Elspeth Vincent On Why Brand Photography Is So Important

When it comes to representing your brand, there are few aspects more important than visual content. It's 40 times more likely to be shared on social media than other types on content, ads with images see a better performance by 94%, while ultimately 67% of consumers state that the quality of a product image is 'very important' when it comes to selecting their product.

Togather speaks to London-based photographer Elspeth Vincent about the why high quality brand photography is so important, and how your company can use it to best position themselves.

Hi Elspeth, why is it so important for brands in the event space to take photography seriously?

At their core humans are visually-driven creatures - we're naturally inclined to lean into things that we like the look of and perhaps make more decision than we'd like to admit based off first impressions.

While there are many factors that ultimately go into making a decision as to whether to purchase a product or work with a brand, the first factor that people will tend to consider, whether subconsciously or not, is visual.

If what they see lacks quality, or doesn't fully represent the feel of the brand, they will most likely take the wrong impression and it may well affect their decision to use them going forwards.

Personally, I don't think there is any more natural way that a brand can show their personality than through incredible photography - and as such it's an essential to take seriously.

What is it that makes great photography?

Great photography is a difficult thing to define, because what makes a great image for one brand isn't necessarily the same for another.

However there are two aspects that really stand out for me. Firstly its consistency - customers will be put at ease when they're able to detect some form uniformity in images - and that should be across style, lighting and the general feel across the images.

Secondly, it's personality coming through. This is absolutely vital for brands wanting to show their true selves to the world - and my belief is that this comes from a natural setting, candid images and a great photographer will always work to make sure everyone they're working with is at ease. Planning's important, and a great brief can be the defining feature that makes a brilliant shoot, but sometimes over-engineering can lead to images that don't look as natural.

How should businesses make the most of great photography?

So much marketing material is created through photography that I think this almost a question of where shouldn't you use great photography rather than where you can.

Whether it be your own personal social media, your website, on your products if they're physical, great images can form the bedrock of your brand in nearly all areas.

Recently a client has started using the images that I took all over the set ups that they bring to live events, rather than their logos, and the feedback has been that it's really working to sell potential clients on the brand.

Can you do it yourself or do you need to invest in a professional photographer?

So the first thing I will say here is that iPhones and smart phone cameras have developed to such an extent that if you invest the time to learn you can take incredible images on them.

However, not only will a professional photographer save you the time and energy spent learning how to take great brand imagery - which is very different to taking great personal photos - they will help you set up for the shoot, put you at ease and translate your ideas into reality.

Ultimately, while investing in a professional photographer does come with an upfront cost, I strongly believe that it's an investment that rapidly pays itself back.

What are your best tips for anyone planning a photoshoot?

I think you need to go in with a relatively clear vision of what you want. And a lot of photographers will be really happy to help with the creative and guide you with it, but you know your brand better than anyone else. Make sure that you speak to the photographer before to establish what sort of style you want, and best of all provide a Pinterest board of the kind of style that you want to go for. From there, you guys can build out like a shortlist together and really narrow down what it is that you're trying to get out of the shoot