Brochure Photo Photographers And The Second Glance Rule

Professional brochure photo photographers know the difference between brochure photography and other forms of commercial photography. Do you?

If you run a business that occasionally uses brochures, pamphlets, fliers or other printed marketing material to promote products or services then it's highly likely that you incorporate products photographs or marketing photographs within the brochure. You have four options where these are concerned:

1. You could take the photographs you need in-house, using your own photographic equipment, image editing software and desktop publishing package

2. You could re-use photographs that may have been taken previously, either by you or a professional photographer or journalist photographer, and embed them into your marketing literature

3. You could employ a professional photographer to take the images you need of your products, your personnel or your business

4. You could use the services of professional brochure photo photographers who understand the business side of brochures and marketing through literature

Clearly of these four options, the fourth is the best possible choice - but are you certain you know why? If you've considered any of the other three options, then the chances are you have decided against the best option, probably on the basis of cost. Yet if you could have a professional brochure photograph or packshot image created for less than a tenner, wouldn't you re-consider this decision?

There is a real danger inherent in distributing promotional literature such as brochures, fliers or leaflets which contain sub-standard or inappropriate images. Professional brochure photo photographers understand the need for marketing images of this kind to be created with often very different factors in mind from those images which may be used in other formats.

If you choose to create your own images, re-hash images you've previously had taken, or even use a professional photographer who may be unfamiliar with the specific requirements and demands of brochure photography, then you are placing your business in very real danger. So what is this risk, and how seriously should you consider it?

The point is that brochure photography means summarising your entire business, product range, standards, values, aims, objectives, principles and level of service within a single image, and then placing that image right into the hands of your potential customers for them to hold, examine at their leisure, and upon which they will rapidly judge you.

It is sometimes referred to as the Second Glance Rule. Let me explain that rule, and what impact it has upon your choice of either using brochure photo photographers or employing an alternative solution.

The Second Glance Rule suggests that any promotional image distributed using literature that is printed, such as brochures or fliers must be capable of attracting enough attention for the reader to glance twice at your image.

In controlled tests it has been determined that when assessing the worth of a brochure or leaflet the eyes tend to focus first on the images, then the headlines or titles, and then the text, although in cases where the images of little value less attention is given to the titles, and if these are of little interest, virtually no attention is given to the text.

But in some cases the eyes are drawn to the image or images, then to the titles, and then back to the images. This second glance is significant, because in these cases the whole process of examining the leaflet is slowed down a little, and the second glance is enough to get the message across effectively.

The first glance is an overall assessment of quality and applicability; the second glance is enough for a deeper assessment to be made of the overall values, principles and reputation of the business. In other words, it is this second glance which may encourage a sale, or at least an enquiry.

Unless, of course, that second glance is to confirm that the image really was as awful and amateurish as the first impression suggested!

But how do you create an image which manages to not only gain that second glance, but also manages to communicate effectively the messages that you need your business to convey in terms of core values, principles and level of quality? For that, you need to speak to a professional, experienced brochure photo photographer.

From the lighting to the props, from the background to the scenery, from the models to the digital image manipulation, a picture may paint a thousand words, but brochure photo photographers can turn those thousand words into the best sales pitch you ever made.

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Brochure Photo Photographers | www.thepackshotpeople.co.uk | Brochure Photography

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