Natural Entrepreneur: You Belong in Pictures

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You Belong in Pictures

When image is important, seek a professional

-- by Marilyn Weir, Marilyn Weir Photography, Peterborough, NH

Photo, photo on the wall, who’s the most marketable one of all? When they need a photograph for a brochure, web site, press release or advertising campaign, some business owners rely on the nearest staff member waving a digital camera. The photograph they get is distorted, distracting and confused, a lot more Wicked Witch than Snow White.

A photograph ought to connect customers with your company and with who you are: confident, successful, honest, taking enjoyment in your product or service.

If you know how to recognize and appreciate professional photography, you’ll be rewarded with photographs that bolster your marketing message. A high-quality color jpeg photo can easily be converted into black-and-white, enlarged or reduced without losing quality. But the ways to enhance a poor photograph are very limited.

You’ve probably asked an amateur photographer to take a head-and-shoulders portrait. You stand against a door or wall, while the amateur brings the digital camera in as close as possible, tells you to look away so you don’t blink and snaps off a shot with a big flash. Every step in that process is wrong.

In a true studio portrait, the professional photographer positions you against a complimentary background, not the ubiquitous (and distracting) wall, and relies on a telephoto lens. When a camera crowds in close to you, it distorts your face, making the nose especially prominent. A telephoto lens allows the photographer to back up and take a more natural picture. For a three-quarter or full-length portrait, the photographer may angle your body (that’s a flattering pose) but will still urge you to look into the camera lens. Eyes that shift away from the lens appear . . . shifty. The professional photographer uses a flash but not the type of built-in flash that is standard on amateur cameras. That built-in flash flattens a picture, draining it of life
and drama.

While a professional photographer is available, consider an environmental photograph, one that includes your product or office or that shows the results of your labor. For a landscape gardener or interior decorator, say, photographs of completed projects may reveal more than any head-and-shoulders studio photograph.

The amateur environmental photographer approaches inanimate objects in exactly the same way as he approaches people. But lighting that is attractive to people won’t necessarily flatter a product. Moreover, an environmental photograph needs more scene setting: this is a productive office, a charming landscape, a unique porcelain figure, a welcoming bed-andbreakfast. When you hire a professional, you’re hiring vision—the photographer’s ability to visualize your marketing message and engage your customers.

A group staff photograph is yet another situation that presents special problems for amateurs. First, the amateur usually allows the group to position itself with minimal direction (“closer, closer”) and no sense of how to balance a portrait. Second, an amateur photographs the
group as found, with whatever mishmash of clothing, jewelry and expression they happen to be wearing. The result is often a jumbled portrait of a crowd where no one seems to like each other, let alone work together.

Part of the task of a professional photographer is to convey the right image for your company. Are you offering consistent, dependable service? You might ask everyone in the staff to dress in the same way (uniform, suit, business casual) and in coordinated colors so that no one person stands out. Are you a company of creative individuals who treat your customers as individuals? You might allow employees much more leeway in dress. Would your customers learn more about your company if the photograph took place outside your building, inside or off site entirely?

What is your own role in the company? Should the staff gather around you or would you prefer to be more anonymous? In any case, the professional photographer makes sure that no one looks too dominant or too subordinate; that everyone looks at ease, while remaining professional; and that the entire photo is balanced.

Color sense is another area where professional photography stands out. Professional photographers work closely with photo labs that specialize in developing custom work. Everyone knows there’s a problem if skin tones come out green. But what if your award winning blueberry jam comes out burgundy? Photographers provide photo labs with the information they need to prevent a mistake before you’re stuck with a dozen pictures of burgundy jam.

Sometimes the decision to hire a professional photographer hinges on fear of the unknown. Conventional wisdom states that professional photographers place limits on how their photographs can be used; take too many photographs; become temperamental; and charge too much. It’s true that any photographic image belongs to the photographer who takes it. But
professional photographers provide reasonable contracts explaining how often a photograph can be used and in what circumstances. The contract may be very broad or very narrow, depending on your needs. If your needs change, you can always re-negotiate the contract. Professional
photographers take lots of photos because they know you want the photograph of your staff, garden or blueberry jams to be perfect—but people blink, light changes and jam jars weep. A professional photographer takes enough photos to give you a choice. Together, you decide which photos best represent you and your company.

As for temperament, a photographer who has difficulty working with people also has difficulty making a living. When you interview photographers, ask to see their previous work but also listen to the questions they ask. The photographer should be trying to understand your company and your goals.

Cost? That varies with the photographer. Look at it this way: How long will the entire staff, that exquisite garden or that immaculate assembly line stay posed for you? In the flash of an amateur’s camera, the opportunity is lost and the moment gone. A professional photographer ensures your success will live on forever.

Marilyn Weir is owner of Marilyn Weir Photography in Peterborough, and an award-winning member of the New Hampshire Professional Photographers' Association. Her clients include banks, insurance companies, hospitals, restaurants and advertising agencies. She can be reached at 603-924-0935, or via email at Photos4u@galaxy.net.

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