Why use a professional photographer for PR?

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A few years’ ago, after experiencing intense frustration with a lack of images available to accompany press releases for clients, I made a small investment. I bought a Nikon DSLR camera.

Now, I have a background in working with images. I was for many years a video producer and occasional director. I’m not bad a framing a picture. My photos have been featured in magazines, newspapers and websites.

However, I am not a photographer. I do my best but I have limited technical knowhow. My photos rarely have that extra sparkle that a news editor, for example, is looking for. I’m not doing myself down here, there’s a place for my type of photograph. However…

Robin Rea 1 My mini case study is a visual one. On the left, a photo I took for lovely client, Robin Rea of the Rusty Pig restaurant. On the right, a photo taken by the talented Andy Johnstone of Wild Dog Productions.

Sue Cade PortraitSue Cade ProfileAnd here I shall, without vanity, expose myself. On the left, a photo of me taken with my camera by my delightful teenage daughter. On the right, one taken by Matt Austin of Matt Austin Images.

I commissioned Matt to take a series of profile pics for me for business use. He swears he didn’t use Photoshop, just a ‘beautifier’ lamp… (I am currently attempting to find a portable version to attach permanently to my head).

The moral of the story is, if you can possibly afford to employ a photographer, do. They are worth their weight in gold. And they may not be as expensive as you think.

I love my camera. I mainly love my camera because it’s red and almost foolproof. But I love a professional photograph more.

A picture paints a thousand words

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I have never been a natural in front of the camera – preferring to remain on the other side of the lens. In school group photos I always snuck to the back, and in family photos the one pulling the face, yes you’ve guessed it, that was me. When I worked in video production as a producer and scriptwriter, I occasionally appeared in shot, but only the back of my head as I filled in as an extra.

Obviously with the rise of social media a photo is a necessity – but from my point of view an evil one. So when someone mentioned every photo of me on the Internet was the same, a picture of me positioned ‘casually’ in front of a bush, I decided it was time to ‘go professional’ with local photographer Matt Austin from Lyme Regis.

Matt is just brilliant at portrait photography, so I made the booking and wonderedSueCade-Matt-Austin-30 what he’d manage to make of my slightly careworn face. I was terribly nervous and afterwards my jaw ached from smiling, but when the photos arrived in my Dropbox, I was speechless – and impressed.

I posted a photo on Facebook, just to test the reaction. Around 90 likes later it seemed that everyone loved the new look me – and there weren’t too many rude comments about Photoshop and kind lighting.

I’d also recommended Matt to a theatre group, and the shoot he did for their show, The Voyage of the Viqueens, resulted in some stunning images. They may not be a professional group, but they certainly look it in the photos. And I’d thoroughly recommend going to see the show at The Beehive in Honiton in November.

Viqueens-Matt-Austin-8 (3696 x 2460)

Now all I have to do is live up to my new photos, which luckily include shots of me in wellies with one of my dogs, which is pretty close to the norm.