PR Photography Tips
Published June 2nd, 2009 in GeneralEarlier this year, Adrian Weckler from the Sunday Business Post posted a guide to PR photography for companies looking to get more space in newspapers. Rather than rehash his advice, I thought I’d offer some additional tips.
Costs - One of the main things that a lot of companies overlook is the usage rights of photography. Most people assume that when they commission a photographer they own the photos - wrong. By and large if you commission a photographer, you will end up paying for their time, the contact sheets which will include a thumbnail of each image and the cost of distributing a selection of pictures to newspapers. However If you want a copy to use on a regular basis, i.e. a headshot of an executive that is often quoted in the press, then you need to pay for usage of that image. So before commissioning a photographer establish what the exact costs will be. Ensure you explain to them exactly what you will be using the pictures for.
Neil Danton was onto me with feedback on my original post and offer some extra advice:
A professional photographer worth their salt should actually be quoting a client along the following lines:
To produce & provide (Qty) images of (Subject) at (Location) on (Date).
For (exclusive/non-exclusive) use by Client to use these images for:
(Definition - could be PR release National & Local newspapers, or brochure, or web-site, or a combination)) Period of use: (One year/Two years) etc.
Territory: xyz (Ireland & UK/Europe/Worldwide).
Licence fee based on the above: €Eur xxThat’s it. It’s irrelevant what the photographer’s costs are. It’s irrelevant how long the photographer is actually standing in front of the client on location. The fee depends on the Licence. The Licence depends on the usage.
This isn’t too say that you should go with the cheapest photographer, all I am saying is that you should be clear on costs and usage rights as it can cause headaches. For more advice on pricing, check out Neil’s post here.
You Get What You Pay For - Some people are obsessed with price and will simply commission the cheapest photographer. When it comes to photography, you get what you pay for and the cheapest is not always the best. The reason why people use established photo agencies or individual photographers is that their images land in the newspapers on a regular basis. While images are never guaranteed to appear in a paper, no matter how good the picture, you should always pay for quality. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t shop around, but take the time to flick through the papers every now and again to see who is credited in pictures in the press. This is a good way of identifying a good photo agency, particularly if you don’t employ a PR agency.
Timing Is Essential - One of the simple ways that organisations miss out on potential coverage is through bad timing. If you are commissioning photography for the next day’s papers; ideally you should aim to have the photo session complete by 1pm in order for the photographer to have the images issued to the picture desk for consideration. Recently, I bumped into a photographer on his way down to a job outside Dublin at 3pm with an Irish sports personality for a charity. Ordinarily this type of picture have a good chance of landing, but even he said the client was mad for refusing to be more flexible on the timing as there was little chance they would appear.
You should also take the day of the week into consideration. I personally think that unless the photography is for an event or something genuinely newsworthy, you should always try to issue images for a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday as it’s generally to busy later in the week to have a good chance of landing. One should also consider when supplements appear in national newspapers and try to coordinate photography with them if relevant. For example, Monday is a good day of the week for health related photocalls as the Irish Times health supplement is published on a Tuesday.
From an even more basic perspective, it’s always better to issue images to appear midweek as there are less papers at the weekend, hence less of a chance of appearing.
Give Them What They Want - It’s always worth flicking through the papers on a regular basis to get an idea of the type of pictures individual papers use on a regular basis. By doing this you will observe things like the Irish Times being extremely unlikely to use images with models or that the Irish Daily Mail rarely uses pictures from photocalls.
Look At The Composition Of The Image - The makeup of the image is extremely important. Always consult the photographer you have commissioned with your thoughts and take his feedback on board. Some basic tips include ensuring that the image isn’t crowded (have a maximum of three people in any image), leave your ego at the door (if it’s a product shot, leave the marketing manager out of the image unless it’s for a trade shot) and try to make the image as tight as possible (a full length shot of a lorry means that the people in the picture will generally end up as specs in the mage)
Use Of Models And Personalities - Despite all the mocking of Irish models, they are commissioned for photocalls on a regular basis because the resulting images are often featured in newspapers. Models and other personalities are great for product launches because the public are naturally interested in them, so they become an avenue for putting your product in front of consumers when they are pictured with it. By enlisting the help of a personality like a celebrity or a sports star, you can also get more editorial space. For example, sports stars are quite effective if they have an upcoming match as you can arrange interviews along with the photocall.
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Rule No. 1: Use your head and break the rules sometimes!
Sunday is actually quite a good day to release PR pics for Monday papers.
Release pics the day before and on Bank Holidays -the Monday and Tuesday editions cry out for Business pictures in particular. For those of you with a long memory: release picture in the week between Christmas and New Years day - you will have little competition and readers will spend more time reading papers.
A few years ago all photocalls were at 3pm, and after repeated calls for a change the entire PR industry settled on 11am! 11am is a good time but if you want Photographers from the papers or agencies to attend they can only get to one event each. Try 9.30, 10am, 10.30am even!
Listen to your Photographer, if he says Paper X won’t use a cheque presentation don’t do it except for your in-house use.
We all accept budgets are very tight but that is all the more reason to make sure your Photoshoot gives a good return and has the best chance of being PUBLISHED. With this in mind don’t skimp at the last hurdle and try to relase the images yourself. Photographers / agencies know how to caption and submit the images in a publication friendly manner. Images submitted that are not correctly formatted or captioned will often be binned never to see the light of day. Yes it does cost a bit more, but try agreeing a fixed release fee with your photographer for this valuable service.
Models: Yes, they do help but PLEASE let’s see some new faces! Most models on agency books will do an excellent job and possibly have a better chance of publication than the “Names” and save you money into the bargain.
Keep follow up calls to a minimum, you would be surprised how many calls Picture desks receive to confirm if a Photocall e-mail has been received even when a response has been sent!
Sometimes you can do all of the above, have brilliant images and still not get any “hits” due to competition from other Photocalls or a busy news day, so think of other “homes” for your images like Trade mags and On-line forums, Facebook and You Tube etc.
Happy shoots and remember Rule 1 !
Paddy Barker, Irish Examiner Image desk
Use of Models and Personalities
Piaras, you state…….’despite all the mocking of Irish models’. The problem here is twofold: the constant overexposure of the same faces in such a small promotional gene pool and the inappropriate use of the models.
This is neither the agent nor model’s fault as both must maximise their income given the short shelf life. The real culprits here are often the inhouse or consultancy teams who forego creativity for the lazy option. A case in point arose approximately two years ago where a Government Minister and Dublin City Council hired models, through their hired PR company, to promote essential city services.
Good Article Piaras and thanks for the link to Adrians article,
Id love to say my experience is different but it isnt.
When I get commissioned by a PR company its at least a one, normally two A4 page brief with some scope for additional shots as I see fit.
Invariably when I’m commissioned by a company direct its very much a case of ‘whatever you think’, or ‘just a few snaps’.
Every time I repeat that I’m not the client, I have no idea what you are looking for.
I turn up up to an hour early for new clients to get a feel for their business, to have it explained to me (if not already over the phone) and to see what they are after.
Something that most press photographers dont have the luxury of (yes I’m one of them as well).
Most times I act as PR person as well, organising people and props for my press colleagues and doing my damnest to ensure that the cast of thousands photo never sees the light of day.
‘maximum of three people’ descends into chaos by the time the marketing manager, the CEO, the CTO, the finance controller, the guy who fills the water cooler and the coffee delivery guy get in on the photo. It reminds me of my local press days when I had 25 people turn up for a cheque presentation once! Nightmare.
You really do try your best for every client you work for, I try to emphasise that its a relationship we are building rather than just a one off payment for services. It really does pay to build a relationship with a couple of photographers, I have main clients who at times I know I’m not the best photographer for so I refer on to colleagues, sometimes you want a different look and feel or just a slightly different eye. I contribute to a number of stock agencies including gettyimages and I regularly shoot with someone who would be seen as a ‘rival’. If we shoot together all day and produce 200 images, very rarely would we even get one similar.
One thing I will add to Paddys comments is that people should watch the news. You wont get much coverage the week Michael Jackson died or in my case I got a good story once, rushed to wire it in and saw David Beckham had broken his toe just before the world cup. May as well not have bothered
On the subject of models I remember when there was a furore when a local tourism agency used a model as their ‘face’ rather than an employee, I also remember when a country tourism board used a model from another country to protray their national roots.
On the flip side of that Ive shot a series of ’stock’ and PR photos for a local company who used their own employees then had to withdraw the shots because one of the employees was dismissed and subject to legal proceedings. One of the dangers of using your own employees.
Saying that I’ve seen myself standing on the street asking bystanders to model because the company asked friends and family who didnt show up at the appointed time.
All the best,
Joe
Hi Piaras,
Excellent post.
However I would say that the cost of photography is becoming increasingly prohibitive for clients. Photocalls can often cost up to 1000 euro by the time models, props, photography attendance and images for distribution are taken in to account. In current climage it is often seen as a heavy spend particularly when competition for space is so intense that even the most creative photos often do not land.
And it’s going to be even more competitive with the likes of the Metro and Herald AM merging