Category Archives: Applications

Value

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What do your customers value?

Just a quick one today. Life, and business, are all about value.

Have a think… what do your customers value? Do they value knowing who they’re dealing with when they view your website, when they receive an email, when they view a brochure?

If the answer to any of these is yes, then portrait photos are the way to go. They put you and your team in front of your customers when you can’t be physically present.

Your customers may well thank you for including portrait photographs on your communications both online and in print. They won’t necessarily express it in words, but could well do so in sales.

Professional Photos Increase Perceived Value

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Professional Photos Increase Perceived Value

No surprise in that headline – but rather than using a wooly phrase like that, let’s look at some hard data.

We’ve begun researching exactly how people’s perception is altered by a professional photograph. We took the two photographs of chairs seen in our last entry. We asked members of the public to put a value on each chair – making sure the order they were seen was random to avoid bias.

It’s very early days, but results are encouraging… so far, the average perceived value of the chair in the professional photograph is £196.56 against £177.67 for the non-professional photograph.

Interestingly, the chair in question is on sale for £199, so the professional photo appears to be pretty much bang on the money!

So, on current data, a professional photograph could earn you £18.89 (or 20.6%) more than your previous shots. At those rates, it won’t take many sales to pay for the small amount of additional photo kit and a training session from us. And after that it’s all profit for you with no extra work.

Conventional or challenging?

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creative-business-photography

Conventional or challenging?

One aspect of a photograph is how ‘conventional’ it is; how predictable. It’s something that requires careful thought when commissioning photography.

Usually, for business photos, conventional is a good choice. Especially in products, architecture and interiors, the viewer expects a clear, unambiguous style; they do not want to work hard to see what they should be looking at.

Portraits can take a more conventional or challenging approach. It’s possible to stand out with a more challenging shot; one that is unpredictable or unusual in some way. However, making a shot challenging for the sake of it is not a good reason… there must be a more compelling reason to challenge the viewer.

A challenging shot has downsides: the intended message may be misinterpreted by the viewer. What one person thinks of as quirky style may be seen as flippant or irresponsible by others. What one person thinks of as light-hearted may be seen as stupid by others. Another downside is that the unique, bespoke creativity can make it difficult to repeat the work – business is often about scalability; can you repeat the photographic style in 18 months when there are more staff to photograph? Can newer photos stand next to older photos without standing out?

One further potential downside, in certain areas, is that challenging has become conventional. In a sea of novel processing—on Instagram, for instance—novel is now becoming commonplace. You could, however, stand out instantly by posting a very conventional image.

Our standard headshots provide consistent predictability. The photographs do not challenge the viewer. They are repeatable months and even years later. We are not afraid, though, of going into the challenging territory if you a) desire such photographs and b) are willing to take the risks associated with going away from the norm. Let’s talk… 01509 808 689.

If your pictures aren’t good enough…

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If your pictures aren’t good enough…

Robert Capa was a photojournalist who, from 1936 until 1954, covered five different wars. He said

If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.

and while we’re not suggesting that business portrait photography has any relation to war photography, he’s right – a subject shouldn’t be lost in an image.

If you look at the photographs of your LinkedIn contacts, generally the least effective are those where the photographer is standing at a distance to the subject; where a whole body or waist-up appears in the image. More effective is the true ‘headshot photograph’, where just the head appears.

Taking it a step further, and this is what we almost always recommend; it is possible to get in even closer. Look through your contacts for people who’s face doesn’t fit in the profile picture box. As long as the main features appear in the image, other features such as the top of the head, the ears, maybe even the chin can be lost out of the edges of the frame.

See how engaging these images are? It’s as if the subject is looking through a small square port-hole directly at you. And as an additional benefit, their features are so clear in the small size that no mistaken identity will occur.

We’ve said it before, and will say it again. Get in close!

Brochure Photography

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Brochure Photography

Brochure Photography

Yesterday, a leaflet dropped through our door advertising a new local restaurant called Gourmet Capsule. It was good to see the finished article because we had provided the brochure photography for the restaurant just a few weeks ago!

Their idea is an interesting one, taking a pharmeceutical approach to food service – dry ice, capsules of food, dehydrated hand-wipes all adding to the ambience. It was a pleasure to provide a company profile photography package to capture all of the photography they needed for their brochure in a short space of time.

How Brochure Photography Works

We began with our no-obligation consultation a couple of days before the shoot to learn about the restaurant’s vision. That meant that when the photography for the brochure was actually carried out, things ran very smoothly and efficiently, getting a large number of images with minimum fuss. We covered the exterior, staff, service, interiors and detail shots in a generous hour.

Who do you know that is producing or updating a brochure? Our brochure photography captures everything they need in a single visit.

Company Profile Photography

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Company Profile Photography

Your company profile is not just about headshots, and we recognise that. Particularly in the Small to Medium Enterprise arena there is scope for a complete photography package.

To serve that need, we are pleased to announce our Company Profile Photography package. We meet with you, free of charge, to discuss your requirements; encompassing headshots, bespoke photographs for the business owners, group shots, interiors, exteriors and even products. Anything that you need that we can fit into a half-day of photography.

Then, when you’d like to go ahead, we set a date and perform the shoot quickly and efficiently. The price is fixed,  £497 for the standard service (14-day delivery) or £745 for the express service (7-day delivery). If we over-run, you pay nothing extra. You receive the agreed photographs, processed and delivered for the agreed price.

The images also include a perpetual license to use online and in print. We have heard of other companies adding charges later for extra usage of images; not us. You get what you pay for, and you can use it as you wish.

Who do you know that has a small-to-medium business and would like the raw materials to build a complete brochure or website from a single photo shoot?

Please introduce them to our new service – the easiest way is to click on the link below, then click ‘Share’ in the top-right corner.

» Company Profile Photography

Photos Receive 10% More Attention

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Photos Receive 10% More Attention than Biographies

An interesting article by Jakob Nielsen (“the guru of web page useability”) shows a case where photographs of team members received 10% more attention on a page than the written biographies next to them. This is despite the fact that each photo only took up 32% of the space taken by a biography.

People buy from people, and they want to see people on your website!

Even more interestingly, the article also shows a ‘stock’ photo being almost completely ignored by the viewer. These are the photos bought from an online library to ‘fluff up’ a website, but without adding any informative content.

The viewer is looking, consciously or unconsciously, for information about your company. They will make snap decisions while viewing your photos—are these the kind of people I would want to buy from?

An article from Business Insider goes into The Biggest Mistakes You Can Make When Choosing A LinkedIn Photo. The same decisions apply to “Meet The Team” photographs.

After identifying the problems, they then go on to identify 5 tips to choose (or have created) the most appropriate photographs for professional use. Naturally, at The Business Portrait Company, we can help you with several of these points…

Five Tips

1. Dress to reflect the atmosphere of the profession that you’re in or hope to join.

Our What to Wear? guide gives general advice to ensure you are suitably dressed, both for the camera and for the passage of time. You, the subject, will have to decide on exactly how dressed up, or down, you want to appear; but the guide will help you in your decisions.

2. Choose a picture that conveys your energy and personality.

This is the key to all portrait photography. An inexperienced photographer, or “mate with a camera” may be fumbling with technical issues, or nervous about the shoot – this will have a knock-on effect to you, the sitter. Our photographers are technically proficient, meaning that all of their attention is on you; making you look great!

3. Be aware of your posture. Sit up straight. Good posture signifies confidence and competence.

Again, our photographers will pose you. We ask you to sit on the edge of the chair because we know it encourages you to sit up and not slouch. We make conversation with you and find out what brings out your confidence, what makes you sit two inches taller, what makes your eyes light up. Then in a split second, we capture that moment.

4. Make sure your eyes are relaxed and you have a smile on your face.

It is so common to see otherwise good photos ruined by a look of anxiety on the face of the sitter. This is often caused by an inexperienced or ‘bossy’ photographer. We realise that you’re in an unfamiliar situation and do all we can to relax you, to warm you up to the camera, to get you to forget you’re being photographed. That’s when the eyes will relax.

And we never demand that you smile. We’d rather a relaxed, neutral, confident expression than a grinning lunatic. If you’re naturally smily, the smile will come across anyway. If not, you will merely look confident and happy.

5. Posting a photo is a must, especially for women who have married and changed their names. Or if you have a common name such as “Nicole Williams,” since there can be several people with the same name on the site.

So, what are you waiting for!

Packages that may interest you:

1. Business Photos – For ‘meet the team’, web and print use.
2. Business Portraits for LinkedIn – For social networking profiles, LinkedIn, Twitter and more.
3. Corporate Photos – For business owners who want bespoke images that tell the story.

Amy Harrison Graphic Design

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Testimonial – Amy Harrison Graphic Design

We recently received a testimonial from a graphic designer who wanted something a little different for the photography on her site. It’s always good to be able to help a nervous subject to feel more at ease in front of the camera.

Over to Amy…

I required a business portrait as I pride myself on being personable and easy to work with, and I wanted my online presence to portray this sentiment. The portrait needed to show me as an approachable, friendly and creative character. Stuart took the time to get an understanding of what I was looking for from the portrait and it really shows in the end result.

I was a little apprehensive about having my photo taken as I do not enjoy being in front of a camera at all, but Stuart made me feel completely at ease. It took a while for me to relax in front of the camera but Stuart had some tricks to help me out and I did not feel at all rushed into getting the final shots. I work from home so the studio was set up in my house which was very convenient and minimised the amount of time I spent away from my desk.

I am thrilled with the outcome of the photos and would highly recommend Stuart as a professional who gains a true understanding of your business and its values, to create bespoke portraits that really enhance your business.
Amy Harrison

Amy Harrison Graphic Design

Many thanks, Amy – it was a pleasure working with you!

Pictures for Brochure

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Pictures for Brochure

When deciding on pictures for brochure design, have you considered using photos of your staff rather than stock photography or clip art? It’s a well-known saying in business that “people buy from people”, so why would you hide your best assets – your people – from potential customers?

Your competitors are likely to use stock photography and clip art, it’s the ‘easy’ way out. So a simple way that you could really stand out from the rest would be to have high-quality pictures of your staff in your brochure.

Let’s talk about what we can do for you… contact The Business Portrait Company from our contact page or give us a call on 01509 808 689.

Do It Yourself

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Do It Yourself

We received an interesting challenge during a meeting today. Speaking to a former client who’s launching a new venture, they are going to want headshots of their team – nothing out of the ordinary there.

But they’re also going to have a requirement for a huge number of headshots on top of that… and this is where we were able to think outside the box a little. There’s no way we can go along every time a new person requires a headshot; so what we’ll be doing is specifying a compromise set-up, one that the business can buy in that’s easy to manage, easy to use and will get much better results than a “point-and-shoot” camera.

Then we’ll be tutoring the team on how to use the setup, giving a few pointers and then letting them get on with their own photography. The results won’t be as high-quality as a full studio set-up, but they will be perfectly servicable for the required purpose.

Just one of those value-added services we can provide. If you know someone who might require tuition, consultation or equipment specification for photographic work, we are more than happy to help out. Give them our number… 01509 808 689.

This is also a great example of how BNI (of which we are proud members) can help a business through mutual support and not just passing business referrals.