IF THE ANSWER IS: THANK YOU, BUT WE DO OUR OWN PHOTOGRAPHY. YOU MIGHT TAKE SOME GENTLE ADVICE FROM A HARDENED PRO:
More & more photography intended for ‘professional’ use is being taken by enthusiasts with a digital camera. You would be forgiven for expecting that the photographs will be correctly-exposed and focused (more on that in a moment), but you might be less certain about composition or framing and you would be right. So before you even pick up your camera:
THINK QUICKLY, SHOOT SLOWLY.
Successful photography does not depend on using the best equipment – although it certainly helps. Like any business plan, you start with a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve and a conscious effort to achieve that aim. Are you trying to make somebody look their best, sell a product, make your business look as good as you believe it is? Of course you are, so:
OPEN BOTH EYES.
We are so used to the infamous pot-plant, the fizzy drinks cans on the desks, those dodgy stairs, the skip beside the building, that we stopped seeing them years ago. Unfortunately, the camera will not helpfully ignore so much as an empty crisp packet. Are your workshop personnel wearing filthy overalls, when your advertising promotes your high standards? You might even have to get quite personal and mention dirty fingernails – your boss might be quite put out. Save yourself expensive hours of retouching later by looking really hard and critically at the person, product or scene you propose to associate with your business and then:
MOVE YOUR FEET.
You would not be the first person to take a shot from where you happen to be standing because it has never occurred to you to move. Walk around the scene or subject for a few moments. Does the view of your subject or background improve? Move in closer for more dramatic effect or step back a few paces to include something that improves the shot that you have now just noticed for the first time. Even with a bog-standard lens, you can still dramatically improve your composition. It’s not all about who has the biggest…lens but:
BEFORE YOU GO CLICK, SAY HELLO.
Speak to your subjects. Give them advance notice, amuse them if you can. A dog looks alert if you whistle quietly to attract it’s attention, just before you go click. Whistle too hard and you have only yourself to blame. Much the same applies in both instances to humans. I don’t recommend wolf-whistling under any circumstances. To deal with the language barrier (mine), I have even ‘signed’ a smile at Finns and Latvians, which was so ridiculous, they fell about laughing and I got my shot. Often with groups, be ready to take a final shot after the ‘last’ one. It can be the best you take, as they relax and remember:
YOU’RE THE BOSS.
Yes, it’s scary but even with the boss, take charge. You are the only person who can see your shot through the camera. If the boss is wearing his tie at half-mast, he will appreciate a) you noticed b) you made him sort it. He will never approve a publicity shot that makes his wife wince. Always have a cunning plan for a shoot so that you can be decisive and people will respond with confidence and now perhaps:
WE’RE READY TO GET TRICKY.
I really will not be impressed by that pro-DSLR around your neck, which set you back three grand, if it is permanently on Programme mode, shooting jpegs. It is time to move out of your comfort zone. P is not for professional. Make a point of finding out why so much time, trouble and expense has gone into providing all those other modes and options. Start at the simplest level by really getting to grips with your digital camera’s exposure compensation control and how that relates to the histogram function in your preview window. As the acronym goes RTFM, where all will be explained. Crack that and you are taking control of the beast. Now you will you be confident that your snow scenes will come out with bright clean whites but your daughter’s face will not be too over-exposed to see her smile in the school play. You are home and dry. Well, almost. By now you will be either:
FIRED-UP OR TERRIFIED.
My ragbag of generalizations only touches upon a vast and fascinating subject that I have spent a very enjoyable career attempting to master and to explain. I do sincerely wish you every success. If on the other hand you or your accountant would rather you use all that valuable energy and brain-power more cost-effectively building your business and making lots of lovely money, why not give me a call and make me the part of the team that supplies your images? For a price, I’ll even play poacher turned gamekeeper and train your people to take successful photographs that turbo-charge your sales figures.
Haddon Davies
© Haddon Davies Contemporary Photography 2010
A version of this article first appeared in Thames Valley News Sept/Oct 2010.
