Reasons to Hire a Professional Brand Photographer
Professional photography is an essential marketing tool across a variety of businesses. Whether you are a product-based business that sells anything from high-end jewelry to electronics, or a service business based locally, original, high-quality photos elevate your brand to look more professional and provide a positive first impression for your clients.
Professional photos featuring your brand can be used on your website, social media pages, online ads, or however you want to advertise your business to your clients. While photography spans across many niches, I’ll mainly be focusing specifically on commercial brand photography for businesses.
Professional Photography Equipment
As a starting point, I want to make it clear that you don’t need to have the most expensive camera body or lens in order to take great photos. However if you’re hiring a professional photographer within any niche, chances are they’ve put time into understanding their equipment and are able to use their knowledge in order to get the most out of each photoshoot to ensure that the client is happy.
Beyond the camera itself, we also invest in other equipment and parts of our business like editing software, memory cards, softboxes, and more.
Photography Experience
In addition to using the necessary photography equipment for each shoot, we also understand the technical aspects that go into taking the actual photo. You’ll find that photographers in different niches might have more experience in a certain aspect of photography than others. But I’ll name a few general topics:
Creative Direction: For photographers that work with models, actors, or on-camera talent, we have to make sure that the subject being photographed is comfortable and direct them. As a lifestyle photographer, I work with a lot of models and actors for commercial, fashion, and branding shoots for businesses. I have also worked with business owners who aren’t regularly on-camera.
Lighting: Whether you’re shooting in a studio with artificial light or outdoors in natural light, photographers need to have an understanding of how lighting works in a photo and the best way to utilize the light source for the shoot.
Composition: This might seem like a basic topic to bring up, but an understanding of composition is foundational and essential in a photoshoot. We especially need to take composition in mind if clients have a specific use for their photo (as a website banner overlaid with text, on certain social media sites, etc.)
Time Management: This point will vary depending on your business, but if you or your team is incredibly busy and you don’t have time to go through the logistics of producing a photoshoot, then hiring a professional photographer might be a great way to save time that you can be putting into other parts of your business.
For example, I find locations and provide casting for commercial brand clients who need a model for their photoshoot.
When to Hire A Professional Brand Photographer
Now that we’ve talked about reasons why you might want to hire a professional photographer, I figured I should discuss some examples of when is the best time to hire a photographer.
Launching a Brand Advertising Campaign: For product launches and advertising campaigns, you want your brand to garner positive attention from new potential clients. If you want to appear as a high-end brand, then your marketing materials (like your photos and videos) should reflect that, as well. You’ll want to work with a photographer who understands your business and will know how to tell your brand’s story through images.
Updating your Website: Whether you’re a new business creating your website for the first time, or if you are looking to update your branding with new images, hiring a professional photographer can be a great investment for your business to use for your marketing. If you sell your services or products through your website, you want to make sure that you leave potential clients with a positive first impression.
High-Profile Brand Events: When it comes to events that are high-stakes or that will be used for your marketing, you’ll want to hire a professional photographer who knows not only how to take great photos, but who will also have excellent time management (and possibly stamina) depending on how long the event is.
