Trying Something New - First Radio Ad

I actually enjoy the marketing aspect of running my studio.  My brand was built with magazines--as a contributor, staffer, and advertiser.

I'm up for trying new things.  I'm branching out into direct mail/phone (which I'm excited about) for my corporate headshot products and dipping my toe in radio.

Below is my first radio ad set to run Mondays during morning rush-hour. To be sure, I was worried about the funky spelling of my name and selling the benefits in under a minute.  Hopefully, I pulled it off.

CLICK: Radio Ad: Business Headshots by Fenix Fotography

Elevate Cover Shoot with Miss North Carolina United States

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of creating the cover for the April Issue of Elevate Magazine.  I'm not sure which they'll pick, but my favorite is above.  It's a pretty important issue--the publication of their annual "Best of the City" list. This sort of photography requires a great team of collaborators and I totally lucked out. 

To start, my model is beauty royalty--Elizabeth Safrit, the reigning Miss NC United States.  She's going for the national title.

Jennifer Misenheimer, is a long time creative partner and helped by styling the clothes, which we got from by Lipp Boutique, doing the hair (Jennifer was named Charlotte's best hair-stylist for 2013), and helping coach the model.

Angie Cottone, is a former model and extremely talented makeup artist.  We've done cover shoots before and are doing another editorial tomorrow.  She did Elizabeth's face.

Knowing I wanted a skyline view at sunset, I arranged to borrow a condo on the side of town that would place the skyline between.  The condo is for sale--$1-million, just in case you like the view.

Here's some behind the scenes the images:

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

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Behind the Scenes: Elevate Lifestyle Magazine Shoot

This month Fenix Fotography had the pleasure of shooting the fashion spread for Elevate Lifestyle Magazine, a local glossy with about 20,000 readers distributed in Uptown Charlotte and her surrounding neighborhoods.

The assignment was to shoot lingerie.   I create a fair amount of boudoir and pinup photography, so this was familiar territory.  I was excited to be working with stylist Joey Hewell (one of my favorite artistic collaborators), who got the wardrobe from EMartini, a South Park-area boutique for women's frilly underthings and sleepwear.

Assured of the clothes' elegance and knowing I wanted to shoot photos that women would want to look at (not just men), I decided to forego the Maxim Magazine approach in favor of a softer look and feel.  I wanted the shoot to have a sense of having taken place in the past, a feeling of nostalgia, full of longing, and just a touch of melancholy.

To place this series of photographs in an indistinct part of the first half of the last century, I first looked at several historic properties around Mecklenburg County and Lake Wylie.  Eventually, I settled on the historic Dunhill Hotel in Uptown.  It's one of my favorite buildings in the area and I've shot there several times for weddings and private parties.  I knew the elegant penthouse, with it's wonderful art-deco balcony, would give me the look I wanted.  The spacious bathroom let hair artist, Stewart Hough, do his incredible work while Joey did makeup.

Generally, I had the models avert their gaze from the camera.  They are alone and not posing for the visual consumption of a male viewer--not seducing through the lens.  I told the models they are waiting for the return of their lover, perhaps from "the war,"  and they've made themselves as pretty as possible to welcome him.  Only he hasn't yet arrived.  Perhaps he's been delayed (no cell phones in the past), maybe something has happened.  Eventually, one woman falls asleep waiting.  Will she be wakened any moment by her returning hero's knock on the door, or will the sunrise greet her alone?   I hope the former.  As I said, hope and nostalgia mixed with the smallest dash of melancholy.  It's not a literal story told in the photos--but a mood I wanted in the mix.  Women are constantly making themselves beautiful for men, struggling to plan and pick just the right outfits to be seductive, hopeful and looking forward to reunions, only to wait for us to get home from the office.  We hope they forgive our tardiness and don't let a romantic night be ruined.

To strengthen the mood, I lit the scenes using only one or, at most, two lights mixed with available window lights.  I wanted soft, shadowy, and QUIET.  Often I scream with my lights--this was a time to whisper.

The final photos are processed to have an aged feel.  Faded and soft like memory.  They aren't quite black and white and aren't quite color.  Then there was the problem of modern bank buildings and parking decks in some of the shots--check out the mag to see how we dealt with those issues.

I called the series "Mayfair." Because I liked the way it felt as word--like a far away old English manor.  It's also a nod to the original name of the hotel--an inside joke for my historian friends.

Be sure to pick up the February issue of Elevate Lifestyle Magazine for a look at the final pics after it hits stands early next month.  I have to say they are some of my favorite work to date.

Best,

Ryan Sumner
Creative Director
Fenix Fotography

Thanks to Sidney Robertson for the photos of me.  Obviously, I cant easily shoot myself working.

A lot has happened...

I'll be honest.  I've been terribly neglectful of this blog.  It seems I focus all my energy into facebook, cause they love me there and no one seems to follow me here--but why would they if there is nothing to read?

A lot has happened in the last few months.
1.) We're back in Charlotte.  I loved Denver, but the Queen City is home to so many friends that it made sense personally to come back.  Also, I have brand recognition in Charlotte because of my fashion work and business headshots / corporate photography, and boudoir photography--so it's also good from a business perspective.  Oh yeah and my girlfriend's job transfered her back to the east coast, so that sorta clinched it.

Colorado was the most beautiful place I've ever lived and besides having only made a few friends, I loved everything about the place.  I was through the "dip" business-wise, when it came time to go (Check out my Colorado business photography in the corporate portfolio. I'm proud of some of the work I did out there). It was disappointing and my heart broke a little to leave.  But I'm rediscovering everything I LOVE(d) about Charlotte.

I really missed you guys.

Let Us Help your Business Image

With studios located at the heart of Denver's Lower-Highlands District, we specialize in artful headshots, executive portraits and advertising.

Our goal is to help you attract, multiply, and retain clients by making a great first impression, out-shining your competitors, and providing creative pragmatic solutions for your communication needs. Creating clear, clean, and eye-catching photography is how we do this.

We focus on understanding your business needs and the challenges you face in these extraoridary times. We believe in individual attention, a customized product, and taking a team approach to realize your vision and be consistant with your brand.

We use state-of-the art cameras and lighting equipment, as well as lenses from the highest grade optical glass—AND we have the creative vision and techincal knowedge of how to use them to their fullest capcity in making stunning images for your business.

Just as lack of expertise modivates most people from representing themselves in serious legal matters or doing their own book-keeping, it’s important not to risk your business with poor-quailty images that will infer poor-quality on your services and products.

Just with other forms of outsourcing, hiring a specialist is often less expensive than attempting to create your corporate photography in-house. Many business owners don’t take into account the expenses of time and of busines 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 recreated professionally. 

Good photography is an important investment in your business. Afterall, if you dont invest in your business, you can’t rightly expect your perspective clients to. 

The cost is a one-time fee that will yield images that can be used for months or even years in a variety of ways—on websites brochures, tradeshow displays, annual reports, press-releases, etc.


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