Some photographers capture images that please photographers. They’re used to seeing photos in a frame on the wall or an online gallery; stand-alone stuff, like “My photograph speaks for itself.”
I feel you, my friend. Really. I love making art, but as professional photographers we all must consider the commerce.
Or they shoot for personal-use stuff. “Buy 3 canvases, get 1 free!” They might even gouge you for a wedding album – and hey, another album for you mom too. “Just check out that gold foil!”
Fancy. Foofy. Frick that.
A commercial photographer with marketing use in mind sees the art of photography in a different context. We actually look at the big picture and how our photos fit into that. Is this going to be a social post, as-is or cropped to a square? Or is this going to be used in a digital or print ad? The framing and angles for each approach vary. I always shoot for both.
One of things that sets this San Diego commercial photography company apart from the crowd is my decade of creative marketing experience. Actually, a big factor in me making the leap from my multimedia design career to full-time photography is having spent so much time dealing with boring stock photos and the limitations they impose. Or seeing the invoices from other commercial photographers who delivered images we could barely use in our marketing.
From experience, I knew better. And I knew with some practice I could do better. Fast forward almost another decade and here we are.
My main point is that a good commercial photographer will shot for…
COPY SPACE!
Copy space is basically that extra room to the left or right of, maybe above or below, the main subject of the photo. It could give you the opportunity to include some text for a digital or print ad. Copy Space could also be used on your website in some other ways, like with a contact or login form overlaid.
Designers know this concept very well. It can save them from hours of tedious Photoshop work.
Marketers pretty much require it so they can do their jobs without the photos hindering their work.
Marketing-Ready Photography
Here’s an example of my Marketing-Ready Photography in use by celebrity voice coach Roger Love.
Don’t know Roger? He’s worked with Joaquin Phoenix for the movie Walk the Line. And Bradley Cooper for A Star is Born. Arianna Grande. The cast of NBC’s The Voice. And many more. Now’s he’s marketing his services to business professionals to improve their speaking voices.
I photographed Roger speaking on stage at an event for online marketers. Instead of simply shooting Roger dozens of times in the same way, which could’ve been pretty in its own traditional way, I mixed it up greatly. In the end, I delivered a wide range of photo compositions for him to use in a wide variety of ways. All kinds of angles, often with plenty of room for ad copy.
And boy did he use my photos! In fact I was surprised at how quickly my photography mades its way into his online marketing.
I’ll add just one more example before wrapping this up. Here’s James Wedmore, a “Digital CEO” with over 60k followers on Instagram. I also photographed him at a live event, speaking from the stage.
TL;DR
Copy space allows clients to add their own marketing copy over a photo and extends the usefulness of that photo. Almost every image related to your brand should be able to both stand alone or convey a specific message when paired with text. Photographers like us who shoot with that in mind – specifically how the photos might be used – serve their commercial clients’ end goal: exposure, connection with their audience, and ultimately sales.
Let’s talk about what we’ll create together.
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