House Style?

Branding is always an interesting exercise and something that every company should take a look at. Because, no matter what, you are a brand to your customers/audience.

The really interesting part is when you discover that what you think your brand stands for is not what they think your brand stands for.

For example, an excellent graphic designer and branding expert, Christine Conrad Lane, commented that one of my selling features was "No specific house style."

That freaked me for a moment. And, then she continued with "That is important to me." She needs someone who is flexible and skilled enough that they can tell the story that meet her clients' goals.. with whatever tools, props, looks or style that is appropriate.

She finished her branding statement of my photography with "Matt McKee Photography captures reflections of the reality you desire."

Which, come to think of it, is how I see my photography as well!

The image above was originally created for the Spring House on Block Island, art directed by the Hue Brand Group. The original file, as shot, was a nice porch image. But, to get the "reflection of reality that [a potential hotel guest would] desire," I needed to take it further.

Hope you enjoy it!

People or Product?

Oh, the tough questions!

"I see you do people and products... and locations. So, what do you really like to do?"

This question supposes that I am approaching photography strictly from a subject stand point. That is, I am specializing in studio work or location work or whatever.

Actually, I approach it from a story telling stand point.

For example, the product photography that you may have seen on this blog and on my site is quite a bit different than what you might see in a catalog or Sunday newspaper. Those images, which require as much skill and finesse, are about commodities. The objects are there to be sold based on the description or at face value.

The images I create go one step further. They include a story about what the object is or does. More specifically, what problem does it solve for the potential buyer.

This goes around the buyer's question of which product is cheaper and goes to "I have this problem that is driving me crazy and this will fix it!"

So, what does this have to do with the gentleman in the image above?

His job is to install cabling for commercial network applications. He needed to look appealing to his target market, which were C level people. He needed to look like he knew what he was doing, was tough enough to get the job done and was a highly trained, highly paid professional who would make these C level people feel and look good.

I was told that the image was submitted with a press release to a major magazine for a business profile. It got picked up. The magazine's normal profile has a headshot that is reproduced about the size of a postage stamp, with a short paragraph to go with it. This image got them a half page space with two columns of editorial copy.

An effective marketing tool? You bet!

A Good Marketing Quote and Hair

I was sitting in a client's office the other day, talking about an upcoming project for a concept based still life. The conversation rolled around to the effectiveness of cutting back on marketing to save a buck.

He pulled out a piece of paper with one of the most apropos quotes I have seen in a long time.

"He who stops advertising to try and save money could just as easily stop his watch to try and save time."

Neither of us know who said it. He got it from one of his clients. If you know who to credit for it, let me know!

The poster above is another in the series I have been creating for the Footlight Club, America's Oldest Community Theater.

As always, a lot of fun and creativity went into the preplanning for the shoot. In retrospect, the shoot itself was kind of quiet, as Jason, the stylist on set and our model, wrestled with the wigs to get strategic coverage.

Speaking of good marketing quotes, I found a very interesting article on the Freelanceswitch.com site that talked about marketing and publicity design. It was specifically about designing for publicity, but, like most marketing, the principles can apply anywhere!

Where to Photograph 11 People?

"Oh, the group portrait? We needed to add a few people. We have 11 now."

Frustrating? Actually, exhilarating!

How do you create a group portrait for marketing purposes, anyway?

For me and my team, unless there is an extremely compelling reason, we try to stay off the plain, vanilla hung background and find something interesting in the environment. Something that will talk about the team we are photographing.

In this case, the end client ran a restaurant style dining hall. It was a well designed and lit space, with interesting colors and graphic elements. It also allowed us to build layers into the composition.

We balance the daylight, ambient and added a couple of strobes to punch up the dark areas and then started adding the people in one by one. All in all, it was about a two hour set up to complete.

Was it worth the time it took? The best answer I can think of to that is to think like a magazine editor. If you were laying out an article about these folks and wanted to get the readers' attention, what would you put on the cover: a couple of plain headshots or an image with rich colors that tells the story? What would you want to see if you were reading the story?

Looking for Bug Props

I am on a search for bugs to be used as scale for product photography.

I have done some looking around and found lots of ready made framed and mounted pieces that are beautiful but the bugs don't come out easily. And they are often in the wrong position.

I know, I could take the time to learn to pose them myself, but, like everything I do with photography, I prefer to surround myself with people who are great at what they do. It means that the final result is so much better.

This specimen above has been used in a number of shoots but is starting to get pretty ragged. He doesn't have any legs left and there is only a half an antenna left. Poor guy needs to be retired.

If you have access to someone who can pose a butterfly, bumble bee, dragonfly or lady bug, get in touch with me.

Thanks!