Why should I pay for a Professional Photographer?
A question I hear all too often these days! All businesses are struggling to deal with increased costs and cash-strapped customers, but this is not the time to cut back on a marketing budget. Remember that an effective marketing campaign will increase the number of customers requesting your services in the future, and by reducing your marketing you may risk losing customers who don’t know what services you offer or even if you exist at all.
The other objection I encounter often is that most people now own their own camera - often a very good one, and they decide to take their own photographs for websites and marketing. This may be an effective way to cut costs, however it is important that the images you show on your website are of top quality - poor quality images will give the wrong impression to visiting clients.
Food is especially difficult to photograph without the correct equipment - poor lighting will make even the most delicious and stylish meal look tasteless and unappetising. Typically restaurants are lit with fluorescent or tungsten lights, which will give a green or yellow tint respectively to your images. Using proper lighting, lenses and white balance, the photograph will do justice to your food and entice visitors to want to try the real thing in your restaurant.
I have taken a few simple photographs above to show the difference. The images are of the same dish - a simple salad with chilli, on a bistro style background, and from roughly the same angle. The first photograph is of very poor quality - taken with a point and shoot camera in normal indoor lighting with no flash. The food lacks colour and the image overall has a yellow tint from the tungsten lighting. This type of image will definitely not be effective on your website or menu!
The second image was taken on the same little camera, but using the on camera flash. Even using the camera’s ‘Food’ setting, the colours are slightly better but the flash is very harsh and creates distracting reflections and shadows on the food and table. This does not look professional and will put people off their dinner!
The final image was taken with professional camera equipment and proper lighting. The overall effect is much more appetising - the colours are natural and the focus is on the food rather than the table setting.
A good photograph looks professional and shows that you care about your product and business. Don’t risk putting your customers off with an unappetising image! Contact me today to discuss how I can add value to your marketing menu and arrange a free, no-obligation quote.
