This is one of the current promo/mailers that I’ve started sending out to potential advertising clients. It focuses on my lifestyle photography. You know, the ads where a family is running through a field, and the ad is selling some sort of allergy medication. Or the young couple in bed on a sunny morning, with a laptop and coffee – the ad selling anything from online shopping, to travel options, to pajamas, to whatever. The photos that don’t necessarily have the actual product in the picture, but convey a certain feeling instead. That’s the type of photography I can do well.
I can’t do product and table top photography (the perfect pictures of a product in an ad or flyer or on the box of the item) well enough to compete with the big boys in town (and there’s a TON of money in DFW for that type of work), so I have to focus on what I am good at. Hopefully, my editorial style transfers over well enough to regular and consistent advertising “lifestyle” shooting. That is what I actually CAN do, and have done somewhat in the past.
These are pics from an major ad campaign I worked on for a large financial institution in 2007. The client wanted a wholesome, family-friendly look to all their ads and literature for savings, retirement, and health benefit options. My regular portfolio is a lot edgier, showing off much of my rock and roll portraits and other bold images, so hopefully this mailer will be a good balance to that.
Figuring out what images to send out can be so hard sometimes. Some people say to send images of the stuff you love to shoot or only send your most personal work. That way the client can get a feel for what you have inside… for what you are truly capable of doing. Others say to send out images from recent assignments, so clients can see how well you do in the real world – since, that’s what really matters to them. Some people mix the two together, and others say that a mixture will appear too scatter-shot and unfocused. Ughhhh… too many choices and way too many suggestions…
Well, for now I am showing my edgy portfolio and following up with a more real world mailer. We’ll see if this plan works. I love the occasional big advertising shoots I’ve done and am hoping this helps me get more.