Why Brochure Photography May Be Both An Art And A Science

Is brochure photography an art or a science? That might seem like quite a simple question, and the chances are that if you ask the average brochure photographer whether he is an artist or scientist he will almost certainly suggest that he is an artist first and foremost, possibly exclusively. But the fact is that to get brochure photography right it is important to have a highly specialised combination of skills, some of which are certainly embedded within the art world, but many other stem from science and technology, increasingly in modern times.

Unfortunately there are a great many small and even medium-sized businesses which overlook this fact, and assume that almost anyone armed with a digital camera and a few spare minutes can cope with the demands of modern brochure photography. Trying to produce brochures and leaflets in house may seem like an effective way of economising. But it is important to realise that in today's evermore competitive business world and market cutting corners almost inevitably results in cutting sales and enquiries.

I know it is an old cliché, but forgive me a moment if I just remind you of the saying that a picture paints a thousand words. Today that phrase could not be more true since we are all bombarded every single day of our lives, almost from childhood, by marketing messages and advertisements. There have been many studies investigating exactly how prevalent this bombardment is, with conservative estimates suggesting that we are all exposed to around 800 separate advertising and marketing messages every single day of our lives. Remember, that was a conservative estimate.

Brochure photography is a way for businesses to make a statement, but not using words. Because this sheer bombardment of marketing messages means that increasingly these days we filter out much of the wording that we see around us, focusing initially on images alone to make up our mind about a business, a product, or a service.

Images convey quality, not only of the products but also of the service that we can expect. A single image needs to do far more than simply portraying what a business's premises look like, what their staff look like, or even what their products look like. In fact for most customers none of these things are probably important or interesting. What is interesting is not the subject of the photograph, so much as the style and quality of the image itself, and the message it attempts to convey.

A professional brochure photographer will initially spend time with the business understanding what its aims and principles are, and identifying as accurately as possible what the purposes of its brochure is, and who it is trying to reach. It is only by understanding the target audience and the purpose of the message that the details of the message that must be conveyed through the brochure photography can be determined. The combination of skills I mentioned earlier, both artistic and scientific, will then come into play.

A brochure photographer will need to be able to offer the creativity and imagination which is required in order to produce a brochure photograph which will be original, unique, eye-catching and appealing. Camera technology and equipment today is so advanced, and even the average photography studio so full of modern equipment and technology that increasingly a high degree of awareness and skill is required in order to manipulate and develop images far beyond what the lens originally saw.

If you're considering carrying out your brochure photography in house, then unless your business happens to be a photography studio you run and very grave risk of missing out on the opportunities which would otherwise have been potentially available. Brochure photography really is the key to unlocking the door that stands between your business and your potential customers.

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