Spend any time around photographers, and eventually you’ll hear someone remind you that a picture speaks a thousand words. What they won’t tell you is what those words are saying. Most will describe the subject of the image. In the case of commercial images, they’ll tell the viewer what the person in the portrait looks like, indicate the sort of work a company does or portray a message about a product and its benefits. But more importantly, they will also describe the company that used the picture. They’ll reveal whether the company is professional, attentive to detail and concerned about its image and its brand— or whether it looks to cut corners and operates to lower standards in return for lower costs.
Some of those one thousand words then might say: “For us, only the best is acceptable.” But in other images, those words could just as easily say: “For us, acceptable is good enough.” Both of those messages can have powerful effects, strengthening a company’s image or weakening a brand. Extracting those words from a photograph isn’t difficult.
There has been growth in the use of microstock in recent years. Instead of explaining to a professional image researcher at a stock company which type of image they’d like to use and what they’d like the image to say—and paying a fee that reflects both the quality of the image and its usage— picture editors can go online and browse thousands of microstock images themselves . . . and pay as little as $1 for a royalty-free photograph.
Because the photograph is general in nature and not shot for a specific purpose, the result, inevitably, is worth what the buyer paid.
Now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for such images or that they should never be used at all. A company might use a microstock photograph on its blog to illustrate a generic message. But they probably shouldn’t use it in their annual report. Where a picture has to do more than simply portray a generic message—but has to say something specific about the company and the subject of the photograph—not even high level stock photography will do. In those instances, you need to bring in a photographer to create exactly the kind of unique, professional images that only assignment photography can produce.
Hiring a professional photographer to shoot mages for your company and for a specific purpose isn’t the kind of thing you can do for a buck an image. Nor even for a buck per use. It requires an investment of resources, a clear understanding of the sort of photographs that are desired and good communication so that the photographer understands exactly what needs to be delivered. But what you get for your efforts and money are well conceived, custom produced images that contain a personalized message about your company and your products – not a photograph general enough to be used for a variety of different purposes.
Assignment photography can include executive portraits, environmental portraits of staff, annual reports, architectural photography and advertising photography. Darrin Schreder’s experience with such shoots makes him the automatic choice to provide the photographs that tell the viewer that for you, “only the best is acceptable”.
Stay tuned for more posts where we will discuss executive portrait photography, annual report photography, architectural photography and photography for advertising and marketing.
To see examples of assignment photography please visit my website at www.schrederphotography.com
