Fenix Fotography Blog

Much More Than a Mugshot:

What the photographs on your website say about your business and how to improve them

Frank Sinatra, Bergen County Sheriff's Office, Hackensack, New Jersey,1939

By Ryan L. Sumner In today’s digital marketplace, the headshot on your company’s website and social media is the equivalent of your firm handshake. Clients buy from people they like and trust and photographs of your executives and staff can begin humanizing your company long before the prospect actually meets or talks to a member of your team. However, these first impressions happen quickly, are judged harshly, and aren’t easily overcome when they go bad. No matter how eye-catching your headline or snappy your copy, it is imagery that first attracts a viewer to an ad, article, or website. It’s also the first and sometimes only thing later recalled by a viewer. When it comes to advertising images, the best ones have people in them. For example, look at all the people staring back at you in the magazine aisle on your next visit to the grocery store. When humans register another human face, they instantly lock on to it and rapidly process it. According to a 2005 Princeton University study published in Psychological Science, people make near instantaneous decisions about competency, trustworthiness, and likability when encountering a photo of a face—all in less than 1/10th of a second. People like to be right and will continue to use a website or read written material that makes a favorable first visual impression to confirm their initial decision.  Psychologists call this the “Halo Effect.” If this first impression is un-favorable, clients will be out of your site or tossing your mailed pieces in the trash before they know you may be offering more than your competition. You don’t want to risk your business’s reputation with poor-quality photos that will infer poor-quality on your services and products. But you don’t want to waste money either. According to recent labor statistics, C-Level executives make about $100-$118 per hour, so sending your top people on an errand to have their portraits made at a studio, even one a relatively short distance away, is likely to get expensive. This tempts many companies to try creating their corporate photography in-house, “Afterall Tom in the mail room has a nice camera.” They overlook the expenses of time and business lost when employees are diverted onto projects outside their areas of primary talent and training.  The results are almost always lackluster and have to be re-created professionally. The best option is to outsource the project to a photographer that specializes in location studio work. Such an image-maker can set up backgrounds and lights in a meeting room or other space and can utilize visually evocative elements of the office for environmental portraiture. Good portrait artists have a great deal of knowledge regarding which lenses and posing are the most flattering, how to light for different emotions, and how to coach a grumpy CFO into a natural smile. When searching for the right professional, beware of faux-tographers. Anyone with a business card, a consumer-level camera, and a $50 website template can market themselves a professional photographer.  The down economy has washed many green amateurs into the market hoping for a little under-the-table income. The web mixes the good and bad and makes it easy for the unscrupulous to misrepresent their abilities and experience. Recently, one of the daily deal sites e-blasted a coupon to inboxes all over our local market. Shortly thereafter, a Texas-based image-maker pointed out the the Charlotte-based advertiser’s portfolio was full of her images. Charlotte consumers have likewise been burned buying from photographers with fake profiles on Etsy and there are more Craigslist horror stories than can be recounted.  To ensure continuing confidence in the professionalism of the field of photography, many image-makers are choosing to undergo certification from the Professional Photographic Certification Commission. Certified Professional Photographers (CPP) must pass stringent standardized tests and a portfolio review by a panel of experts, as well as demonstrate and adhere to a stringent code of conduct. Certification must be renewed on a periodic basis, through further exams or continuing education. You’ll want to shop around and look at lots of portfolios. Look for range and a consistent quality and cohesive visual style across the artist’s portfolios. Determine how long they’ve been in operating as a professional and how much executive portrait work experience they have. Take a meeting to talk about your company’s brand and what emotions and messages the photos need to evoke. When you find a photographer’s whose work you love and who you like and trust, book them. You won’t regret it. Ryan L. Sumner, CPP,  is the creative director at Fenix Fotography