(The following is adapted from the book Everyone’s Guide to Designers, by designer Clarence Bowman.)

One of the trickiest arts in world is the art of critique. But learning it is important to clients who wish to have good working relationships with their graphic and Web designers.

How can you tell a designer about their work’s shortcomings without alienating them — especially after they have invested a great deal of care and effort?

How can you consistently convey a constructive and helpful evaluation of a designer’s work?

How can you keep a designer from getting defensive and refusing to listen?

The answer is critique — not criticism. Knowing the difference can make all the difference in the success of your next creative project.

Always Room for Improvement

Designers, like all of us, want to hear that everything we do is perfect. We hope our work is exactly what the client is looking for — no changes needed. But that rarely happens.

There are almost always things that can be improved. Nothing is perfect. Perfection is a path, not a destination.

So, we try to create the best solution we can for the client, recognizing that it must be altered, tailored and improved over the course of its lifetime before it is accepted as final.

But that doesn’t mean we’re not human. Criticism is never easy to take or pleasant to hear.

I’ll admit it. Even after working as a designer for more than 20 years, I’m still occasionally rattled when clients criticize my work.

If only they knew how to offer critique rather than criticism.

Criticism vs. Critique

Author Judy Reeves has articulated the following eight differences between criticism and critique:

• Criticism finds fault/Critique looks at structure
• Criticism looks for what’s lacking/Critique finds what’s working
• Criticism condemns what it doesn’t understand/Critique asks for clarification
• Criticism is spoken with a cruel wit and sarcastic tongue/Critique’s voice is kind, honest, and objective
• Criticism is negative/Critique is positive (even about what isn’t working)
• Criticism is vague and general/Critique is concrete and specific
• Criticism has no sense of humor/Critique insists on laughter, too
• Criticism looks for flaws in the [creator]/Critique addresses only what is on the page

Criticism is negative and unhelpful on its own. Telling someone what you think is wrong with their project is really only useful when it’s followed by the reasoning behind your opinion — your critique.

“This Will Never Work!”

Saying you hate a logo treatment, for example, isn’t constructive. Saying you dislike the color of the logo, and for this reason would prefer something sunnier or darker, is constructive. It gives your designer the information they need to make the design more to your liking.

And the more detail you can provide, the better.

Like most designers, I’ve had clients who sit across a table from me and say things like this:

“I don’t like it.”
“This will never work!”
“That’s not what people want.”
“My boss will never go for that!”

If such criticisms aren’t accompanied by constructive feedback, they’re worse than useless. Because, in addition to failing to contribute to the creative process, they can also demoralize the designer and cause him to tune you out.

And that’s bad for both of you.

If someone were lambasting your latest project, ask yourself how motivated you would feel to give them your best effort? Most designers I know would hurry to finish the project, then hope to never hear from you again. Life’s too short.

Articulating What You Don’t Like — and Why

Unlike criticism, critiquing means to objectively review a project, identify areas for improvement and then articulate exactly what it is that troubles you and why.

The ability to critique well is a powerful skill and a difficult art. But even if you’re the most abrasive person around, you still must learn how to critique if you want to get the best work from your designer.

Businesses, ad agencies, Web design firms and online publications have increasingly turned to low-cost microstock images to fill up real estate on their websites.

These images are cheap — but do they really offer the best value for photography clients?

Eye-tracking studies by Jakob Nielsen, a Web site consultant and author of books on design and user interface, indicate that generic stock images may be worth even less to buyers than they cost.

What the Research Shows

Nielsen’s research shows that Web users ignore decorative stock images used to “jazz up” Web pages. Such images often simply add clutter to the design and do not help from a business standpoint.

But customers do pay attention to pictures that give them useful information about a product or service being offered, Nielsen’s studies show.

They also respond to pictures of real people who work at a company, or of actual company facilities, while ignoring stock images of smiling businesspeople and generic work settings.

As Nielsen puts it:

The commonality across all of these examples … is that users pay attention to information-carrying images that show content that’s relevant to the task at hand. And users ignore purely decorative images that don’t add real content to the page. So much fluff — of which there’s too much already on the Web.

In other words, Web users want to see photos that contain specific information. Not generic stock images, but images that help them learn more about a product or company.

For this reason, Nielsen advises companies with a strategic online presence to “invest in good photo shoots: a great photographer can add a fortune to your Web site’s business value.”

A Selling Tool

Be assured, Nielsen’s study won’t slow the flood of cheap stock images on the Web anytime soon.

In fact, many Web design firms have a vested interest in ignoring Nielsen’s research. It’s so much easier to just pull images off the Web and plug them into a design than to coordinate a photo shoot. And the additional cost of hiring a photographer can cut into the design firm’s margins when their client has a limited budget.

But photographers can still use Nielsen’s research as a selling tool to convince corporate clients that paying for a professional photo shoot is an investment that’s worth the price.

Anyone with a DSLR and a Web site can present themselves as a professional photographer today. So how can you, as a prospective photography client, separate the contenders from the pretenders?

Here are eight questions to ask yourself before hiring a photographer for an assignment — be it a corporate shoot, an editorial assignment, a portrait, a wedding or other event.

1. Does he present himself as a professional?

You don’t want a photographer showing up to your event looking like Animal from “Lou Grant.” A good photographer blends in and becomes part of the scenery. Someone who stands out like a sore thumb will make subjects uncomfortable. You want someone who has enough sense to show up dressed properly for the event he is covering.

2. Has she done a shoot like this before?

While it’s OK to hire a generalist rather than a specialist, make sure the photographer has a background in the type of work you need done. You don’t want to be a photographer’s first wedding, first CEO portrait, or first fashion shoot. No matter how talented the photographer, there is no substitute for experience.

3. Do you like his portfolio?

Even when a photographer has a strong reputation, if you do not like his portfolio you will probably not like the work he does for you. The photographer has a certain style he has developed over the years, which is reflected in his portfolio. Asking him to shoot a radically different style is a recipe for disaster. Can a capable photographer attempt to replicate any image you show him? Yes. Will it be as good as when the photographer shoots his preferred style? No.

4. Does she ask you questions that illustrate her preparedness?

A good photographer will usually ask you as many questions as you ask her. She should query you about the venue, the type of shoot, the kind of photographs you’re looking for. And she should ask to scout the location if she isn’t already familiar with it. She should be concerned about sunlight or available light at the location at the chosen time of day, among other issues.

5. Does he emphasize getting the shoot right — or his post-processing prowess instead?

Many photographers brush off legitimate concerns about a shoot by saying they can “fix it in post-processing.” The reality is, nothing can replace getting the image right at capture. Can the photographer deliver images that are color correct, with the background not shifting to a weird color cast or being totally black? Can he deliver images where the whites are not blown or the blacks blocked up? Probe him on his technical expertise to find out.

6. Does she have the proper equipment?

Does the photographer have backup cameras in the event one camera breaks? Does she have a backup for that, even if it means shooting film? I was covering the Peachtree Road race in Atlanta several years ago and had two Nikon bodies fail. I finished the shoot with my Leica and still had photos run on the front page of our paper and move on the national wires. Lenses break, too, and a true professional has a range of lenses that overlap in coverage so she can always get the shot. Does she have the necessary lighting equipment to get the look you need? Does she carry extra batteries and memory cards? Don’t be afraid to ask.

7. Do his references check out?

First of all, make sure he has references. And not just any references — clients who have hired him to do similar assignments. Then, call those references and ask questions: Were they happy with the work? Was it delivered on time? Was the photographer reliable, even when facing unexpected difficulties? Would they hire the photographer again? Don’t skip this due diligence, or you may end up regretting it.

8. Can you afford the price?

While we all operate within budgets, a photographer’s price doesn’t matter until you know he can get the job done. Then, hire the best photographer you can afford. In many cases when clients hire photographers, they are asking them to capture moments that will never take place again. Don’t shortchange yourself by hiring someone you’re not sure about.

I’m not a photographer (a casual look through my family albums will offer proof of that), but I’ve been hiring photographers for corporate assignments for more than 15 years now. I’ve hired photographers while leading the corporate communications function for billion-dollar companies, heading up marketing for a tech startup I co-founded, and today, as owner/president of a boutique public relations firm.

I edit a lot of posts on this site concerning the marketing of photography businesses, so I thought it might be useful — to both photographers and clients — for me to simply list the different ways I’ve come across the corporate photographers I’ve hired over the years. So I wracked my memory and here’s what I came up with:

1. I met them somewhere. It might have been at a PRSA or IABC networking event, or a local conference where I noticed them taking pictures of the speaker, or a neighborhood block party, or because they were a friend’s brother-in-law. There’s no better way to find a photographer — or almost any vendor, for that matter — than through face-to-face contact. The lesson for photographers is to not hole up in your studio or appear aloof or unapproachable when out on assignment; get out there and meet people.

2. An employee referred them. As a VP of corporate communications, I’ve had lots of direct reports over the years. Many of them have known photographers, and I’ve acted more than once on their recommendations. I felt pretty confident in doing so, because my employees knew that the photographer’s performance would reflect on them. So photographers, if you have friends in PR or marketing departments, don’t be shy about asking them to put in a good word for you.

3. Someone in another department referred them. This is one that most photographers don’t think of. I once had, for example, my corporation’s in-house attorney come to me with a photographer’s business card to offer a detailed recommendation. The attorney did this for two reasons: (1) she had worked with the photographer in her prior job at a law firm and thought he did good work, and (2) the photographer asked her to do it. To me, that spoke well of both the photographer’s abilities — and his initiative.

4. My boss referred them. As you can imagine, this one’s pretty much a slam dunk for the photographer. I’ve actually had the CEO of a billion-dollar company tell me who he wanted to use for the company’s headshots. Photographers are wise to work all their relationships — but if you can get in good with a high-level mover and shaker, he or she might be a goose that lays golden eggs for your business.

5. I let the agency decide. When in corporate executive roles, I’ve typically managed agency relationships with a design firm, a PR firm, an advertising firm, or all of the above. Most of the photography jobs I authorized were part of larger, agency-driven projects such as annual reports or corporate brochures. In these cases, I almost always deferred to the agency when they had a photographer in mind for the project.

6. My designer was also as photographer. Today, as the owner of a small PR agency working with a lot of startups with limited budgets, I like to surround myself with people who have a variety of skills. When I’ve been able to find an independent graphic designer who can do other things — such as make code modifications to a WordPress template, or take quality photographs — I’ve jumped on those opportunities. It saves me some time in QuickBooks, and saves my clients money.

7. I got a direct-mail piece or phone call at the right time. Direct mail and phone outreach can be effective, and it has worked on me when the photographer made contact at the exact time I was looking for someone. But in general, the postcards and portfolios go in the trash and the phone call Post-it notes do, too. Direct mail is a nice volume marketing tactic to complement a photographer’s personal networking efforts — but it should never be a substitute for going out and meeting people.

8. I searched online. It doesn’t happen often, but I’ve done it. For example, a client of mine recently added a new board member from out of state, and I needed a headshot for the company Web site and press release. I didn’t know any photographers in that location, so I e-mailed some folks in my professional network to see if they did. When that tactic came up empty, I simply Googled “photographer” and the name of the city where the board member lived, and checked out the first couple of pages of results. Once I found a site where the photographer had (1) a nice portfolio; (2) a studio location; (3) prices/rates listed on the site; and (4) an easy-to-find e-mail address and phone number, I booked the job.

So that’s my story. Now let me turn it over to you. If you’re a corporate assignment photography client, what other ways have you found photographers for jobs? And if you’re a photographer, what other ways have you scored corporate work?

There’s been a lot of talk that amateur photographers are a threat to the livelihoods of professional photographers these days.  I just don’t see it.

Consider the different kinds of amateurs you come across.   There’s the photographer who has an unlimited amount of time to accomplish an image.  There’s the student, who has a week or two to complete an assignment on, say, lighting a bowl of fruit.  There’s the hobbyist who captures an occasional great image and posts it on Flickr or iStock.

Are these photographers a threat to the professional photographer who works on assignment? I submit that they are not, in virtually every case.

Demanding Consistency

Experienced clients demand the continuity and consistency that only a professional photographer can bring to the table. They want a track record of success. They’re also more impressed by clips and covers than sample work on a Web site, because these are real-world demonstrations that you can deliver on time with a high degree of certainty.

When you are a student, you might shoot an assignment three or four times, realizing you missed a critical issue each time, and then finally get it right.

The hobbyist photographer can take thousands of images of the sunset, their kids, and so on and, based upon the law of averages, eventually get an amazing shot. Sometimes, they simultaneously discover “how” they created such an amazing image, and thus can repeat it. Usually, however, they don’t.

The Definition of a Professional

No one has to say she’s a “professional accountant” or “professional doctor.” Unfortunately, we do have to say we are “professional photographers” to distinguish ourselves from amateurs.

Why? As Merriam-Webster explains it, to be a professional can mean to participate “for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs.” Like a professional golfer, for example.

Rob Haggart at A Photo Editor defined professional by quoting chef Mario Batali, who said that the difference between an “amazing amateur chef and a professional chef is the ability to make that perfect meal 100 times in a row.”

Einstein once famously said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So I’ll use the inverse of that for my own definition of “professional” —

A professional is someone who does the same thing over and over again expecting similar results.

The Client’s Best Interests

How many times can a magazine’s photo editor commission an assignment and get nothing usable back before his job is on the line? Once? Twice? If twice every other month a shoot were unusable, that editor’s judgment would be called into question and in short order he would be out of a job.

What happens to the advertising agency’s art director, when the photographer can’t deliver while the art director and client are both on set, and the shoot fizzles? How many failures like that can occur before the agency loses the account, and the art director loses her job?

The biggest challenge for the photo editor, art director, or other photography client is to separate the wheat from the chaff. That means separating the professional who can deliver every time from the amateur — who may have a nice online portfolio but who can’t be counted on with the same degree of certainty.

The mistake some clients make is that they don’t compare apples to apples when choosing a photographer. They may see, for example, that a photographer has produced some nice stock images. That’s fine if you are interested in purchasing a stock image — but not if you are looking for an assignment photographer.

When you are assigning a job for a one-time event that is not re-shootable, you better find someone with a proven track record in precisely that kind of work. Hire someone who does the same thing over and over again — and always gets superior results.

Run to the hills, civilization has collapsed!

OK, the past several months have certainly been economically harrowing for businesses of all sizes. But the danger in being gripped by fear and uncertainty is that you might not be taking the steps you need to to secure your company’s future.

Fear Itself

One major contributing factor to the depth of our current worldwide recession is perception and how this affects confidence. In the U.K., we saw huge reductions in mortgage interest rates and sales taxes. Both of these steps put more money into people’s pockets, and you’d think this would have boosted the public’s confidence.

But just the opposite appeared to be true — thanks, in no small part, to fear-inducing media coverage of every negative piece of economic data.

How many times have we each seen the Great Depression invoked in news reports at this point? One hundred times? A thousand? More?

One day, you’re going to see the media jump off the “fear” bandwagon and jump on the “recovery” bandwagon. But by then, the smart money will have already invested in the future — and those businesses will be the ones profiting most.

Time to Invest in Marketing

In fact, many leading companies have already redoubled their marketing efforts to take advantage of lower advertising rates and build market share at a time when other businesses sit on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, those companies on the sidelines have seen their revenues shrink with no relief in site. Without marketing, where can that relief come from?

If your company has been holding back on marketing so far, now is the time to review this policy and to look at effective methods to win back business lost through the recession. Now is the time to appear strong, confident and successful — to set yourself apart from the competition.

The Value of Photography

As a photographer, I see the impact that quality images have for successful companies every day. And I see the impact that a lack of quality images has as well.

I’ll give you an example. All too often, I look at the “Our People” section of a company’s Web site and see head shots taken by amateurs with the office camera. Messy backgrounds, pixilated images, out-of-focus images.

I try to put myself in the shoes of a customer looking at one of these sites. I try to imagine how I would perceive that company if I were looking to purchase their services. Would I think of them as professional, financially sound and confident in their future?

I’m afraid not. So why should I do business with them?

Your Confidence Is Showing

Now, what if the executive portraits were of professional quality, with well lit, clean backgrounds and a little touching up in Photoshop to make the executives look at attractive as possible?

It might sound shallow, but we are drawn to attractive people, in business and in life.

In business, the image we present to the world is all-important. This starts with the executive portrait and extends to product photography and all other imagery you use to project your company to the world.

Show that you’re confident about your future, and in time, your customers will be confident, too.

Progress has long been associated with the ability to do things faster. So it has been with digital photography.

Along with zillions of megapixels, fourth-generation Photoshop, and cameras that can sometimes make hobbyists look like seasoned pros, the digital age has brought us the ability to finish jobs faster.

It has also led to impatient clients with a “need for speed” when hiring out photography assignments.

Faster vs. Better

But is faster always better?

Sure, the car is better than the horse and buggy. But is fast food better than “slow” food?

Whereas once photographers shot on film, took the film to the lab, waited for the film to be processed, and only then revealed the finished product to the client, we can now simply press the shutter release and have an image ready in seconds. Shooting tethered has taken this to an extreme — enabling us to connect a computer to the camera and see our images appear on screen at almost the moment we shoot them.

No doubt, this is technological progress. And it gives us the capacity to increase our turnaround speed dramatically on assignments.

But just because you can do something, that doesn’t always mean you should.

Patience Rewarded

In the days of film, we had the ability to proof on Polaroid film as a compositional and exposure measure. We could take a clip test from film stock that would again allow us to ensure all was well and then “push or pull” processing times, allowing us to compensate for exposure if required (within reason). We could affect so much in the print production from slide or negative film stock — and that’s not mentioning the necessity and potential in marrying the right film stock to the project in the first place.

Digital photography allows the photographer an even greater degree of control. And unlike with film, all the tools to create a polished finished product are in the photographer’s hands, if he or she takes the time to use them.

The problem is often the client’s expectation — and increasingly, demand — for speed.

If you are a photography client, understand that you are only short-changing yourself by rushing the process. By allowing the photographer adequate time for post-production, you will receive considerably better images than if you insist on downloading them onto your computer immediately after the shoot.

As a photographer, I make my living shooting subjects for magazines, advertising campaigns and large corporate clients. I’m generally given a brief, everyone involved knows what is required of them, and the aims and objectives are clear from the start.

From time to time, though, I find myself faced with a different type of job — a private commission. These can be family portraits, baby photos or weddings. And while I enjoy any job (I’m getting paid to take pictures, after all!), the client relationship can be very different, particularly in terms of matching expectations with the commitment required meet them.

A Tale of Two Weddings

To clarify what I mean, I’ll use the example of two weddings I photographed where the expectations of the couples were very different — and yet were a perfect match for the commitment they were willing to make to the photography.

In the first case, the happy couple wanted photographs of their day, but didn’t necessarily want to be photographed. They had heard stories of friends’ weddings where the photographer had been intrusive, distracting or generally “in the way.”

The couple didn’t want the day to be “staccatoed” by a photographer continually interrupting the events to get different shots, taking away from the proceedings and stopping them from letting their hair down.

A more low-key approach suited their aims (and my style) perfectly. Apart from the traditional line-up photographs of friends and family, they opted for the candid approach to wedding photography. Non-intrusive documentation of the day, with happy portraits of people conversing, enjoying themselves and celebrating their friends’ union.

A Greater Commitment

By contrast, another wedding I booked required a much greater commitment on the part of the bride and groom and their families.

They had seen the work of wedding photographers such as Jasmine Star and Ann Hamilton, and rather than just documenting proceedings, they were looking for something that captured the essence of their relationship and the love they felt for each other as well.

They wanted photographs that were a symbol of the day, rather than just a record of it. They understood that to achieve this would mean putting aside a period of time during the day just to pose for photographs.

With their input and efforts, the mission was accomplished and everyone was happy.

I’ve specifically mentioned Star and Hamilton (who also takes amazing photographs of dogs!) because I admire and respect their work in the field of wedding photography. They’re at the top of their game, and are two of a new breed of wedding photographers who are producing beautiful pictures that capture the romance, personalities and magic of the special day.

I see what they do as being a typically American approach to the art that requires dedication and skill, and is fast becoming popular on this side of the Atlantic, too.

But achieving photos of this quality and style requires input and work from all parties — not just the photographer. The bride and groom must be prepared to put some effort into helping the photographer create the images that everyone is looking for.

Matching Commitment to Expectations

Which brings me to the example of a third wedding I shot.

In this case, the couple had seen pictures in the style of Star and Hamilton, and wanted to create similar memories of their day. But in planning their day they hadn’t included time for photography.

Indeed, they didn’t like the idea of being asked to participate in photographs to this extent, reeling away (in true British style) from being asked to pose for such pictures.

Clearly, they weren’t aware of the interaction required, and the work expected of them to achieve their goals. So ultimately, after we discussed the pros and cons of different photographic styles, and with my advice, they opted for a more documentary style of coverage.

The lesson for clients here is that when you’re booking a photographer for your wedding, consider what might be expected of you in order to achieve the pictures you are looking for.

If you can’t set aside time for photography on the day or don’t want the photography to be too intrusive, you may be better advised to opt for the candid documentary approach. If you want something more atmospheric that will recreate a feeling of romance whenever you look at the photos, you may have to put more work into it than you expect.

Ultimately, you need to speak with your photographer, and listen to what he or she suggests. Remember — you don’t get married every day, so it’s worth putting in the effort to capture the images you really want.

I’m sometimes asked by prospective clients, “When do I really need the kind of corporate photography that a photographic agency can deliver?”

These days, with so much cheap and free photography flooding the Web, it’s easy to forget what quality corporate photography is all about.  Assignment photography may not be a company’s lowest-cost option — but it often delivers the best value.

The Costs of Doing It Wrong

At Black Star, we do all we can to minimize the cost to our clients by maintaining a network of hand-picked professional photographers in locations around the world. That enables us to call on a photographer who is already in the area to reduce travel costs. It often enables us to be at the site on shorter notice, too.

Ultimately, though, the old maxim is true: you get what you pay for.

Our clients tend to call us when the alternatives are more expensive — not in terms of the initial outlay, but in terms of the costs of using a lower quality photographer and receiving substandard images as a result.

Images today can be seen by millions of people within a short time of their release and are scrutinized around the world. Inevitably, when a Fortune 500 company’s audience is global and its brand affects the lives of many consumers in many different places, even the smallest errors tend to be highlighted, emphasized—and publicized.

A CEO portrait that doesn’t show the executive exuding contentment can raise questions in industry publications and affect confidence in the company. An annual-report cover image that doesn’t inspire may fail to motivate investors. Advertising images that don’t capture the public’s imagination can lead to the failure of a product that took years of research and investment.

Photography is rarely the only thing that contributes to the image of a company and its growth, but it’s often a vital component of its success. Assignment photography may require a budget, and it may have costs. But for our clients, the costs of using the wrong images are generally far higher.

Types of Assignment Photography

So in which situations should you ask a photographic agency to assign a photographer to your project?

Our clients ask us to find photographers for a wide range of different needs, but there are four types of photography that we’re asked to shoot time and again: executive portrait photography, annual report photography, architectural photography and advertising photography.

In each of these cases, there is generally no alternative to bringing in a photographer of some sort. Stock agencies will not be able to supply executive portraits, and while some agencies may have industry-specific images available in their inventories, companies tend to prefer shots that show their employees at work on their sites producing the products and services that carry their name.

Choosing the Best

Once a company has established the need to hire a photographer, the question then becomes, “Where do I find the best photographer for this assignment?”

Photography is a popular profession, and there’s no shortage of professionals who own the right equipment and understand the basics of composition, lighting and post-production. But those kind of skills should only be the starting point in the selection process.

At Black Star, we understand that shooting an executive portrait, for example, requires talents that go beyond the ability to spot the opportunity at a location and set up the shot so that the background adds context to the image.

Experience has shown us that for this kind of assignment, photographers must have a combination of technical skills and organizational ability, as well as the diplomacy to work with an industry leader whose time is short and who is accustomed to being in control rather than standing in front of a lens.

That combination of skills is rare, which is why we put so much care and effort into reviewing our photographers before we offer to represent them.

One of the reasons companies turn to a photographic agency like Black Star is that they want to feel that they’ve hired the best person for the job. They can explain what needs to be done, leave the photographer to get on with the project and feel confident that by the time the deadline rolls around, they’ll have a selection of exactly the sort of images that they need.

Relevant, Wide-Ranging Experience

The best assignment photographers bring a range of different experiences to each job. While all of the photographers to whom we assign a shoot will have a background in that particular specialty, they will also have experience in a number of other specialties, too.

Many, for example, come from the world of media photography. Their images have appeared in some of the world’s leading publications, including The New York Times, Newsweek and Spiegel. Whenever they accept an assignment, they bring those experiences with them — they’re able to spot an opportunity quickly, capture the scene and return the final images on a tight deadline.

Other photographers may be well-known artists with a number of books and exhibitions to their name. They may bring a level of creativity and originality that less accomplished photographers lack.

Still other photographers may specialize in environmental photography or portraiture, bringing a special look to their images and putting their subjects in context.

When you hire a photographic agency, you expect them to assign a photographer who can bring something special to a shoot, exceeding your expectations and giving you choices you might not have otherwise considered.

The Agency’s Role

At Black Star, we bring together companies and designers with the photographers who produce their corporate photographs. But we do a lot more than that.

We put each of our photographers through a rigorous selection procedure, one that takes into account more than their ability to create outstanding images, but which also tests the extent to which we can rely on them to get the job done and on time, even in the toughest of circumstances.

We also work closely with the client to make sure that everyone understands exactly what should happen on the shoot. Assignment photography relies on initiative and creativity, but when the images are delivered there should be no surprises.

Whether the client plans to be on site directing the shoot or waiting in the office for the finished photographs, the plans should be clear and the results expected.

When we’re sending a photographer to an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico to create pictures for an annual report or booking an appointment with the time-strapped head of a multinational to shoot a portrait, these things matter. And instead of hoping that your photograph does what you want it to, you can rest assured that your photographer will produce exactly the right set of images for you.

Last in a series.

There is no better way to preserve your wedding day memories than with a wedding book displaying your photographs. Unfortunately, it’s one aspect of choosing a photographer that many couples overlook.

When you meet with prospective photographers, take a close look at the books they’ve created. They should be easy to read and have a narrative flow. You should enjoy flipping through them — even if you don’t know the people in the pictures.

Ask the photographer about his or her process. Today, there are more choices than ever, and a good photographer should have a variety of book samples to choose from. Don’t leave it as an afterthought; make sure you know what you’re getting well before the big day.

A Permanent Record

Even with all the new ways to view pictures, nothing comes close to a book. A wedding book is more useful than a portfolio of images on CD or a set of 4×6 prints. It’s more convenient than an online slideshow or a digital photo frame.

After all of the flowers are gone and the cake is cut, the wedding album is the one thing you’ll have to show for the big event — besides your spouse, of course.

A wedding album should include only the best images.

Choosing Images

The process of creating a book starts with selecting the right photographs, which can be more difficult than you might think. We offer our couples two options to begin the design process: they can choose the pictures themselves, or we can do it for them.

If the couple decides to select the pictures themselves, I offer them the following advice:

1. Select only the best pictures for a wedding book.

Strive for your book to be more than a keepsake. Think of it as a work of art. It’s something that will remain on display in your home and be viewed and enjoyed by visitors for years to come.

A wedding album shouldn’t be a scorecard for family photos. A book filled with group photographs isn’t fun for anyone to look through. And maybe that less-than-perfect picture of Uncle Bob would be better off as a framed gift; he’ll appreciate that more anyway.

By limiting your image selection to only the best pictures, the design of the book will remain uncluttered and beautiful.

A handful of group photographs is all your really need to display in a wedding album.

2. Choose pictures that tell a story.

The best books have a beginning, middle and end. By selecting pictures that tell as story, you create a book that’s more satisfying to view and easier to digest.

Pictures in a wedding book should tell a story.

3. Eliminate redundant images from your selection.

Space is at a premium in a wedding book. Unless there is a sequence of images that work together, more than one picture of any one moment on the wedding day is probably too many.

We like to create scenes in our books. One scene might be of the wedding couple cutting the cake. The scene might include a detail shot of the cake, a picture of the couple cutting the cake, and a reaction shot of the wedding guests.

By selecting pictures with scenes and story in mind, eliminating duplicate or similar images, you create a narrative momentum for those who view your book.

Designing Your Book

Today, wedding albums are becoming more and more like books. They are bound like a book, with images printed on the pages.

After the images are selected, my designer and I create a proof of the book for the wedding couple. The couple can view the design online and request any changes they would like made.

We carry four main books, each with a different look and feel. In general, wedding albums are becoming more like professionally bound books, with the images printed directly on the pages. They can be easily reprinted as gifts to parents and other family members.

Depending on the book you choose, you may not receive your finished album for some time after the wedding day. But when I deliver an album to a wedding couple, it’s a deeply satisfying conclusion to the experience — for them and for me.

Great photographers are fundamentally unhappy people. Not suburban-housewife unhappy, waiting to be swept away, a la Madame Bovary. No, the best photographers are unhappy with the world around them and how it functions. What bothers them is the way reality is commonly perceived: normal, bland, boring, uninteresting.

What is compelling to a photographer is not reality as it is presented to them, but what is behind the surface. Or on the sides. Great photographers do not accept things the way they are. They are troublemakers.

Discomfort Zone

Put them in a photo call with a pre-assigned position, and they will go out of their way not to stay there. Not because they like to create trouble — but because they want more. Something different. Something more revealing.

Try to put them in a pool situation, as was done during the First Gulf War, and they will wave their middle finger at you, even if it means putting their life in danger. If they are not permitted to change position, they will change cameras or lenses, or they will crouch or jump — because somewhere else, other than where they are standing, is the right image, the perfect frame.

No wonder photography’s birthplace is Paris. Parisians, whether born there or adopted, are notorious troublemakers. Absolutely nothing can satisfy them, with the possible exception of being dissatisfied.

From David LaChapelle to Henri Cartier-Bresson, the most talented photographers have always thought to go beyond everyday visual convention. They seek to show us the world “the other way.”

Their reason? To trouble you, to displace you from your center of gravity into a zone of sudden imbalance.

You need to readjust yourself to appreciate their images, rethink what you thought was normal. They force you to think, and to learn. They ever-so-slightly move you away from your comfort zone and force you to re-position your thinking.

Stubborn, Reckless — and Brilliant

It should come as no surprise, then, that talented photographers are 99 percent pain in the ass to work with. They have strong opinions. They are stubborn. They are reckless.

But that is simply because they are constantly challenged by a reality that annoys them. For gifted photographers, reality is like being assaulted by mosquitoes, all the time. They don’t have an attitude problem; it’s the world that lacks one.

And this is the exact reason we love their work. They disturb the reality in which they are placed. They challenge it, always demanding more, to see what is behind it.

They do not want to photograph the yellow brick road, no matter how pretty it might be. They want to photograph the wizard behind the curtains.

This is true for all types of photographers: news, celebrity, portrait, commercial stock, landscape. The rules — or lack thereof — are the same.

So the next time you hire a photographer, don’t worry too much if he or she is a troublemaker. For the best photographers, it’s a prerequisite of the job.

With alarming frequency, I receive e-mails asking me to provide my services for free. Very often they state that a “great opportunity” has knocked on my door and that, once that door opens, a myriad of fame and fortune will come pouring in. In other words, if I just do this one job gratis, it will invariably lead to paid work.

Big Event, No Photography Budget

Let me give you a real-life example that happened to me. One month before London Fashion Week, I received an e-mail from the press secretary of a new designer who was showing at an incredibly fancy venue in London.

It was the designer’s first show, and he was putting together an ultra-expensive extravaganza — which would ultimately amount to a 15-minute viewing experience for his well-heeled audience.

All of which is fine by me. I’m all for people creating a strong visual experience to help promote their business. Isn’t that what commercial photography is all about?

On returning the call to the press secretary, I gave her a reasonable price for the expected two hours of work, including travel, shooting and postproduction.

The press secretary apologized. She had neglected to mention in her e-mail that there was no budget available for photography.

The job, she said, would be a great chance to add images to my portfolio and to get my name in front of the fashion media, leading to paid opportunities.

Politely, I declined.

Everybody Loses

Aside from the fact that absolutely no one (apart from perhaps other photographers) would even glance to see who shot a catwalk image, runway shots don’t do much to bolster an editorial portfolio.

What saddened me most was that this designer didn’t realize the importance of what should have been his No. 1 marketing tool, photography. It ought to have been factored into the budget at the onset.

Once the memory of the designer’s big event subsided (aided by the flowing champagne), all he and his press secretary would have left to promote the brand is images. Should these really be left to the chance of finding a professional photographer who would take the job for free?

Of course, they found someone to shoot the event. I checked the designer’s Web site afterwards; it didn’t mention the photographer’s name once.

The press secretary’s offer turned out to be a bad deal for the designer, who failed to budget for high-quality photography, and for the photographer, who I’m sure got little if any business out of it.

Clients should understand that, with photography as with other services, you get what you pay for. In the current economic climate, it is more important than ever for marketers to set their brands apart — and distinctive imagery is one of the best ways to achieve this.

As a former newspaper reporter who later became the head of large corporate communications departments, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with both photojournalists and corporate assignment photographers. And while many of the best assignment photographers I’ve worked with have also been photojournalists, I’ve found that some photojournalists don’t make the transition to corporate work very well.

There are a couple of reasons for this. In many cases, it’s an attitude thing. Just as many former newspaper scribes can’t make the jump to PR because they don’t like the profession, so many ex-newspaper photographers can’t transition successfully to corporate work because they can’t get passionate about it. And in creative endeavors, a lack of passion typically leads to subpar work and, ultimately, failure.

A second reason, which I’ve seen trip up more than a few former newspaper photographers, is an underemphasis on advance preparation for shoots.

The Art of Reacting

The best photojournalism is improvisational. It’s about capturing life as it is — the art of reacting. As photographer Mark Meyer puts it so well:

…street photography and photojournalism are essentially improvisational. Rather than improvising as a performer, the photojournalist is an improvisational audience. Rather than creating a work over time, they develop the art of seeing and capturing the moment as it happens. The skills required to do this well are similar to those of the performing improviser.

Many photojournalists — particularly newspaper staffers — are used to being sent out on an assignment and then quickly figuring out how to capture the moment. They show up at a plane crash or a city council meeting and have to come back with an image for the next day’s edition. Even on feature assignments, there’s often not a lot of time for advance preparation.

Unfortunately, that improvisational approach doesn’t always help on a corporate assignment — and can sometimes be “notably unhelpful,” as Donald Rumsfeld used to say in his cranky press conferences.

The Discipline of Preparing

I once produced an annual report in which the primary art was a series of photographs depicting my company’s employees posing alongside customers for whom they had gone the extra mile. One of the photos was to be shot in front of a firehouse, with a group of smiling firefighters standing with one of my company’s sales directors.

Since customers were involved, I decided to attend each of the shoots, which took place in various cities across the country. In the case of the firefighter shoot, I flew to meet the photographer and art director at the location at the appointed time.

I saw a group of men standing next to a firetruck in front of a firehouse — sweating profusely. The shoot had been scheduled at a time when the afternoon sun was beating down directly on the men’s faces, making the experience awkward for all involved. But because of the fire station’s placement, there was no other angle from which the photographer could get the shot.

No amount of retouching could completely repair the resulting images — or erase the forced smiles on the subjects’ faces.

This wasn’t bad luck. It wasn’t bad improvisation, either.

It was lack of preparation.

Vetting for the Right Kind of Experience

Corporate photography is different from spot photojournalism because of the amount of coordination that must be done in advance for shoots. For a photojournalist to make a successful transition to assignment work, he or she must learn the discipline of preparing for every conceivable thing that could go wrong on an assignment.

Many photojournalists have no problem with this — having done fashion, food and other kinds of staged shoots that require significant preparation. Others, however, have spent the bulk of their careers chasing down spot news and quick-turnaround features — and these are the photographers a corporate client should take a close look at before entrusting with assignment work.

In the case of the fire station shoot, if I could have done it over again, I would have requested to see the photographer’s resume and portfolio in advance, rather than simply leaving it to my design firm’s art director to make the hire. I would have ensured that the photographer had plenty of experience scheduling and organizing shoots of this kind.

Because, ultimately, when the shoot didn’t turn out as well as it should have, I was the one who had to answer to the sweating customers, the embarrassed sales director — and the disappointed CEO.

When Captain Sully landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January, his photo wasn’t the face of the brand that everyone saw. No, what they saw first was that now-famous cell phone picture taken by a commuter. He was on a ferry that responded to the scene. Out came the camera, followed by a quick upload to the Web.

The rest, as they say, is Internet history.

Welcome to citizen journalism in the digital age. Where quality doesn’t matter — getting the picture online first does.

Now I’m sure the amateur photographer wasn’t out for glory; he just wanted people to see what he was seeing at the moment he was seeing it. Within an hour, though, that picture was around the world on most major news outlets.

While US Airways was still trying to put the pieces together surrounding the landing, the story was being written by that lone image.

Speed Over Quality

That 640 x 480 snapshot managed to make a dent in the public perception of US Airways, having more impact than all of the wonderful visuals in the brand’s print ads combined. For the US Airways brand, it’s not unlike how a 30-second YouTube video on bad service at the ticket counter can undo all the upbeat imagery in one of the airline’s big-budget TV commercials.

It’s not just US Airways, either.

Virtually all brands are now at the mercy of anyone with a cell phone, Coolpix or other portable recording device. Brands no longer drive the agenda; consumers do. They even control the news cycle, because social networks allow people to disseminate images within minutes.

There’s been a steady decline in the quality of editorial shots in recent years. The bar has been lowered, and people have become used to that. Grainy shot with a zoom from 200 yards? No problem — it’s Jennifer Aniston getting her nails done, and we got the shot!

Just as Paris runway fashion trends eventually find their way to Target and Wal-Mart, this tabloid photography has influenced the mainstream media and undermined the quality of what people see — and what they’ve accepted as “good.” Thanks to advances in digital printing and production techniques, magazines that used to take the time to carefully craft each issue now do so in days and wait to the last second to add breaking-news images.

From editors to consumers, everyone wants their images faster and cheaper. Quality photography? That’s for coffee table books.

Responding Visually

When it comes to corporate brands, ad agencies, public relations firms and design studios have traditionally had the power to disseminate the dominant images that control perceptions. In the age of social media, however, this has changed. Brands are now having a hard time keeping up with a news cycle that has bloggers posting things about their brands literally minutes after it happens.

What can companies do to make sure their side of the story is heard? The aftermath of US Airways Flight 1549 shows that brands still have an opportunity to impact public perceptions — and specifically, the visual images that remain in the public consciousness.

Stephen Mallon, a New York City photographer, was hired by Weeks Marine, a maritime crane company that helped in the recovery of Flight 1549 from the Hudson River, to document the salvage process, with the consent of US Airways.

Mallon’s series of compelling images put a human face on the event, and go a long way to offset the sensational aspects of seeing 40+ grainy people standing in freezing water on an airplane wing — or the countless shots by other people driving on the highway who chased the plane as it floated down the river, like the paparazzi hounding Britney.

Unfortunately, Mallon’s images have been the subject of legal wrangling. But the lesson that US Airways and other brands should take from Mallon’s work is that it’s more important than ever for companies to hire professionals to document their story. Never let the dominant images of your brand be what someone threw up on Flickr or YouTube.

In an age when every commuter has a cell-phone camera, some argue that the days of professional photographers are numbered. I would argue that, on the contrary, it’s even more important for brands to have a pro on hand to create the kind of images they want their customers to remember.

Fifth in a series.

Your wedding day is over. All of the planning and preparation has paid off, and you’re now married to the man or woman of your dreams. Basking in the glow of that unforgettable day during your honeymoon, you or your spouse will inevitably declare: “I can’t wait to see the pictures!”

If you’ve chosen the right wedding photographer, viewing the photographs should be easy and fun to do. A professional will make it that way.

Rather than handing you several thousand unedited photographs on a DVD for you to painstakingly plow through, the professional will create an edited portfolio and present it to you either online, in hard-copy form, or both.

Editing and Organizing Your Photographs

Here’s how the process should work:

First, your wedding photographer will make an initial edit of your pictures and remove all the pictures that aren’t technically or aesthetically up to snuff. The resulting edited take will be the best images from your wedding — probably between 600 and 1,500 images.

Next, the photographer will organize the wedding images in a way that will make sense to you. For example, I typically use the following categories –

• Bride prep
• Groom prep
• Family portraits
• Ceremony
• Reception

Each category will hold 100 images or more, depending on how many photographs your photographer included in the edit.

This is an example of how I use Photoshop to enhance an image. A simple vignette and tighter crop (below) adds impact to this image of Chris and Meredith's first dance.

The next step in the process may be different depending on the photographer. In the case of Cayton Photography, we go through the images and selectively retouch those that need it. Perhaps the color balance is off, or there is a dust spot from the camera. Whatever it is, we try to catch it before giving the final portfolio to the wedding couple.

Photographers may also want you to see what their own favorites are from your wedding day. I always make a selection of the photographs I like best and present them in the first category of the wedding portfolio. I call this group my signature collection. We also take some extra time to enhance these pictures using Photoshop.

A brief note about Photoshop: It’s a tool, just like the camera I use.  I use Photoshop to make an image stronger, usually through a series of vignettes or filters or both. The changes are not meant to be noticed. My goal is to “finish” the picture without taking away from the image itself.

Delivery Options

Today most photographers deliver the wedding portfolio online. We have invested in an online presentation software that allows us to display individual portfolios in a password-protected gallery — and gives wedding couples a wide range of options.

The gallery allows couples to place orders, select images for their albums, e-mail images to friends and family, view slideshows, and even view different toning options for a picture.

Other photographers present portfolios on CD, DVD, or as 4×6 prints. Whatever way your photographer delivers your portfolio, however, it should be edited, organized and presented in a way that makes it easy and enjoyable to view.  

Next: Creating your wedding album.

Photography is the single most important element of most advertising campaigns. While copywriters may spend hours producing an eye-catching headline and copy that explains the benefits of a product, it’s the image that first attracts the viewer. It’s also the last thing the viewer usually remembers after turning the page.

Advertising images may be used on billboards and in magazines, on posters and on flyers. They may be straightforward depictions of a product or a model — or they could incorporate complex graphics and use the very latest post-production techniques to show that the company is on the leading edge.

In any of these scenarios, planning is vital.

The Strategy Session

Our photographers start with a strategy meeting with the client to develop a brief that is as tight as possible, reducing the risk of surprises when the final photographs are delivered. The photographer has to be absolutely clear about the line the company wants to take with the product, the kind of image they want it to possess, and the messages they want it to convey.

Photo Credit: Rene De Carufel

Says Marc Schultz, a Black Star photographer whose clients have included Ikea, L’Oreal, Bang & Olufsen and Canon Cameras:

If clients can supply me with some visual guidance on what it is they would like to achieve photographically, it makes a huge difference to me. I found that often you can sit with a client for a long time discussing what they would like a photograph to look like or portray, but you can never have as clear of an understanding as when they show you visually what their objectives are.

That’s particularly important when working with smaller ad agencies and clients. While larger agencies may choose to send an art director to oversee and direct the photographer’s work, that’s often not the case for clients on limited budgets. Many rely on the photographer’s skills and creativity to capture the right picture within the parameters laid out in the strategy meeting.

Marc, for example, has found that clients often look to him to refine their basic concepts and the messages they want their images to contain. They give him creative control, and he is then able to take advantage of any unexpected opportunities that may turn up during the shoot.

Says Marc:

Often with the creative process, you start with one basic idea and it ends up developing into something completely different by the time all is said and done.

Photo Credit: Marc Schultz

Managing Logistics

However the client wants the shoot managed, once the strategy has been developed, the logistical issues will need
to be addressed. And this is often where the biggest challenges lie.

Props must be found, procured and moved to the shoot. Locations must be chosen and checked for their suitability. A target shooting date has to be set and agreed upon. If models are being used, they too need to be selected, booked and their accommodation arranged.

In fact, the presence of models on an advertising shoot requires a separate range of skills. While the product itself can be lit in different ways to produce the right effect, models have to be coaxed and relaxed to portray the look that will attract attention and help the ad stand out.

René De Carufel, a Montreal-based Black Star photographer with more than three decades of experience, says that models create the most consistent challenge on these kinds of shoots:

Every shoot is somewhat a challenge — at least it should be — some bigger than others. But since I mainly deal with people, it is mostly to create a connection and gain their trust. To achieve that, I think you simply have to show respect, kindness and humor and hopefully make them feel comfortable.

The photographer has to put the different elements of the shoot in place, from arranging the scene to bringing in the people and the items, as well as all the equipment. On the shoot itself, he has to look for the best compositions within the guidelines provided, take direction from an art director if one is present, and often work with the model to get the right look to match the product.

And he might have to do post-production work as well, before delivering the final images to the client.

Photo Credit: Harrison McClary

Hiring an Experienced Pro

For marketing directors, there’s no substitute for hiring a professional photographer with substantial experience in advertising photography. Poor images can make a product disappear into a background of similar shots and identical advertisements, while an outstanding photograph will attract attention and stay in the viewer’s mind. It can mean the difference between success and failure.

At Black Star, we only assign photographers who have proved to us that they can organize shoots of the scale and visibility the client requires. Their portfolios must indicate that they can work with direction, contribute their own creativity and produce the images the client wants. We source our photographers from around the world, so we always have a choice of the very best photographers available anywhere and we can have them on location wherever the shoot may be.

At a time when the public can skip past commercials by pushing a button on their TiVo, when Internet users are barraged by ads they barely even notice, and when magazine and newspaper sales continue to decline, it takes a very special image to stand out and force its way into the consciousness of consumers.

It takes a photograph that does more than portray a product or even a message — it takes a photograph that’s creative, memorable and unmissable.

The preceding post is an excerpt from Black Star’s e-book, “When to Use Assignment Photography.” Download the free e-book here.

Back when I was heading the corporate communications department of a billion-dollar company, I had the uncomfortable experience of watching a graphic designer break down and crumple into a ball in my office.

Had he had a seizure? A heart attack? Had he learned of a death in the family? Nope. He just didn’t like the design changes I had asked him to make in my company’s annual report.

When I asked him for alternatives to my recommendations, he snapped, “Well, since you don’t like any of my ideas anyway, what does it matter?” And then he turned to look out the window; I believe I saw a tear.

Hey, I’m not heartless. If I recall correctly, I may have even handed him a tissue.

But I sure as heck didn’t hire him the next year. I’d rather design the annual report myself with a Crayola 64-pack than knowingly deal with a case of Fragile Artist Syndrome.

So Fragile, So Artistic

I can relate to fragile artists. I was a liberal arts major. I started my career as a journalist. I didn’t know how to balance my checkbook until I was 30 years old. It’s even possible — and I’m not admitting anything here — that I have openly wept in certain professional situations.

But a lot of executives who must work with creative types don’t have this kind of background. They come from a business background; they like the feel and smell and taste of money, and they have ever since they studied finance in college.

That’s back when the creatives were smoking bongs, protesting meat being served on campus, taking close-up photographs of blades of grass, and arguing about Nietzsche until 4 in the morning.

But funny how life goes. These two archetypes (OK, stereotypes), who never had anything to do with each other in college, in a few years would be forced to come together to create … CORPORATE COLLATERAL!

That’s right — annual reports, brochures, Web sites, you name it. If you wonder why so much corporate collateral sucks, and why you’ll never see any of it hanging up in a museum, you can lay the blame at the feet of this unholy, forced alliance.

Guess Who’s the Boss?

But you know what? The client is the boss in this relationship. He or she is paying the creative (the photographer, the designer, the copywriter, what have you) money to be creative on behalf of the corporation.

That means the creative has to collaborate with — and when there is disagreement, defer to — the client.

As a client, you’ll learn that some creatives are much better at this than others — and that often, it is the creatives who master client relations, rather than the most talented ones, who have the most successful careers.

Of course, the creatives who haven’t mastered client relations have a different term for those who have: butt-kissers.

Getting Down to Business

All kidding around aside, working with a fragile artist — one whose ego can’t withstand normal criticism from a client — can ruin a corporate communications project. At the least, it can take all the pleasure out of it.

So how do you, as a client, ensure that the photographer, designer or copywriter you’re about to hire is not susceptible to Fragile Artist Syndrome?

First, you should ask them directly how they handle criticism. Share an anecdote about a difficult communications project you’ve managed in the past — one with lots of red tape, versioning, and inane executive decision-making — and ask them how they would have dealt with it.

Next, ask them to provide examples of some of their more challenging projects. If their stories tend to cast former clients in a negative light, that’s not a good sign.

Finally, ask for references. Call the references and discuss the collaboration process. Did it come easy, or was it uncomfortable?

Specifically ask how the creative handled revisions. When you’re working with a fragile artist, and you ask them to take an idea back to the drawing board and come up with fresh concepts, what you’ll often find is that the level of creativity diminishes with each request. It’s typically a sign that the creative’s ego has been bruised, and he or she has lost enthusiasm for your project.

Ultimately, I’ve found the best way to avoid Fragile Artist Syndrome is to find creatives you work well with — and then keep hiring them. Shared experience builds trust and, as any old married couple can tell you, trust is the key to a long-term, low-maintenance relationship.

Fourth in a series.

The bride’s dress won’t zip up. The brother of the groom had a little too much to drink before the toast. The flower girl’s hair catches on fire. The maid of honor loses the groom’s ring. You name it — it’s happened.

But if you’ve developed a game plan for your wedding, including with your wedding photographer, you can enjoy the day and embrace the unexpected.

Part of my job as a wedding photographer is to be enthusiastic. One way to create excitement is to photograph all of the guests in one picture. Photography by Kent Meireis

Fruits of the Photographer-Client Relationship

My wife Cathy photographs Rachel on her wedding day. Photo by Kent Meireis

A good photographer doesn’t just bring a camera to the wedding. He or she brings a smile and a positive, engaging attitude. At any large gathering, there is nothing more contagious than enthusiasm. 

If you and your photographer have built a relationship of trust before your wedding day, seeing your photographer at work will make you smile, too. Your time with your photographer will be one of the day’s joys. And the end result will be something you won’t forget. 

Gina and Ajay stop to pose for a photograph. I loved their wedding because of the couple's energy and enthusiasm. Photo by John Heisel

By projecting energy and confidence at the wedding, a good photographer also gives couples someone to lean on when something goes wrong. This helps to ensure that they’ll be celebrating the moment, rather than worrying about the details, when the unexpected happens.

Sometimes those unexpected moments make for great pictures, too. 

At Alison and Nicholas’ wedding in 2005, the couple had scheduled a ceremony on top of a mountain pass, followed by an outdoor reception. But it snowed that day. So their ceremony was held in the local church and the reception was held outside underneath a tent. Alison and Nicholas embraced the unexpected and stepped outside the reception tent and into the falling snow (below) to enjoy their first dance together.

On Shannon’s wedding day last summer, I arrived to photograph her getting ready at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. As we neared ceremony time, the hook on the back of Shannon’s dress broke. With her bridesmaids holding her dress together, Shannon made her way to the chapel and found some thread and string.

Despite the dress mishap — which made for a wonderful picture (above) and an unforgettable memory — Shannon and Peter had a fantastic wedding day that was recently featured in The Knot Colorado.

Next: Seeing your wedding photographs

A corporation’s offices are often its most public face. The architecture a company chooses sends a message about its brand. Landmarks such as Hong Kong’s Bank of China or New York’s Chrysler Building, originally constructed to house the offices of the Chrysler Corporation, broadcast international statements about a company’s ambitions.

These messages are often delivered through photography — which means architectural images should be constructed with the same care and attention to detail as the building being photographed.

Planning an Architectural Shoot

Black Star’s Tom Callins, who has been photographing professionally for over 30 years, likes to visit a location several times in advance to select positions and identify the best times of day for the shoot.

When planning an architectural shoot, you want to show the building’s best architectural features in the best light from the best angle. A few scouting trips are needed to see the building at different times of day to determine which views and times are the best. Then, you have to decide the best place to take the pictures. If it’s from the 20th floor of the building across the street, you have to secure permission from that building to gain access to the 20th floor. Hopefully, they will cooperate.

While successful executive portraits depend on effective communication between the photographer and the subject, and shoots for annual reports rely on careful organization and a clear understanding of the art direction, the key to successful architectural photography is often much more technical in nature.

Waiting for the Light

Light, for example, defines the building’s mood, and it’s through effective lighting that the architecture makes its statement.

For external shots, that can mean a lot of waiting. Scouting will help to discover the best times of day when the sun strikes the building, but that means making sure that the equipment is set up and the photographer is ready to capture those few moments of optimal brightness. And that assumes that the weather cooperates. It doesn’t always.

An assignment may be booked on a sunny day when the building is perfectly lit and shines out against its neighbors, but if it rains on the day of the shoot — or even if there are clouds — the assignment may need to be rescheduled until the right weather is available at the right time.

Photo Credit: Tom Callins

Tom Callins’s photograph (above) of Hertz’s equipment rental center in Houston was one of a series of images taken in two locations in the city. Scouting had told him that the shot needed to be taken in the evening, when low light cast a golden hue over the building, but each evening clouds on the horizon would block the effect that Tom wanted. It took over a week of patient waiting before our photographer was able to take the shot that he had envisioned.

Even the time of year can affect the sort of image the photographer is able to produce. Explains Tom:

Depending on which direction the building is facing and the season of the year, the sun may not want to cooperate. It may be spring, but the building looks best in fall.

Clients, of course, rarely have the freedom to wait until the best time of year to complete the shoot. Assignments often take place on tight deadlines, requiring the photographer to produce a range of options based on various lighting scenarios — then make full use of his or her technical skills to produce the best image possible.

Indoor Lighting Challenges

Lighting challenges don’t end when the photographer moves indoors. Although the photographer has more control over the light levels when shooting internal spaces, offices and rooms create problems of their own.

Fluorescent strips, for example, can affect color balance, while shadows need to be identified and lit.

Photo Credit: Marc Schultz

Harrison McClary, a former news photographer who now primarily shoots executive portraits, industrial photography and architecture, says that the aim of the shoot is to make the space appear as though it were lit naturally, so that the viewer feels as though he’s using the room rather than looking at it.

Because every building is different, every shoot requires different solutions and different kinds of preparation. That usually involves turning on all the lights in the room, overexposing the windows so that there are no distracting details from outside the building, and paying attention to shadows thrown by equipment and reflections in windows, mirrors, screens and televisions.

Says Harrison, who has been with Black Star for 15 years:

Pet peeves for me in this kind of photography are “dark” doors. If the room I am shooting is bright, then the door to the other room should not be a black hole.

Harrison’s architectural subjects have ranged from hotel rooms and buildings to commercial properties and multimillion-dollar residences — and he’s encountered many unusual spaces. He recalls:

I did a shoot in a house that had a recording studio in it. I had to shoot from the control room into the recording room. The control room had several small rooms off it with glass doors, and the booth was separated by a huge window made of double-paned glass to soundproof the room.

I had to light all these rooms and keep all reflections out of the glass — not just reflections from my lights, but all reflections. There is a way to light so that reflections do not show up, but doing this so that the light looks natural and so that there are no hot spots can be difficult.

Clearly these aren’t the kinds of problems most photographers come across in their daily jobs. They require the kind of knowledge of architecture, design, lighting strategies and angles that can only develop from years of study and plenty of hands-on experience.

At Black Star, we confer with the client to find out exactly what the client needs—and when they need it by—but our most important preparation is to make sure the photographer we send on the assignment has all of the skills necessary to cope with those unexpected and unusual challenges.

The alternative is to risk producing inferior images which fail to do the job, which fail to represent the professionalism of the client, and which fail to encapsulate the message the building contains.

How the Client Can Help

While we will choose a qualified photographer and make sure he or she understands what needs to be done, the client has responsibilities, too.

The client must make sure that the building is ready to be shot. Ensuring that the building’s guards are briefed and prepared to provide access, for example, is the kind of small necessity that is often overlooked and which can cause unnecessary delays.

Photo Credit: Craig Sands

Open access is a request that’s usually met easily, but sometimes a photographer can spot an opportunity that requires a certain amount of flexibility and the freedom to meet demands that can be as unusual as the building itself.

Tom Callins, for example, praises a client who understood that he wanted every light in every room on the west side of a building turned on at precisely 7:48 p.m. It’s the kind of request that can require a high level of organization and good cooperation from the client and the client’s staff. But when it works, the results can be dramatic — producing the kind of image that shows the building, and company, at its best.

The Importance of Post-Production

Of course, even with the most helpful client and the best photographer, things don’t always go as planned. Part of the photographer’s job is to know when the image in front of him is the best that can possibly be shot — and then understand how to make it better in post-production.

Tom Callins’s picture of Hertz’s equipment rental center, for example, underwent processing through Photoshop to remove the reflections of telephone poles and wires from the windows.

Tom’s pre-shoot scouting had identified the right time and the right place to shoot the most dramatic picture of the client’s property — a moment in which the sky was exactly the right color, the lights inside the building depicted the company’s industriousness and the name of the firm shone out against the building’s wall.

He was prepared to wait more than a week to capture that moment, but he knew even then that the image wouldn’t be completely perfect. There would be no way to capture the outside of the building without also photographing unattractive reflections in the windows. Because Tom also possesses editing skills, he was able to trust in his ability to capture the best picture that the location and the light could create — then add the final corrections before passing the image on to the client.

Shooting architectural images offers all sorts of advantages over photographing busy executives or managing a complex shoot for an annual report. The scheduling is often easier — buildings don’t have meetings — and they may require a smaller team to photograph.

But while the personality of an executive will depend on the ability of the photographer to put the subject at ease, the personality of a piece of architecture will depend on the right light striking the right places at the right time. It’s work that requires preparation, patience, expertise and organization.

The preceding post is an excerpt from Black Star’s new e-book, “When to Use Assignment Photography.” Download the free e-book here.

Do you ever wonder if your corporate message has gotten a bit stale? Sure, you know your company’s strengths, and there are lots of reasons why it is successful. Your communications team probably routinely utilizes a specific set of phrases that describe your company’s distinctiveness. But after a while your message begins to sound just like a dozen other “unique” organizations.

How do you recharge your brand and truly differentiate your company from its competitors? Here’s an idea: Use photography to go on location with your customers.

Differentiation with Photography

Photography is a great way to capture what truly makes your brand different — to define your personality without words.

Try this: Close your eyes. What does your company look like? What kind of face would you put on it? What are its traits and disposition? What colors, shapes and textures do you see?

Now translate those images into photos. They can be of your offices, your people, or your products. Photos are to corporate communications what music is to lyrics: a singular and expressive means to complement your message. Together, photos and words can show your audience exactly who you are and what you’re all about.

In my experience, one of the most effective ways companies can recharge their brands — and rediscover what sets them apart — is by showcasing their customers. Your customers know better than anyone, after all, what makes your product or service special.

Get Inspired Again

Remember the ads that followed Snapple drinkers to where they enjoy the beverage? These clever spots depicted people drinking Snapple in a variety of interesting places. Customer photos personalize your product in a way that posed model shots can’t. Featuring real customers using your product lends a mark of authenticity that humanizes your brand.

Obtain permission from your customer to visit their site to take candid shots of them interacting with your product. They may even love the attention, so it’s a chance to strengthen your relationship.

Are people using your products in exotic locales? In unexpected places? At Black Star, we once got a shot of a mountain climber eating a certain brand of chips at 12,000 feet! Take your audience on a trip and inspire their imaginations.

Who knows — you might re-inspire your brand in the process.

Third in a series.

OK, you’ve booked the photographer for your wedding. You’ve signed a contract and paid a non-refundable retainer to ensure your reservation. You’ve planned ahead, so it’s still six to nine months before the big day. 

Now what?

The Engagement Sitting

Meggan and Blake visited with me earlier this winter. They are planning a wedding next summer and wanted to make sure we got some engagement photographs to be used for their planning materials.

If you have purchased an engagement sitting, now is the time to schedule it. Engagement sittings are important for you and for your photographer. Most couples have never been photographed professionally — so it’s good to learn what that feels like before your wedding day, and to learn to enjoy it.

For the photographer, an engagement sitting is a chance to develop a rapport with you. The photographer can watch how you interact as a couple, and you can have some fun and develop a level of trust before the pressure of the wedding day.

Mamie and Nick embrace at sunset during their engagement sitting. Almost always, the pictures I make at the end of the sitting are better because the couple is more relaxed.

It’s hard to overstate the value of trust. Being able to trust the photographer’s suggestions is critical if the photography is to go smoothly at your wedding. The fewer things you have to worry about, the more you’ll enjoy the day.

After the engagement, you can also pore over the proofs online or in hard copy form, much like you would your wedding photographs. So that helps you to understand the order fulfillment process. We always include a slideshow with our engagement sittings, which makes for a great diversion at work or home and gets you and your families excited about the big day.

Heather and Gary kiss during their engagement sitting. When I start a sitting I usually take more formal photographs and then work up to something more dramatic as it goes on.

Scheduling the Day

Even if you decide not to do an engagement session, don’t stop talking to your photographer about your wedding. 

Good wedding photographers are usually obsessed with your wedding day schedule, and it’s important (especially if you’re not using a wedding planner) to discuss the agenda with your photographer well in advance of your big day.

What all wedding photographers really want and need is time.

Time for family pictures.

Time for portraits of the two of you.

Time enough to get from the ceremony to the reception and photograph the hall and the cake before the guests arrive.

Time to be able stop and see pictures they may not have seen while under the pressure to get from here to there.

Finding time on the wedding day is like finding water in the desert. It’s a precious resource to a photographer, and it should never be wasted. That’s why working closely on your schedule with your photographer will ensure time enough to make all of the pictures you want — and time enough for the photographer to find the pictures he or she wants.

In our business, we lay out the wedding day in a precise timeline. Here’s an example of a typical plan:

1:30 p.m. Bride arrives at the Garden of the Gods (GOG)/photographers arrive

1:35-2:15 p.m. Bride preparation in suite

2:00-2:30 p.m. Groom arrives at the GOG/groom prep in locker room

2:30 p.m. Private moment at the reflecting pool. (In case of weather, at the Garden Terrace)

2:40-3:05 p.m. Portraits of bride and groom

3:15-4:15 p.m. Wedding party and family formals

4:15 p.m. Guests arrive/bride and groom retire to waiting areas

5:00 p.m.- 5:45 p.m. Ceremony

• Processional
• Serenade
• Communion
• Vows
• Rings
• Kiss
• Recessional
• Guest release

5:45-6:30 p.m. Cocktail hour

6:30-6:45 p.m. Group photograph of all guests (outside weather permitting)

6:45 p.m. Call to dinner/reception

7:00 p.m. Bride and groom entrance

7:05 p.m. Welcome/blessing

7:05-8:05 p.m. Dinner

8:05 p.m.Toasts

8:20 p.m. Cake cutting

8:30 p.m. First dance

8:35 p.m. Parents’ dance

8:45 p.m.General dancing

11 p.m. Departure and bubbles

Your Game Plan

For the sake of brevity, I didn’t include the list of family photographs in this timetable. But I always put one together with help from the bride and groom well before the wedding day. This list includes all the family and wedding party pictures the wedding couple wants. It also includes the names and relationships of family members and the wedding party to the bride and groom. 

In addition, we ask our couples if they have any “must have” pictures. Many times these are pictures that parents may have in their own wedding albums, and we are asked to duplicate them. As long as the couple makes the time, we will make sure to honor all of their requested photographs.

The schedule for your wedding day is essentially your game plan. While circumstances will almost always result in some improvisation on the day of the event, it’s much easier to adjust when working from a plan.

Next: What to expect on the big day and how photographers handle inevitable changes in plan.

Congratulations! You’ve gotten the green light to do a photo shoot for your new advertising campaign. Now, all you have to do is book a photographer.

But before you hit the Rolodex or call your contacts for recommendations, do you really know what you should expect from a quality corporate photographer?

Here’s a quick checklist of what to look for, and what questions to ask.

1. Experience. Logical enough, right? Your photographer should be a professional with experience in their craft. More to the point is number two:

2. Area of expertise. All photographers are not the same. You wouldn’t hire an electrical engineer to build a bridge. Don’t hire a portrait photographer for your product shots.

3. Strategic input. A knowledgeable photographer will add value to your strategy planning session and bring up ideas you may not have considered. When there is true creative collaboration between photographer and art director, art happens, even in the commercial realm.

4. Flexibility. Do you need to shoot at night? Does the shoot involve children or animals, or a secured facility? Your photographer should be willing and happy to accommodate your needs.

5. Accessibility. Can you meet with the photographer beforehand to get a feel for their approach, style and personality? Can you call and ask questions?

6. Imagination. The best way to find out if your photographer is an imaginative sort is to view his portfolio and ask questions about how he approached a specific shot. Why was the model posed in a certain fashion? How was the lighting effect determined? You may already know exactly what you want your finished photos to look like, but if you would like another opinion, be sure you’re hiring a photographer who has ideas and can think conceptually.

7. Willingness to take direction. You’ve got your marketing director, art director, models and possibly a difficult client to contend with. Make sure your photographer is comfortable taking instruction, and let him or her know beforehand whose input they need to heed most.

What does it mean to be in business? When I lived in San Francisco, I worked as a corporate and editorial photographer and also taught a course in business practices for photographers. As a dedicated member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), I felt it was appropriate to practice what I preached and visa versa.

The course I taught—which is still being taught at City College of San Francisco—covered all aspects of starting and operating a small business. We learned about financial planning, time management, marketing, self-promotion, advertising, bidding and estimating, copyright and contracts, negotiating with clients, and determining profitability.

As their final project, the students submitted a written business plan. Many professional photographers I talked to during that time said they wished they had had the opportunity to take such a course.

What It Means to Be in Business

I just learned that I will again be teaching this type of course here at the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. This course will be aimed at a range of students—those wanting to be photographers, videographers, graphic designers, Web designers, and multimedia producers. The theme of the course will be how to set up and run a successful small business as a creative professional.

Planning to teach this course in the fall got me thinking about what it means to be in business. None of the professions I’ve mentioned requires a license or even a formal university degree. Anyone with a camera and a computer can call herself a photographer or a Web designer.

I am not in favor of licensing requirements for creative professionals. But this lack of formality does present a challenge for those wishing to hire independent creative professionals: how do you know if the person you are about to hire is really in business?

If you are a photo editor or an art director, you are probably used to dealing with a wide range of vendors and suppliers. For example, you get phone service from the phone company, office supplies from a retailer or online, and printing from a printer.

These types of vendors and suppliers are clearly in business. They have a place of business, a business license, a business phone and Yellow Pages listing, a Web site, and business insurance. If they have employees, they pay them through payroll and withhold taxes; they also pay unemployment and disability insurance and have a workers-comp plan.

These vendors and suppliers may be set up as corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships—but whatever the structure, they file the appropriate business-tax forms and pay the required business taxes, including sales tax. If they fail to do any of these things, they probably won’t be in business long.

Five Questions to Ask an Independent Creative Professional

When it comes to hiring independent creative professionals, however, you as a photo editor or art director may not have such a clear picture of your prospective supplier’s business status.

Primary in your mind may be this question: can this person do the job I need at a price I can afford? All the other issues—business license, taxes, insurance, etc.—may not seem relevant. But they are, and here are five questions to ask an independent creative professional with whom you are considering working.

1. How long have you been in business?

Although years spent toiling away are no guarantee of creative excellence, a business that is successful over the long term is probably doing many things right: providing great customer service, managing cash flow and profitability, utilizing a smart marketing and self-promotion strategy, and adapting to changes in client needs and technology. Doesn’t this sound like the type of creative professional you want to have as a resource?

2. Do you have a place of business, a business license, a business phone and Yellow Pages listing, and a Web site?

These things announce to the world that, yes, I am in business, just like the other vendors and suppliers with whom a photo editor or art director routinely does business.

I remember getting a call years ago—pre-Internet days—from Hugh Ackroyd, a marvelous photographer and friend in Portland, Oregon. “David,” he said, “I tried to look you up but didn’t see your Yellow Pages listing.” Hugh was a long-time ASMP member, and this was his gentle way of telling me that it was time to get serious about being in business.

Again, having these things is no guarantee of the quality of work you will receive—that’s why you review portfolios. But this type of screening will tend to weed out hobbyists, semiprofessionals, and those attempting to fly under the radar and do business in a less-than-professional way.

3. Do you carry business insurance?

This is often a requirement when a government agency hires an independent contractor, but it is often overlooked by photo editors and art directors. When I worked in San Francisco, I carried a standard business-insurance policy with $1 million in liability insurance. On every estimate I sent out, I added a small line-item expense called “Insurance.”

This was sometimes questioned, at which point I would explain that should something happen during the shoot (light stand topples, smashes priceless Ming vase), we would be covered. Note the “we.” In today’s litigious society, I’ll bet the owner of said Ming vase would sue everyone even remotely connected with the shoot, including, of course, the client who hired me. Don’t you want to be in good hands?

4. Do you have employees or use assistants?

If so, do you withhold taxes and insurance from their paychecks and carry workers-comp insurance? When I look back over the commercial photography I have done, most of the best images come from shoots on which I worked with an assistant. Four eyes are better than two, and using an assistant freed me up to interact with the subject rather than fuss with equipment. The best assistants are problem solvers and anticipate what you are going to need before you realize you need it.

From the time I first started using assistants, I either ran their checks through a payroll service or processed them myself using QuickBooks. These methods withheld the proper taxes and made contributions to the assistant’s unemployment insurance. I also bought a workers-comp insurance policy through the California State Compensation Insurance Fund, so my assistant would be covered in the event of an on-the-job accident.

I knew many photographers who neglected to take these steps and instead treated their assistants as independent contractors. But it took only a few horror stories—unemployment claims made against photographers by former assistants, or the California Economic Development Department dunning photographers for taxes they failed to withhold—to convince me to play by the rules.

If you are a photo editor or art director, don’t you want to work with people who play by the rules?

5. Will you provide me with a written estimate that clearly shows all the fees and expenses (subject to a standard 10-percent variance) that I will be charged if I decide to use your services?

Back in the day, the big question was “What is your day rate?” If you quoted a figure, the client would likely write it down next to your name, and there it would be—forever. Whereas the day rate was firmly established in the editorial market, many photographers doing corporate and advertising work felt that “creative fee” was a more descriptive and realistic term.

If you, as a photo editor or art director, are getting multiple estimates, make sure you are comparing apples with apples. That’s why many photographers use standard business forms, such as those recommended by ASMP, for estimating and job confirmation, delivery of final product, and model releases. It is standard business practice to separate fees and expenses, and to mark up most expenses—we buy wholesale and sell retail.

If the independent creative professional creates an estimate for you in this way, you’ll see everything as a line item and also the total cost of the job. After all, that’s what you’re interested in, no?

I have tried to explain why photo editors and art directors need to be as concerned about the business status of the people they are considering working with as they are about their creative excellence. The success of your magazine or ad agency depends on having a stable, reliable pool of creative professionals to call on at a moment’s notice.

The next time you are getting ready to hire an independent creative professional, ask yourself, “Is this person really in business?”

A good friend of mine works for a leading European events company, responsible for summoning the organizational and logistical know-how required to give smooth operation to those huge product launches or corporate events that all seem so effortlessly flung together. Recently, he told me that a major telecommunications client was throwing a thank-you bash for its top customers. Champagne would flow, acrobats would fly through the air, and contortionists would … well, contort.

The shocking factor was not the elaborate grandeur of the event — but the company’s decision not to hire a professional photographer to cover it.

Let’s Have Johnny Do It

The client’s in-house event organizer told my friend that she had a keen amateur photographer on her team (we will refer to him as Johnny) and that she would ask Johnny to provide full coverage.

Sounds like a reasonable decision, right? In these difficult economic times, savings are savings. And it is, after all, just “taking pictures.”

Eventually the night came, the champagne flowed, the acrobats flew and the contortionists contorted. Johnny ran from the tables to the stage throughout, sweating, his complexion increasingly ruddy, demonstrating visible signs of a cardiac event — which was not the type of event intended.

Sadly, all of Johnny’s efforts were in vain. The images were badly exposed, badly composed and just all round bad. For the most part, they were unusable.

The Real Cost of Using Johnny

Although the company planner didn’t realize it, she was taking a big risk — right up there with the acrobats’ high-wire act — by choosing Johnny.

Johnny may have been an excellent amateur photographer, but he was not a professional. A good professional has experienced awkward lighting, moving subjects and capturing the spirit of an event before, knowing exactly what to do to get the best possible images.

The saddest thing about the episode was the telecom company had spent more than $40,000 on the event, but had hardly any images for use in PR, marketing or even for plain old posterity.

A pro photographer would have cost in the range of $700 to $1,500 for the whole evening and subsequent postproduction. The images produced could have been used to create more business — and also would have been a great gift for attendees. Those photos would have lasted much longer than the drunken memories of the evening.

Avoiding the Boss’s Wrath

Digital cameras have brought about a devaluation — or at best an under-appreciation — of professional photography among prospective photography clients. What was once the domain of the skilled professional has been opened up by the very accessibility of the digital format.

This has left too many clients to ask themselves, “If I can take a picture on my mobile phone, pop it into Photoshop and get a serviceable result, why do I need to hire a pro?”

The answer is simple. A professional photographer delivers reliability, experience and the technical knowledge required to ensure that what’s being photographed is portrayed in the best possible light.

Which means that you won’t have to face the wrath of your boss when the photos from that $40,000 event just don’t turn out as planned.

I recently offered two posts with advice for clients tasked with shooting executive portraits. Portraits focus on a company’s personalities. But a corporation also has a personality of its own, which can often be even harder to capture than that of a small team of leaders. It’s a feeling that’s ingrained in the company’s work sites, products, employees and brands.

When those sites are scattered around the world, when the products range from soap to financial services and when the employees number in the tens of thousands, communicating that personality becomes a very special test of a photographer’s skills. That’s especially true when the means of communicating that personality is through the firm’s annual report.

The Most Important Shareholder Communication

The annual report is the most important formal communication that public companies have with their shareholders. Although a large corporation may have many different ways of appearing to the public, none is more important than the yearly account the firm provides to its owners.

The figures are vital, of course, and so are the reports of the company’s achievements and successes over the previous 12 months. But the images the report contains have to communicate that success, the company’s self assurance and its dedication to continued growth—and do it all at a glance.

This is not something that a stock agency can supply. Shareholders and investors want to the see the company’s employees and the corporation’s offices, not generic images of happy workers and busy desks. They want to see who will be taking their capital and how those funds are likely to be put to use. They want to gain a feel for the company as well as an understanding of its fields of operation.

Good photographs in an annual report inspire confidence, tell shareholders what their company is doing and reassure them that their investments are being employed effectively. Weak images or photographs that are not of the highest quality can create doubt in the mind of the viewer and raise questions about the company’s professionalism.

Expressiveness Combined with Technical Perfection

Photographs used in an annual report should have two characteristics to be of the highest quality. They must be technically perfect: focused, balanced and free of noise and distortion. And they must be expressive.

Any skilled photographer can shoot a picture of a location that shows what a storage tank looks like or how the bottles roll off the production line. An experienced photographer for annual reports, though, knows how to view a location and understand where the stories lie, what those stories say, and how to capture them in an image.

Says Ryan Pyle, a Shanghai-based photographer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Fortune and Time, and who regularly shoots annual reports for Black Star’s corporate clients:

An image used in an annual report has to be perfect. It has to capture the moment, it has to be representative of the company and its work at that time and that place.

Technically it can’t be too creative or strange, it needs to be sharp, clear and crisp, leaving no room for confusion or misunderstanding. Every image has to invoke a clear and strong statement about what Company X is doing in their particular space.

Collaborating with Art Directors

It’s in defining the statement that the real challenge of photographing for annual reports lies. Usually, that decision will be left to the art directors, but they tend to provide different levels of instruction to photographers.

Some art directors may have a very clear idea of the type of images they want and the style in which they would like the photographs to be taken. Others may provide a more general direction, allowing the photographer to take the lead and decide on the best images to produce based on the location and the opportunities available at the time.

Each approach carries both advantages and disadvantages to the client—and both present challenges to the photographer.

Close direction can produce greater efficiency, making it clear to the photographer exactly what sort of images the art director is looking for and reducing the margin for error. Although photographers will always be happiest shooting images with complete freedom, professional photographers understand that they are creating images that have to serve a purpose.

To do that successfully, they need to know what that purpose is and, ideally, how the client would like the images to appear. One way to provide this direction is to supply samples of previous work. This provides a visual guideline to the kind of imagery the company likes to use and lays a foundation on which the photographer can build.

The art director can also be present on the shoot, a situation which few professional photographers will object to if the result is a more efficient use of time and resources.

The photographer wants to complete the work as quickly and smoothly as possible and to present the client with a broad choice of top-quality, usable images when the shoot is finished and the post-production has been completed.

Says Kenneth Hayden, a Black Star photographer who has been shooting professionally for almost a quarter of a century:

I want to know things like the “look” being sought, how the image will be used and what we are trying to communicate. It makes for a more efficient shoot and involves less of the subject’s or facility’s time. I can then get in and out quicker while maintaining quality and creative integrity.

The alternative approach is to provide very loose direction, granting the photographer the freedom to decide which images are most likely to meet the client’s needs. As long as the direction is focused enough so that the photographer doesn’t have to second guess what the client will like—and what the company is likely to reject—the results can still be the right photographs with minimum intervention on the part of the company.

Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

This kind of approach is particularly important in situations in which not all the elements are under the photographer’s—or the art director’s—control.

Shoots for annual reports often depend on people and objects being in the right place at the right time, but it’s not unusual to find that the room that has been set aside for the shoot is locked or double-booked, that the machinery the photographer is meant to photograph has developed problems, or that the truck bringing the products has failed to arrive or has brought the wrong items. Outdoor locations, too, depend on the weather, which never seems to take into account an annual report’s production schedule.

In these situations, the photographer must be informed enough to understand what the art director is looking for—but also creative and experienced enough to find a substitute shot that still achieves the desired effect. That makes the choice of photographer particularly important.

Just as an executive portrait photographer needs to be confident and diplomatic, a photographer shooting images for an annual report needs to have a set of abilities that go beyond an understanding of f-stops and light levels.

Qualities of a Good Annual Report Photographer

A good annual report photographer needs to be able to work closely to direction, listening to the art director and following instructions so that the company’s representative remains in control of the shoot’s results. But he also needs to be independent enough to make decisions for himself based on the guidelines provided.

Just as importantly, the photographer must be experienced and professional enough to take charge of the shoot itself, managing his crew and his assistants.

Photographing images for annual reports doesn’t always involve one man or woman and a camera. Often, it’s the work of a team that understands how the lead photographer operates and which can function together efficiently, even as the team members are moving heavy lighting equipment or directing people who may be needed for the shoot. It’s a job that requires leadership as well as the ability to translate an idea into an image.

Says Pyle:

The biggest challenge involved in corporate photography is getting used to the control you have, and how to exercise that control effectively. As a corporate photographer you can control the scene, the lighting, the people, the mood, the motion . . . everything is in your control and is your responsibility.

A corporate photographer is essentially a still movie director, communicating with everyone to be in the right place at the right time with the right lighting.

Finding a photographer who can bring all of these qualities to a shoot for an annual report isn’t easy. That’s why the photographers that Black Star commissions on behalf of its corporate clients have to undergo a stringent acceptance process before being assigned projects for annual reports.

The Black Star Way

Our staff reviews dozens of portfolios every week, rejecting most of the photographers whose work they assess. That’s because in addition to looking at the pictures themselves, we want to get a sense of who the photographer is, how he or she thinks and how they operate when on location.

We want to see that the photographer’s images display creativity and imagination, as well as technical skills and a close attention to detail. We want to see a resume that proves the photographer has worked on large projects in the past, has taken direction and is also capable of independent thought and action.

Above all, we want to see that when we send the photographer to a location, we can trust that photographer to deliver precisely the images that the client needs — on time, every time. Just as an annual report is the most important representation a company sends to its shareholders, our photographers are the most important representatives we send to our clients.

The preceding post is an excerpt from Black Star’s new e-book, “When to Use Assignment Photography.” Download the free e-book here.

Second in a series.

After investigating photographers online and receiving referrals from friends or planners, the next step in finding the perfect wedding photographer is to contact your short list of photographers and schedule an appointment with each. 

Before you meet with a photographer, however, make sure you have set a date and reserved a location. Without both, photographers often can’t guarantee their availability or estimate travel costs.

Here are five tips when meeting with photographers:

Colleen and Toby dance at their reception at Ten Mile Station. They found me by referral from a planner.

1. Interview at least three and meet with your top pick last. By meeting with three photographers, you have a better basis for making a final decision. Besides seeing images online, you get to hear from each photographer, touch and feel the final product (usually a wedding album) and compare pricing. Meeting with your top pick last is better than than meeting them first. Having a basis of comparison is important. It may be the first two photographers you meet with pale in comparison to your top pick — or you could learn that your top pick isn’t really that much different.

2. Focus on the relationship first, not the money. Having a good feeling about the photographer is more important than his or her price. I can guarantee you that a photographer you genuinely like will make better photographs of you than one you don’t. The reason for this is simple: You have to be able to trust them on your wedding day and share your emotions freely with them. Personally, I’m more excited about photographing weddings where I have a good relationship with the couple, know they’re excited about me and my work, and are willing to trust me on their wedding day.

Anna and Dan celebrate with their wedding party after their wedding. I hit it off with Anna and Dan right from the start, so they weren't afraid to show their emotions in front of the camera.

3. Know your budget to avoid sticker shock. You may have seen a photographer’s price point or price list on their Web site. Whatever that is, by establishing a budget for your entire wedding, you can determine what you’re willing to spend for photography. Every couple’s priorities are different. It may be that food or the band or the dress is more important than the photography. It also may be that photography is the most important priority on your wedding day. If the latter is the case, you should be prepared to spend more on your photography. By knowing what you plan to spend in advance, you’re less likely to get sticker shock when considering a photographer’s fee.

Amy and Adam's wedding at the Garden of the Gods Club was really something special. They had a limited budget, but placed a priority on photography.

4. All-inclusive packages can save you money. Most established wedding photographers offer one or more all-inclusive packages. Packages are usually less expensive than if you were to pay for each component individually. The reason for this is that by purchasing a package, you’re meeting the photographer’s minimum price point. In my own business, my starting package includes photography of the entire wedding day, a wedding album and online proofing. This is what I believe to be the necessities for any wedding couple. If you don’t see a package the works for you, don’t be afraid to request a custom quote. Many photographers are happy to provide you with exactly what you want. All you have to do is ask.

5. Be honest if you can’t afford the price. If the photographer’s price is still too high, lay out your budget for them and ask how they can help. Most photographers are flexible, especially if they click with you or think your wedding might be something special. Finally, if you can’t afford the photographer and there isn’t any chance to make it work, ask for a referral. Odds are good they know a photographer with a similar approach that you can afford. It may be the other photographer is not as established, but if you have good rapport and their pictures are good, this may be the right choice for you.

Next: The importance of an engagement sitting and how to plan your wedding day photography. 

Here’s the situation: You’re head of corporate communications for a Fortune 1000 company. You just received a directive from the CEO to coordinate the creation of new office and leadership photos across your entire organization for use in your next annual report.

Sound simple enough? Oh, yeah — I forgot to mention that your corporate headquarters is in the United States, but your company has offices in 22 countries. The photos must be ready within the month to meet a press date, and you’re in charge of meeting that deadline.

Now what?

Do you dash off an e-mail to each office and then pray that they all comply in time for you to go to press?

Even if every office meets your date, how can you be sure that the quality of all the photos is up to par and that they are similar in pose and style according to your instructions?

I’ve got a better idea. Get some help.

Help with the Details

A qualified assignment photography agency can assist you with all the details, start to finish, of scheduling, planning and coordinating multi-location shoots. You just need to find a company that has an outstanding global network of experienced photographers. (Black Star, for example, has photographers around the world that we call on, from China to South Africa, Sydney to Nova Scotia.)

There are three key benefits to enlisting an assignment photography agency:

1. Experienced project coordination. An experienced rep coordinates and double checks the details for you, including dates, locations, and special permissions that may apply.

2. Consistency. By working with one company, you’ll know your photos will be consistent in look and feel, lighting and framing.

3. Quality. You shouldn’t leave this to chance. A reputable assignment photography agency puts their reputation on the line for its customers. The photos you get from your Paris office will be as breathtaking as the photos from Tokyo, Frankfurt and Singapore.

Ask Questions

The thing to remember when hiring an assignment photo agency is to ask questions. Here are a few to get you started:

• What is the average tenure of your photographers?
• What is the nature of their experience?
• Can I talk to the photographers beforehand?
• Do your photographers visit locations in advance to find the best places to shoot and the best time of day or night?

Learn as much as you can about the company and ask for references and portfolio samples.

Once you’re comfortable with the agency you choose, you can concentrate on other work and let them worry about the details. Chance are you’ll get great results — and make your press deadline, too.

First in a series.

‘Tis the season for couples to begin their search for the perfect wedding location, dress, florist — and, of course, photographer. Over the years, I’ve read a lot of the advice offered in wedding magazines, and I thought this year I would provide my own set of tips. 

I can’t speak to picking a wedding gown, but I can tell you a little bit about finding the perfect wedding photographer. Learning your photographic preferences is an important first step. 

Pick a Style

Use the Web to teach yourself about your own likes and dislikes. By viewing a lot of different photographers’ work online, you can quickly get up to speed on the latest trends, and identify styles that you prefer.

A photographer’s Web site can tell you a lot about his or her approach. Is there a broad selection of single images from different weddings, or does the photographer display portfolios from one wedding? 

Are the images candid (in the moment) or is the work more formal and directed? What compositions are typical for the photographer? What lens choices (wide versus telephoto) does the photographer employ? 

Is there a lot of work that is enhanced (soft edges, heavy vignetting, selective color), or does the photographer give it to you straight without much enhancement? 

Whichever style you prefer, by looking at many different photographers’ Web sites, you can teach yourself about the trade and learn about your own preferences.

Ask Around

Once you’ve settled on a wedding date and have a location in mind, you can start your search for a photographer by asking around.

Coordinators will often know of photographers who do a good job. Another option is to check with your friends — particularly those who have recently married. If you were impressed by their pictures, this makes your search much easier! If you attended their wedding and saw the photographer at work, then all the better.

Carrie shares a laugh with her soon-be-husband. Carrie hired me on referral from her friend Kelly, below. They worked together in the same office and Carrie attended Kelly's wedding, saw me at work and hired me for her wedding the following year.

Referrals give you a more comfortable starting point to make your decision. Buyer’s remorse is just as common with weddings as with any large investment, and a referral reduces this risk.

A referral means the photographer has worked for someone else you know, made great pictures, provided exceptional service — and at the end of the day, created a relationship worth talking about.

Next: First contact. What to know about price and how to negotiate.

Does anyone really like having their portrait taken? With the exception of movie stars and rich heiresses, most people don’t relish the idea of getting dressed up and posing for the camera. Sitting under the lights and turning this way and that can be downright intimidating.

Nevertheless, the world demands to see our corporate leaders on our Web sites, press kits and annual reports. How can you capture relaxed, personal yet professional shots of your management team that exude confidence, warmth and leadership? Here are a few ways our photographers do it:

1. Get your subjects out of the office. This serves several purposes. First, it removes distractions and interruptions. Second, it takes your leadership team out of the environment that typically evokes stress, and this is good for their photos. Third, it gives you the opportunity to add interest to your leadership photos and turn them from ordinary into extraordinary. Locations can include a city street or a local park, a rooftop, even a football stadium. It all depends on the personality of your executives, the mood you wish to evoke and, of course, on your schedule.

2. Know your photographer and talk to him/her before the shoot. This can’t be emphasized enough. Let them know what your photographs will be used for, and your expectations for them. What kind of message do you want to send in your photographs? Real-world experience, cutting-edge innovation, technological savvy? This is information your photographer needs in order to help you realize your objectives for the shoot.

Experienced corporate photographers know how to work with executives, and put them at ease while getting lots of great shots. Prep your photographer by letting him or her know about the personalities of their subjects beforehand. This will help the photographer to bring out the best in each subject.

3. Be creative. Ingenuity is important if you want to avoid the “class picture” feel in your executive shots. Even if you are using a photo studio, your photos need not look ordinary. Talk to your photographer about using different backgrounds and lighting techniques, consider shooting black and white.

If your company is in a traditionally conservative business but you want to emphasize vitality, think about business casual dress in lieu of suits and ties. How about a group shot or candid photos taken during a break-out session? One CEO we worked with brought his German Shepherd to the shoot, and the results were marvelous.

The options for capturing exceptional executive photographs are endless. All you have to do is step outside of the traditional notions of executive mug shots. Get inspired!

A successful company may be the sum of its employees, their work and its products, but the human face of a company will often be represented by a small number of people: the CEO, the members of the board, and the officers who make the key decisions. Shareholders, clients and partners may love a company’s brand — but they still want to know who lies behind the strategy and who is setting the direction. They want to know who they’re doing business with.

Executive Portraiture: More Important Than Ever

At a time when so much business is conducted at great distances, when it’s possible to enter into agreements with people on the other side of the globe whom you’ve never met and may never meet, the importance of a portrait that portrays exactly who runs your company—and shows that they’re professional, dedicated and trustworthy—has never been greater.

Executive portraiture turns a corporation into an individual, and it makes personal a relationship built primarily on the exchange of products and services. This is not something that can be obtained through a stock library or through any method other than the hiring of a professional photographer.

And not just any photographer will do.

Although every professional should be capable of creating a picture that reflects the subject’s appearance, an assignment photographer with experience shooting corporate leaders goes further. That photographer knows how to capture the executive’s personality, connect their look and image with the company they represent, and make sure the final images are capable of being used in all the different ways the company’s communications department might need.

Says Michael Robinson, a Black Star photographer with more than 30 years’ experience:

It is important to know what types of uses are planned for the executives’ portraits — so that the lighting and poses can be tailored to fit. If there is a designer or art director working on the project, there is often a style or technique that they are looking for.

Location, Location, Location

Part of helping to ensure that the image reflects that style comes by choosing the right location for the shoot. A portrait behind a desk can say a lot about the executive, but not necessarily about the company. An executive shot on the factory floor or surrounded by visuals that reflect the work of the corporation looks like an executive who is an integral part of his industry and of his company.

Choosing the best location is not always easy—or even possible. Often a company will simply bring the photographer into the executive’s office or the board­ room and expect them to produce — within just a few minutes — a portrait of their CEO.

It can be done, and our photographers do it more often than they’d like, making the most of the location and using different angles and lighting techniques to create photographs that produce a range of effects. Usually, though, it’s far better to select locations that add meaning and impact to the shoot.

Craig Sands, who has been shooting for Black Star since 1987, combines his experience in the media with his skills at portraiture. The result is images that reflect the personality of the executive — but which also tell a story about the company and the executive’s role within it. Explains Craig, who has worked for publishers that include The Kansas City Star and the National Geographic Society:

I continue to approach my work as I did in the beginning… as a photojournalist. A little research on the person and the business and environment, and a little planning always helps the shoot go smoother.

If we need to get it done good but quick, I have to have my gear ready and be analytical and decisive while picking the best options from the location. If I have someone willing to try something artistic and innovative, I certainly take advantage and let my creative side take over.

Avoiding the Rush

Of course, shooting situations are rarely perfect. It’s rare for a top executive to be able to block out a large chunk of time from an overfilled schedule to stand in front of a lens. In most cases, although shoots might last between 30 minutes and an hour, the executive will be keen to move on to the next meeting or in a hurry to get back to their desk.

While this is understandable, a look of impatience rarely makes for a good portrait. That’s why a good executive photographer also needs to know how to shoot quickly and how to put the subject at ease so that they’re not looking at their watch or wondering how much longer the shoot will last.

It’s a problem that Craig Sands solves by involving the executive in the shoot. He explains right at the beginning how much time he’ll need for the set­up, how long the shoot will last and how many images he’s likely to create—as well as what effect he’s looking for from the different lighting and angles. Says Craig:

These are smart people and pretty much everyone is interested in photography. If they understand what I’m doing and how long it will likely take, they will be more comfortable throughout.

Achieving that level of comfort is always key to a successful portrait shoot, but when executives are the subject, it can also present a unique challenge for the photographer—one that requires skills that go beyond technical knowledge of the camera and even experience at creating portraits.

Executives are used to making decisions and taking the lead. They usually set the terms, and they expect others to follow. Being in charge is their role in the company — and it will often form part of the impression the photographer wants to create in the image.

When sitting for a portrait, however, the executive is not in control. He has to follow the photographer’s instructions. The photographer has to feel free to make the decisions that will lead to the best image—and the executive has to be trusting and patient enough to allow the photographer to complete the work.

Michael Robinson says this takes skill, and diplomacy, to pull off: “Most high level executives are too busy and stressed out to be ideal portrait subjects.”

Advance Preparation by the Client and Photographer

Part of the solution is good preparation—not just by the photographer but also by the company. When the company’s communications department has properly briefed the executive on what will happen, and has set aside a suitable amount of time in his or her schedule, subjects tend to be more relaxed and the shoots tend to go more smoothly.

Good preparation can also help with locations, especially if the photographer is allowed on site before the shoot begins so that he can look for the best angles and begin setting up even before the executive arrives.

Preparation can prevent problems with dress, too — often an element to which the executive might give little thought, but which can convey a great deal of information. A vice president of marketing, for example, may need to be photographed in a business suit to show that he’s a part of the business world, but the head of research at a pharmaceutical company would portray expertise by being photographed in a white lab coat. The young CEO of a software company, meanwhile, might show that her firm has its finger on the pulse by looking relaxed in jeans and a sweater.

Ultimately, though, the client’s preparation should start with hiring a top-level professional photographer—someone confident enough in their own skills to take charge of the shoot. It takes someone who is not afraid to give instructions—even to a subject more used to giving guidance than receiving it—and someone who has the experience to deliver those directions in a way that creates results.

The preceding post is an excerpt from Black Star’s new e-book, “When to Use Assignment Photography.” Download the free e-book here.