Photographers are not interchangeable, be they good or bad.  The most subtle differences in something as simple as a corporate headshot can greatly affect how somebody is perceived by a potential client, and that can be the difference between having and not having the opportunity to win a client’s business.  As the images become more about the company and the brand, and less about the individual, those differences are magnified.  A 20%, or even a 50%, difference in the cost of photography becomes relatively insignificant in comparison to even a single project or client for many companies.

Ironically, as the potential client pool shrinks and customers become ever more discerning in more challenging economic times, even the small differences in how brands and companies are perceived becomes even more crucial.  The cost of cheap photography, when considered in a broader sense, is almost always greater than even the most expensive photographer in any given market.

I firmly believe that we make most of our decisions emotionally, and then back them up with logic to justify what we want to do on an instinctive level.  It is on that level that photographers communicate.  Clients may not be able to articulate differences, but they can feel them.  Put a typical local magazine next to a nation newsstand publication, cut out the photos, and nearly every viewer will know which is which, based on the quality of the photography, even they can’t vocalize a single reason why one photo is better than another.

Surprisingly, I’ve found that  families making purchases for their own walls have a far better idea of the value of those images than people of similar background making decisions for their company.  In the instance where the more expensive photography actually has the potential to do far more than pay for itself, corporate decision makers will make decisions over relatively small amounts of money, yet for their own purposes they are far more likely to look at the big picture even when there is no financial upside to the photography other than personal value.

I know that I can’t change the industry, and I think that the community of commercial photographers will be substantially diminished in the coming year.  It is my hope that those who remain will work to help clients understand that hiring a good photographer is not an expense, but rather an investment with the potential to yield returns far greater than any initial cost.