The marketing mix has definitely changed over the years. Never more so in the latest crisis. There is increasing emphasis on online content and social media awareness.
This makes it so important that you make the best use of your marketing and PR photography.
The immediacy of modern platforms and the sheer quantity of data being put out there means that your post can disappear in moments.
The key to success is consistency and regular posting. This means that there is a continuing requirement for PR and marketing photography.
There are a number of ways to achieve this…
You could enlist the services of a professional, who will give you the right quality of image to make your business stand out. Another is to keep things in house, although this may compromise things somewhat as quality and consistency may vary.
To mitigate this you can train the operatives and give them exact criteria and briefs. Of course, photography training is another service that I provide and I have recently run one to one sessions for an estate agency and a catering organisation.
For more information about 121 training please visit my tuition page.
As it is now the right time to think about and book this type of shoot, I thought that I would showcase a case study to highlight where I can help.
For more information, please check my Events & PR page.
PR & Marketing photography – case study
Ground Control – Childrens Garden at Kew
I was contacted by the designers and installers of the new childrens garden at Kew Gardens. They required publicity shots of their big reveal to the families of people who work at Kew Gardens.
The benefit for me to receive a fully detailed brief for PR and marketing photography is that I have a reference point to work to. This means that I will capture all of the shots required by the client. The brief given was to capture publicity shots of the newly designed and built childrens garden.
They wanted an overview of the gardens before the official opening and also required images capturing the children enjoying the garden. This was for their website, social media and PR. My point of liaison was the marketing manager.
The garden was designed to be a fun interactive space to encourage children to climb, run, jump and explore. It was based around 4 zones featuring the things needed to thrive and grow – earth, air, sun and water.
The central feature of the garden is a 4m high canopy walk around a 200 year old oak tree. There is also a bamboo tunnel and a water feature that represents a stream, including water pumps and dam gates that open.
Many of you are aware that I specialise in residential interior photography however, you may not know that I also cover commercial interiors too.
Introduction
Recently I have undertaken a commercial interiors shoot for a construction company tasked with re-furbishing serviced offices for Regus. The purpose of this shoot was to complete a case study and other marketing material.
Follow the brief
It is of the utmost importance to work to the clients brief when undertaking this sort of work. You need to know what is important to them and how they want the finished set of shots to look.
Of course, the brief for this shoot was particularly exacting with annotated building plans supplied. Care needed to be taken as some of the rooms had been refurbished previously.
The challenges
One challenging area was to capture the foyer as it was a large space that occupied the full height of the building.
A specialist tilt shift lens came to the fore here. I could utilise the movement available to take a number of images covering each area of the space. The images were then stitched and blended later in post-production.
Of course you need to think outside the box on occasion as you are not in complete control of the situation.
On this shoot I had to rely on the office manager to gain access to certain areas. He was of course very busy, so a degree of patience was required.
You are also reliant on the British weather while working outside. In this particular case it was pouring with rain all morning and there was a requirement to capture the front of the building as well as the HVAC on the roof.
Of course, I had some appropriate clothing, and the camera is well waterproofed. The problem is ensuring rain does not get on the lens as this can cause problems.
I would love to hear from you
If your company has a need for some commercial interiors’ photography, I would love to hear from you.
It was perhaps my dream referral when I was introduced by a networking colleague to carry out interiors’ photography for an expanding chain of pubs.
Background
Initially, I was called to a meeting to discuss food photography. (See previous blog post –The Art of the food-photographer ) At the meeting I thought it best to set out my pitch by showing examples of work previously carried out for another pub. Although the idea was to show just the food aspect, their head of marketing seemed more interested in my interior photography. By the time the meeting was over I had confirmation of interior shoots for 8 of their 10 outlets.
Logistics for the shoots proved to be somewhat complicated. I needed to time all of the shoots to occur before each venue had put up their Christmas decorations. As the shoots were for their updated website, they needed to be timeless so full Christmas decor would be inappropriate. This extended to publicity material on display too.
Importance of a brief
For any client wanting commercial photography work, I always ask for a full brief as to what it is they want and how they hope the resulting images will be. This is very important as I need to get to know my client and their culture and ethos.
This is what sets me apart from others as I am tuned to their wavelength. I need to understand the ambience that they wished to create. For the client, the emphasis was that they were family-friendly pubs with an ethos based around excellent customer service.
All of the pubs are quite quirky too. There were lots of nooks and crannies where you are able to get a little privacy. They also have lots of knick knacks about so all those little details were crucial to capture in order to showcase the personality of the restaurant and owners.
The shoots
With kit packed and post code loaded it was off for the first of a series of shoots. For each shoot I was either accompanied by Rachel the marketing manager or else Ben the website developer. It was not long before I picked up on the consistent styling and branding across the pubs. I started to recognise the corporate blue. This was evident in every location usually in the bar area. Even though each pub had its own unique look and identity, the branding ran consistently throughout the chain. The company that refurbishes all of their premises had done an excellent job.
It was really important to get input from Rachel as she knew what was important which ensured each shoot progressed smoothly. She was also an extra pair of eyes to check all of the details. this is very important when you are engrossed in the job in hand. It would not be the first or last time that I would set up a shot and then find that I had left my camera bag in view. It is always best to check around the viewfinder before you commit to the shot. Other details such as marketing materials that would date the shoot needed to be checked and removed.
Gradually a pattern developed which lead to the photo shoots becoming easier to conduct, manage and overall flow better. Consistency became the name of the game in order to preserve the corporate look and branding throughout all of the shoots. With all of the little details picked out too, it meant that Ben had plenty of material to use to make each of the pubs really stand out.
So, what is the purpose of food photography when it comes to marketing?
This is an interesting question, as things have changed in the last few years. No longer do you find food photography with set up shots, often with fake ingredients – so no more mashed potato ice cream, sauces substituted by motor oil or use of brown shoe polish to give meat that fresh roasted look!
The modern food photographer has to work a little harder now in order to perfect their craft.
You just need a great set up, good organisation and perfect timing to get the food looking at its best.
In the last few years food photography has become very popular. This is in part due to the success of the Pink Lady ‘Food Photographer of the Year’ competition. It has spawned a whole new breed of food photographers. The emphasis is not just on the food itself but to the aesthetics surrounding the plate. They are looking for colour and texture. They use raw ingredients to help tell the story. The rise of social media has helped with many sharing their images on Instagram and for many it is a great hobby.
So, what is the aim?
You should aim to make it look so real that the viewer can almost smell the food and hear the sizzle. For the client they are looking for a realistic representation of their craft. The food should look fresh and succulent. It should look inviting and make the viewer hungry. It should show the context and include a hint of the surroundings – vitally important if you are working for a restaurant.
The context for the shoot
I was commissioned by the Barons Pub Company who are undergoing re-development of their existing website. They had realised during the review that there was a distinct lack of suitable food photography on their site. While preparing for the shoot I referred to the points of culture from the client to ensure that the images fitted their ethos and reflected their branding. For them the importance was to show the food in a way that appealed to families, so they included items from the kids menu. They also wanted to emphasise the surroundings of a friendly welcoming pub. The food needed to be presented in a way that gave a lasting impression.
As the aim was to highlight the food and to make it look very natural, I decided that natural light would play a role in the set up – so found a table close to the window which luckily was north facing. This provided a nice back light to the food, but it was not enough to light the food as I wanted.
The decision was made to add some artificial light which needed to be as natural as possible. This was achieved by using a Lastolite highlight background to give a very soft flood of light. These are designed to be a background for high key portrait photography, but they are also excellent at producing what looks like natural window light.
To fine tune the lighting, I also used some small reflector panels and black boards to remove light where required.
I was recently given the privilege to undertake some Christmas concert photography covering the annual concert for the two Elmbridge choirs.
This was a spectacular event that took place in Christ Church in Woking. The two Elmbridge choirs are very well known in my home area.
The evening boasted a full house of 300 who enjoyed seasonal music from the superb 90-voice Elmbridge Ladies Choir and the marvellously entertaining 130-strong Elmbridge Choir, led by Cliff van Tonder – Founder and CEO of Surrey Music.
Surrey Music was founded in 2005. The founder’s drive, ambition and exuberance are well recognised, not only to the members of Surrey Music but to the local community as a whole. Over the years more than £175,000 has been raised for charitable causes and many hundreds of people have benefited from his commitment. Cliff has recently been honoured with a British Citizen Award for services to the Arts.
Guest Artists: Chase Adams and Elite Elton
Chase Adams is an up and coming singer/songwriter who hails from Brighton. Chase has been performing for around 12 years and lists his influences as Bruno Mars, Adam Lambert, Maroon 5 and Ed Sheeran. Elite Elton is the UK’s premier Elton John tribute act. Kevin Clay (‘Elton’) is a very close lookalike who performs a huge repertoire of Sir Elton John’s songs. He took to the stage in typically flamboyant fashion and at the end had everyone on their feet for Crocodile Rock.
The concert
The concert was opened by Chase Adams who gave a very soulful performance, delighting the audience with his superb voice. Following this was the spectacular entrance of the 90 strong Elmbridge Ladies Choir to the tune of ‘Here Come The Girls’, led by their Musical Director Christine Parker. Their repertoire included a varied programme, from traditional carols to an African lullaby with percussion accompaniment.
It was then the turn of Kevin Clay and his alter-persona of Elite Elton. His entrance was even more spectacular as he was wearing a sequined jacket and topped with a straw boater. On stage there was a baby grand piano surrounded by the choir. He performed the majority of Sir Elton John’s best-known songs of which there are many and returned later as an older Elton with a sparkly purple shirt.
The highlight of the evening was the 130 strong Elmbridge mixed choir. Their repertoire included traditional carols and some songs featured in Frozen and The Greatest Showman. Cliff van Tonder was absolutely mesmerising as their conductor and knew how to get the best out of all the performers.
The evening turned out to be particularly brilliant and it was a total pleasure to be involved in the Christmas concert photography for both of the choirs.
I love those more interesting shoots – something that is completely different. Recently I received a commission for some interiors photography for a company that was diversifying into the Smart Home sector.
Background
ACC Haus is an offshoot of ACC (Application Centric Computing) Ltd. The company is headed up by Jeff Jones.
Jeff is an IT pioneer specialising in technical product development and has over 100 press awards under his belt.
In 2015 Jeff decided to completely refurbish his 1920’s built home. He particularly wanted to take advantage of the latest in Smart Home technology.
He decided to make the property as energy efficient as possible. Also important were effective control and monitoring solutions.
Before deciding to start work Jeff initially conducted a full review of the smart building market. He decided to work with some industry-leading partners. Smart control systems were designed which could be accessed from multiple devices. This ranged from a PC down to a mobile device.
The technology
At the heart of the project are the latest innovations in space heating , control systems and security. The concept is more appealing as everything had minimalism in mind.
Initially, the existing gas fired boiler and radiators were removed. They were replaced with an internal air source heat pump to boost hot water. Secondly, far-infrared (FIR) heat panels were introduced.
These are designed to be heated to around 100 degrees C and produce long wavelength infrared. This energy is only absorbed by matter. This means that heat is not wasted by warming the air in the building.
Allergy sufferers find that dust is less of a problem as no convection air currents are set up.
The panels are fitted to the ceilings where they take up less space and one was also incorporated into the bathroom mirror.
As a back up, there is an efficient wood burning facility built into the property. This is in case of extreme temperatures or power cuts.
Solar panels generate most of the power used by the system even in winter. The unusual thing about the panels were that they were inset into the roof, rather than attached to it, saving on roof tiles
Monitoring the property
ACC devised the control systems present in every room where monitoring devices are built into what seem to be simple light switches.
These are high tech control and sensing devices monitoring temperature. They can detect whether someone is present in the room. This can be advantageous as devices can be set to switch off automatically.
Each room can have the temperature controlled separately. Lighting presets can also be set. Music can be piped to each room according to individual tastes.
Security is built into the system as CCTV cameras are installed which can be viewed remotely.
It turned out to be a very interesting to conduct an interiors photography shoot for a smart home. Definitely a view on the future.
