Professional Photography
Top Reasons Why You Should Hire a Professional Photographer
In today’s digital age, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who has not handled a camera. You would probably find a non-professional photographer who shoots decent pictures. Add to that the numerous magazines and books that practically anyone can study, it’s tempting to forego professional photography to save a few bucks. After all, their services are expensive. So why hire a professional to do something that can be done by amateurs?
While it makes business sense to cut back on expenses whenever possible, but there are some areas that you cannot scrimp. One of them is the company’s marketing and advertising which can consist of portraits of your people and/or images of your products. About 80% of advertisements use photography. A good one will convey your brand’s promise or the theme of your business with just one image, one that elicits a reaction from the viewer. Professional photography can do this for your business.
It takes a lot of training and experience in order to produce the perfect picture. While anyone can buy fancy equipment, not everyone understands the important concepts of composition, aesthetics, lighting, mood, and artistry. You can buy a racing car, but that does not transform you into an F1 driver. Professional photography is not just pointing the lens and clicking. This is not to say that you cannot produce a picture if you have a top-of-the-line digital camera. But it will take thousands of photos before you can produce one that is good enough for an advertisement. But good enough is not enough when it comes to marketing. It has to be the perfect shot. This is where professional photography comes in.
Efficiency is another reason why a business should engage the services of one trained in professional photography. There are a lot of details that need to be worked out before a photo shoot. Even choosing the image to present a brand involves a lot of in-depth research. A professional knows what needs to be done and how to go about it. He or she comes to the shoot with years of training. Plus, there are a million and one things that could go wrong during the shoot itself. A professional will know how to handle surprises, and a particularly good one will be able to turn around a crisis and use it to your business’ advantage.
Finally, if you want your brand to be easily recognized, you must engage the services of a professional photographer. You cannot rely on stock photos and manipulate them to make your brand stand out. You will look silly if someone else uses the same stock photo. Trust me; it happens more often than you think. You can of course, negotiate a license for the exclusive use of a stock photo, however there is still the possibility that the image has already been licensed to other businesses. However, licensing a stock photo will probably cost as much as hiring a professional. With professional photographers, you will get a unique, and ready-to-be used image along with copyright permission.
It’s true that foregoing professional photography can save money for your business. However, you need to see the big picture before making this important decision. You might save a few bucks now, but this might mean the failure of your advertisement.