What Are You Afraid Of?

Recently I had a discussion with a really nice Creative Director about the direction of their business. I asked who they liked working with as far as photographers were concerned. Her reply surprised me, “We don’t work with photographers, we buy stock and use what the client gives us.”

Wow! How many agencies, and graphic designers out there have developed that mind set? Is it possible that the contributions of photographers for clients have been diminished to the point of extinction?

Let me give you some things to consider. A commercial photographer is going to bring to your project another set of eyes, another creative thinker, and another set of tools. All of this to help you make your client look good. A commercial photographer has a skill set that is aimed at making your job fun again. A really good commercial photographer has a studio, a place where you can go to create for your client. Location photographers have teams of people that help them while on location, standard assistants, digital assistants, stylists and anyone else to help you get the shots that you want.

Before digital, photographers were indispensable no thought was even given to using clients pictures, and stock photography was rather expensive. Since the advent of digital, photoshop, iphones, even point and shoot cameras have almost replaced the commercial photographer.

I often wonder, is it fear of contacting a photographer and asking questions? Is it a client that says they can’t afford a photographer? What prevents you from using one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal?

Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call a photographer, find out how much your job will cost, remember we are in the service industry we have to be polite or you won’t want to work with us. Don’t be afraid to rely on us to help you out.

Come by and visit us at the studio, take a tour, heck I might even buy you lunch. Nothing swanky, but some place where we can sit and talk about projects without having to shout.

Cheers,

Jeff

 

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