Picture perfect?

The thorny issue of photos cropped up again this week. Photos and pictures are at the heart of much of what we do, whether it’s media relations and supplying photos alongside copy to the magazines, or whether we’re putting together corporate literature.

Unfortunately, one of the side effects of the advent of digital photography is that everyone thinks they can take photos themselves. In bygone days when I was a young PR exec, getting professional photography taken at the beginning of a campaign was par for the course. Now it’s fallen out of fashion as clients discover their inner David Bailey. Or not as the case may be. We see many crimes against photography which we are then expected to ask magazines to publish or use in brochures, newsletters etc.

In no particular order some of the common sins are:

1. Photos out of focus or shaky hands syndrome so the photo is blurred and unclear
2. Photos taken with no regard for lighting so the picture is either over exposed or dark
3. Photos taken with no regard for location. We’ve had many classics over the years, such the head & shoulders pic of the exec taken in his own home. Unfortunately the cabinet just behind him made it look as if he was balancing a vase on his head.
4. Photos where the product is badly shot so it doesn’t clearly represent exactly what it is
5. Photos which are low resolution so can only be printed in postage stamp size.

At the end of the day, photographs can be more important than words; they convey much information in a glance and are a critical tool in effective communications. The old cliché, a picture paints 1000 words is true. A crummy, blurred shot taken at a rakish angle probably only paints 4 words. And misspelt at that. So please, can we have our photography budgets back?

Photo caption: Obviously not a contender for sports photographer of the year…