Professional Business Photography Saves Businesses from that Amateur Look

Your use of professional business photography has a lot in common with business writing.  In each situation, it doesn't have to be fine art. It does have to communicate powerfully and avoid any generally accepted quality faux pas.

Somebody in your company can and probably will notice any grammar errors on your site so they can be fixed with a swift edit, but will anybody notice bad reflections on product shots, or push back to expunge stock photo collection clichés? Reshooting images is much more difficult than fixing punctuation.  Working with a good photographer across the entire range of visual communications at your firm prevents exposing visual gaffs in the first place.

Here are some examples of problems we often see in the business world.

Professional Stock Images are Highly Prone to Clichés

The freelancer who shot a man in a business suit jumping for joy on the beach had an idea he thought would sell. The picture was preposterous, but strong enough to be funny, and the exposure and composition were fine. The first time it was used, it was original and may have been effective. And then others copied that image, and many people used it on many sites.  It became such a cliché that it was included in a parody song about stock photos. Now and then, purchasing a stock photo may be the only way to get a needed image.  In those cases, a good pro photographer or a designer who works with closely with photographers can help you avoid unintentionally hilarious stock images as well as doing better: providing original images that can belong to you exclusively, and be specific rather than generic.

Your Talented On-Staff Amateur Photographer May Be Heavy Handed

One of the most exciting advances in digital photography was the introduction of HDR, a modern post-processing technique that can help give better definition both in the bright and the shady parts of an image. At first, nearly all amateur practitioners were "cooking" the images until they looked like brightly colored Thomas Kinkade paintings. While that was entertaining at first, it soon became overused and widely mocked.

A good professional photographer knows what's currently adventurous and what has jumped the shark. While this will not matter to all observers, there will be many who see the overdone image much as one sees misspelled names or other serious communications errors.

In addition, working with talented hobbyists who have limited business experience can be confusing because you can't know what they don't know. Have they only shot for the web, when you need PR photos that can go anywhere? Do they know whether they will need a tripod to get magazine-ready images indoors, or will image-stabilization be good enough at full resolution for a low-light shoot?  Do they know how to isolate a product? Do they have the lighting options they will need to avoid telltale flash reflections?  Can they make people of different ages and ethnicities all look attractive in a group shot rather than lighting perfectly for the young and pale?

Having a powerful camera at home does not make a dependable photographer any more than having a top of the line stove at home makes a homeowner a top chef.  Experience and training determine how effectively a photographer communicates your business to the world. In the case of real estate firms showing properties online, that quality difference has been proven to drive home sales price increases.Professional business photography is key to drive your business. Visual literacy has a long-term reputation value in every industry.

We are a full-service photo and video operation. Contact us at Miceli Productions for photography or hands-on help with your overall visual communications needs in this day of the digital image. We're invested. We're committed. People say we're also fun to work with.