Business Photographer For Out-of-the-Box Media
Covered in this post—
Redefine storytelling through corporate photos
Integrating landscape into business photos
Embracing human interaction
Tell your company’s story with a professional photographer
Iconic photographer Ernst Haas once said, “I am not interested in shooting new things – I am interested to see things new.” That inspiration can seemingly fall short when you look at the bland menagerie of most business photography.
The play-it-safe business attitude regarding photography isn’t anything new. A quick search and you will quickly find images of office chairs, board rooms, and less-than-enthusiastic employees. The good news is that the advent of social media and content marketing has opened the door for businesses to think outside of the box and get more creative with how they use photos.
The fact is creative photography and videography have the ability to help your business tell its story, connect with your audience on a different level, and expand your brand awareness.
It might seem like you are jumping into the deep end, especially if others in your industry are still playing it safe, but the days of stuffy office photos are thankfully in the rearview mirror.
The Mark Campbell Productions team has been helping Chicago-based businesses tell their story for over a decade. With years of experience under our belt and a team of amazing photographers and videographers, we can help redefine your brand’s story and grow your business’ footprint.
Redefine Storytelling Through Corporate Photos
If we were to ask you to describe the quintessential Nike ad, what would it look like? Your mind might go to a trail runner, with mountains in the background. Or a basketball player retying his shoes as he gets ready to jump into the fray.
These images tell a story that is incredibly familiar, and your corporate images have the same potential. The key – you have to look at it through a different lens.
Integrate Local Landscape
While there certainly aren’t any imposing mountains in the Windy City, Chicago has more than it’s fair share of diverse and thriving business sectors. Iconic locations like the Magnificent Mile might be the first thing your mind settles on, but it is far from the only choice available.
Integrating your local community or landscape into your corporate photos is a great way to set yourself apart. It shows that your business is tied to the community, which will resonate with your customers and instill pride in your team.
Planning is essential because different parts of the city come alive at different times during the day. Capturing rush hour traffic might not be the most glamorous, even if it is incredibly raw and real. Working with a locally-based photographer will help as they will know how to squeeze every ounce of the Windy City out of your project.
Experience Is Essential
Smartphones are great for business, and they can be an amazing photography tool. That doesn’t mean that everyone that has a camera in their pocket is a professional photographer. Examples of corporate photos taken with a smartphone and haphazardly posted are far too common.
Hiring an amateur photographer might be budget-friendly, but their shots are likely all going to look the same. This is in part because they use one camera, which may or may not have interchangeable lenses, and more importantly, they are only there to get the picture – not tell a story.
Experienced professional photographers take a standard shot list and offer a dozen directions that each photo can go. Every shot has different variables that a professional is trained to take into account to get the most out of each image.
Pro Tip → Knowing that a shot needs to be taken at f2.8 with a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second only comes with experience and can be the difference between a good photo and a great one.
Embrace Human Interaction
In the grand scheme of brand storytelling, people should always be at the center of every shot. Even as the world moves to more and more technology, people do business with people, they work for people, so people need to be the focal point.
This means that human interaction and emotion are essential to the equation. Tapping into emotion sucks your audience into the photo, putting them in a specific time and place. The setting is important, but the connection between team members, eventgoers, or the leadership team is what makes an image have a lasting impact.
Pro Tip → As you plan with your photographer look for key moments where interactions naturally occur, such as greetings, goodbyes, demonstrations, or giveaways.
Be Unique
If you are incorporating specific locales, people, or events, don’t be afraid to go against the grain. Cookie-cutter images don’t stand out, and your audience only has limited bandwidth for vanilla images. Each click of the shutter is a chance to capture another small piece of your story, those opportunities cannot be wasted.
This may mean giving the photographer some creative freedom when conducting the shoot. Explain what you are looking for and how the images will potentially be used, but allowing some creative freedom will open the door to content that might never have crossed your mind.
Power In Numbers
Unless you are scheduling headshots for your team, chances are the photo shoot will be dynamic, requiring the photographer to cover a lot of ground to get all of the shots on your shot list. Rather than running a single photographer ragged, leverage a production company that can dedicate multiple photographers to your next event or corporate outing.
Not only do you get better coverage, but no two photographers look at a single shot in the same way. Each will bring a unique perspective and give you a variety of options once post-production is wrapped up.
Pro Tip → Additional manpower also makes it possible for different types of camera equipment to be used simultaneously. Combine images for sizzle reels, or for added perspective in ads.
Tell Your Company’s Story With Professional Photography
Few tools have a lasting impact on brand awareness like high-quality photography and videography. Great images can create lasting impressions, evoke emotion, and generate action, creating value that extends beyond the event, or company outing. With something so valuable in the balance, it pays to have a professional photography team in your corner.
Since 2009, Mark Campbell Productions has worked with hundreds of Chicago-based companies. Our goal is to help bring your business to life through still images and exciting videography. Backed by a world-class staff of production managers, photographers, and videographers, we are ready to take your vision to the next level.
Learn more about our team, our customers, and get started with a quote today.