Business photography, documenting a new underground piping system for a geothermal system.

There are many ways that photography (and video) can, and should be used for business purposes.  There are many right ways, and wrong ways to utilize both photography and video.  What determines those right and wrong ways are generally accepted practices, and especially the type of business you have, and the image you want to project.  For example, is your business casual, formal, hip/trendy, retail, informational, not-for-profit….and the list goes on and on.

I continually build my business stock photography library, and it is all cataloged for future use.  Whether for web sites, brochures, advertising, or just to demonstrate a point, it is always good to have your own photography resources.

I work with a lot of general contractors.  I can’t stress enough the value of having before/after pictures of jobs that you do, and especially the detailed, quality pictures of your completed projects.  It’s good for advertising, public relations, and even for documentation for legal purposes.  Take the time and get the good photographs.

One other bit of advice.  Shoot your photographs in high resolution, with clean focus, sharp, and exposed well.  You (we) can always add other effects later with post photo processing, and adjust them/shrink them down for your application.  But if you start with low resolution, fuzzy photos with poor exposure, it can be really hard to go the other direction if you need to blow up your photography.  Save your self time and money by getting the good photos to begin with.

Here’s a tip for you.  If you are a general contractor and just haven’t committed to getting those good photos, consider hiring a photographer for a day, and give them a list of 5-10 of your projects.  Give them the addresses and contact information (with your client’s permission), and set them loose to get some good quality photos of your excellent work.  It will pay off in the long run.

Here are just a few shots I took today, to get me out of the office and to enjoy a beautiful Pacific Northwest summer day.  But equally important, you just just never know what type of photos you are going to need some day, so it’s always great to build your catalog.