#BeSeenBeKnown – Engage your clients in a positive way
How’s your image? Is it engaging, making perspective clients want to know what you’re about? Will your portrait start a conversation or peak interest?
Having an engaging portrait begins with you being engaging. A fine art portrait is a careful collaboration between photographer and subject where both are focused on the intended audience and message. This is why I prefer to do a planning session, to make sure we are on the same page and know the message to be conveyed.
Who are your clients and how do you want to approach them. Do you approach them all the same or do you have a slightly different message for different customers or perspective customers? Should we be using that same approach in your images?
A well known rule of composition says when the eyes are focused on the viewer there is an immediate connection with the viewer, whereas eyes not focused on the viewer give a feeling of observing the subject unnoticed. Looking at the viewer has the pro of creating that immediate relationship between subject and viewer but can also have the con of creating an uneasy feeling of having the subject starring back at the viewer. When the eyes don’t make contact with the viewer the opposite is true: the viewer can look at you as long as they like because they are only observing you and you are not aware of them. Want proof? Have you ever looked at a portrait and felt extremely uncomfortable; it doesn’t matter which way you move the eyes follow you. Clients have told me that such images are “creepy” because the eyes follow them around the room.
Lastly, have you ever looked at a portrait of you and had the reaction of “Oh my gawd, that’s ugly. It doesn’t even look like me. Get rid of it.” Ever have that reaction and then have your friends counter with “What do you mean? That’s a great image of you.” This TED talk explains why that happens.
John Mitchell
Storyteller. Artist. Photographer
John Mitchell captures his subjects at their emotional high point. It’s part art and part science. His technical mastery in unrivaled. The heart and passion John pours into his photography knows no bounds.
It’s a natural instinct. People will always look at a photograph before they read about it. Prove it to yourself. Open up a magazine or newspaper, or search for something on the web. What’s the first thing your eyes are attracted to? A photo, of course. That’s why business photography is so important. It tells a story, establishes your brand and informs potential customers what you’re all about. And in anybody’s book, first impressions last. Rich, exquisite and evocative business and promotional photography opens the door to your business. And there’s no better way to welcome customers in than with the image-defining photography of John Mitchell.
