Professional Photography and Your Business, the Reason Why You Ought to Call The Pro!

I'll give nearly anything a go, call me a Do it yourself nut but I've adopted a "I can do anything" philosophy to most parts of my life and over-all this has proven to serve me pretty well.  I've saved thousands of pounds and days worth of time along with being rewarded with a rather sanctimonious feeling of self worth too.

A few years ago my love of "Do It Yourself" was pushed to its limits when I decided to modernize an almost dilapidated house.  Armed only with a scruffy copy of a DIY bible, a few elderly hand me down tools and a powerful burning desire not to be beat, I went about discovering how to do basic wiring, plumbing, decorating and even building.  There's no question that I saved a small fortune by undertaking some of these basics myself but when it came down to some more expert jobs, I phoned a tradesman.  The rationale why are obvious.  Firstly it would take me years of training and work experience just to learn their unique craft, then I would have to spend hundreds if not thousands of pounds in specialist tools and equipment, next it would take me days to do a job that'd take a  capable  tradesman just a few hours to finish and in conclusion and most crucial of all was quality of the final job, not only do I not want my house falling down as a result of a fumbled knock through but also it's got to look great in order to eventually sell the house on and make a profit!

Well I'm no tradesman, I won't testify to be an expert plumber, plasterer or electrician but I have been a working photographer now for more than 14 years and feel that the very same rules apply in deciding whether or not to employ a photographer.

Commercial photographers are so pricey to hire so why should you bother going broke when you could just set-up your product on a heavy-duty table, acquire a couple of desk lamps and get snapping with your new 600 megapixel compact camera?  Clearly the funds saved could go towards obtaining that new website you've been promising yourself?  Well as you could probably deduce I disagree, I wouldn't make a tremendous photographer if I can't even legitimize my own existence!

If you're merely flogging a few old belongings on ebay then sure give it a go yourself.  No one browsing ebay is going to give a monkeys whether or not your old fridge freezer is faultlessly lit, beautifully composed, in focus or bathed in a dirty orange caste or not, right?  Well maybe not but suppose the next fridge freezer listed comes with a whole assortment of amazing photographs and worse is less costly than yours to buy.  Which one are they going to select?  I'm not advising that you start employing a professional photographer just to flog your old junk on ebay but with any luck this shows a principle which is in essence the same in all types of business; if a immediate competitors brochure is artfully designed with striking photography but your brochure was thrown together by a mate with a copy of Indesign with photographs shot badly on his pocket digicam... you can guess the rest.  But this isn't just about short term sales it's about your brand image, would you prefer to be remembered as amateurish and ordinary or slick, professional and distinctive?

In conclusion I could try to encourage the use of professional photography by bleeting on and on about extensive education, wisdom and experience, our extraordinary creative eye, the expensive hardware and technology we continually invest in and of course the consistent quality and reliability you can count on as a result; but ultimately I feel that if you value your business branding and really understand the importance of standing out from the crowd in an over crowded marketplace you'll already grasp why you should call in a pro!