The benefits of commissioning your own photography in preference to stock shots and phone snaps
~ Philip Ewen, Marketing Director, i3 Group Solutions Ltd
As the shutter clicks and the synchronised flash bulbs illuminate the room for milliseconds,
we collectively smile and nod, recognising that what we are about to review on screen will be magical.
It is midday and we are in a brightly lit factory. People are hard at work welding, metal bending, laser cutting and wiring in robotics. The screech of machinery, the bustle of people around us is unrelenting. And yet, in that instantaneous flash, the bright factory lighting is replaced by the photographer’s lights, as if by magic.
Perspective, composition, scale, and the technological advancement of the machine being built, emphasised by the engineer intently focussed on the job. Intricacy, intensity, passion, and pride – communicating everything needed, within a single, powerful image.
It is precisely the juxtaposition of machine and person that conveys emotion in the image.
It shifts the narrative from product alone, to being about the product and its creators.
As a marketeer, I’ve spent over 25 years helping companies launch brands, products, and services. We are tackling the same questions “How do we make a box look appealing?”, “How do we differentiate from the competition?”.
Countless hours spent trawling stock libraries, looking for ‘the image’ that balances what you are trying to communicate yet at the same time looks unique and doesn’t have that ‘library image’ feel. That’s not to say that decent stock photos don’t have their own place in the library – conceptual images to represent specific industries for example.
However, relying on stock or even ‘snaps’ (from the increasingly brilliant phone cameras) can rarely make the real connection between what your business does and the people who do it. It is a natural assumption that your tired, dirty workshop cannot be the right backdrop for any high-quality image. But working with a talented photographer, you will be amazed at what can be done with some clever lighting, angles, shot framing and an artistic eye.
And that’s what a professional photographer brings, the experienced eye to best bring your vision to life. Pictures with soul.
It is easy to overlook, but you really miss a trick if you do. It is also a lot of fun doing it.
The featured photographs are from an assignment with Adrian Waine at Photography for Industry.
Photography: Adrian Waine
Tel. 0151 356 3855 www.photographyforindustry.com
