it completely. I'll buy a Sony TV not because I think a particular model is the best TV that I can buy, but because it's an excellent, safe and easy choice.

Your brand must stand for something. It must always create positive feelings and experiences for your customers. It's a way of controlling how others talk and think of your products or service. It's created not just by what you say, but what you do. It must come through with every point of contact with your customer.

You must be totally consistent. Customers must know from experience exactly what to expect when they buy from you. This consistency must be reflected in your sales message, your website and brochures, how your phone is answered, and how you treat your customers. If you fail to perform in any area your ability to build a brand is greatly diminished. It's all about trust and dependability. Don't betray it.

How long does does it take to create a brand? YEARS. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

We buy with our eyes.

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These are a few of the images that were shot two days ago for an interior designer. We were tight for time and budget, so I shot mostly available light, averaging about 15 minutes setting up and shooting each image.

The images don't come out of he camera looking like this. Extensive post-production is required to make the most of the data captured by the camera. The post-production on this assignment averaged about 30 minutes each image.

I show these to illustrate that a good interior images are often possible without going in with a crew and doing extensive lighting.

These images will be used on the designers website and in her portfolio. Since people buy with their eyes, photographs are by far the most effective way to show what she can do.

Remember, if you provide a service, you're selling trust. You can't show a buyer in advance what you're going to deliver, but you can show what you've done for others. Perception is everything, and you can't afford to fool around with images that are less than the best that you can afford. If you miss out on getting a new client because your photos don't do justice to your work what have you saved? Great images aren't an expense, they're an investment.

Website traffic isn't enough

So many businesses spend a fortune on search engine optimization (SEO) and Google ads thinking that if they increase their traffic that the business will just flow in.

So naive.

Traffic is important, but that's not nearly enough. You have to clearly answer the reason why people should do business with you while at the same time conveying quality and building trust.

A website only as strong as it's weakest link. Design, copy, graphics and photos must all work together to reinforce a cohesive message, show what makes your service or products special and give compelling reasons to do business with you.

If you use stock photos and/or templates you'll just look like everybody else. You'll never build trust.

Visitors aren't captive like they are in a sales showroom. On the web, they're only a couple of clicks away from your competitor. 

If your website isn't generating sales or at least leads, you'd better re-think it and change it.

One way to save money on photography.

Usually I advise my clients to trim their photography costs by limiting their shot list to those images that are the most essential and strategic to their positioning. Sometimes however, clients still have a lot of images that they want to capture in one day.

The only way to do this is to spend much less time setting up each image. To accomplish this I use both my "Naturalight" technique which relies on minimal additional lighting and digital enhancement. 

Here are some sample images from a one day shoot (plus a half day of post-production).  My client had moved to new facilities and wanted images for several purposes - some to show that they are a major player in their industry (which they are) and some for internal uses such as employee recruitment. 

With the help of an assistant, slightly over twenty set-ups were shot that day. The image that took the longest was in the server room - which required lighting.

While these images are not as dramatic as ones with extensive lighting, I show them to demonstrate that it's possible to communicate a very positive image of your operations without spending hours setting up and lighting each photograph.

(Click on any of the images to see them larger.)

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.

Build your own stock library

If you're using stock photos, your marketing is probably ineffective.

Stock photos don't differentiate you from your competition and don't build trust, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't build your own stock library of images to draw from for whatever communication or marketing needs you have.

By investing in images created by a photographer that sells his or her images royalty-free, you can build an excellent library of images that will generate sales for years without additional fees. They'll communicate exactly what you want, and they'll be exclusively yours.

Unlike stock photos, they'll build trust and create the perceptions of your company and what you offer that you desire. You'll be seen as different than your competitors and the photos can and should be chosen to communicate what makes you special and how that benefits customers.

Photos of facilities, processes, key people, workers, happy customers,  products and products being used. They're tremendously useful to tell your story and show the benefits you provide.

They help you build your brand.

Use them for your website, brochures, sales sheets, trade show booth, for decor and for direct mail. By reusing and repurposing them you'll save money and maximize the return on your investment.

It's not creative unless it increases sales.

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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.

Could your competitors use the same images you're using?

Are you using generic images that your competitors could use? If so, you're making a BIG mistake. 

Think of it this way. . . would you use copy that would work equally well for your competitors? Copy that if they just changed the name of the company or product would work for them as well as you? 

If you use copy that makes you look just like everybody else, you're giving the reader no compelling reason to buy from you (unless you're the cheapest). You're communicating no clear benefit over your competitors. It's the same with your photos. Stock photos don't cut it.

Use professional photos of your staff, facilities, products, processes and happy customers to build trust, convey quality and create desire. Choose images that strategically communicate the benefits that you or your products provide. Don't choose images just to make your website or brochure pretty. Use images to influence how buyers see you. 

Perception is everything.

How good do your photos need to be?

There's a lot of insight into business and marketing that I learned from a joke: 

Two campers in a field out west see a grizzly bear charging them from a distance. One camper starts putting on his sneakers. The other says "You'll never be able to outrun that bear." He replies: "I don't have to - I just have to outrun you!"

Your website, your brochures, your photos and your copy don't have to be the best in the world, but they DO need to be at least as good if not better than your major competitors if you don't want to be "eaten by the bear" of the recession. 

You have competitors. While you shouldn't wish them badly, you have a responsibility to stay in business for the benefit of your clients if you offer a superior product or service. You do this by effective marketing.

Buyers will compare your website and brochures with your competitors. What image do they project? How well do they present your service or products? Do they make you look like everybody else in your industry? Do they convey quality? Do they build trust?

Remember though, you must deliver what your marketing promises. If you don't, the negative word of mouth that's spread will hurt your business more than your marketing helped 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.