The Real Deal

Images of me assisting Photographer Al Lada (Flickr page HERE) in Chicago during the early 80's. FILM! You had to get it right the first time by knowing your craft and having the confidence in your professional abilities. A huge learning curve for a young aspiring photographer. After shooting all day on location you would see your finished photos a day or more later, no checking the back of the camera for an acceptable image. No photoshop. Time management, even then some shots required more time than others, but it was never a cookie cutter situation putting out mediocre photography (or what I call...Making Sausage), every shot counted. We were selling merchandise, big time. The image sells it. The books prove it. Today, most of your internet photography and a hell of a lot of your catalog photography is people making cheap, quick images, 20 maybe 30 or even more a day. And well, it looks like it. That will change. Thats why I love the current tough economy. "Making sausage" in your photo studio is not going to endure. The consumer demands a better product and will pay for it, if it is value oriented. The advertising needs to be professional and creative enough to spur that decision. Great photography is the single best investment a company can make to break through the clutter and sell merchandise. Glad I was able to work and learn from some of the best in a professional atmosphere when the value of commercial photography was taken much more serious. Thanks Al.

Create Advertising and Enjoy it!

II came upon this quotation from "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller. It made me think of advertising.

"He knew everything there was to know about literature, except how to enjoy it."

It seems that much of the problem in the world today is that we're too smart, too professional, too schooled and too scared.

Liking something--and responding with a gasp or a chortle or anger or a laugh is like a fart or a hiccup. Liking something is involuntary and a reaction. Such things are not meant to be controlled by our intellect. However, in the corporate world brains rule and hearts are something you use on the weekend when you're pushing your kids in a $500 stroller.

In short, how many people do you work with--including creative people--who know everything about advertising or marketing, except how to enjoy it.

Maybe the difference between good advertising and bad advertising is enjoyment. Good advertising should be enjoyable. You should feel enriched by it. It should elevate, educate or amuse. It shouldn't just lay there like a lox.

source of this info is from: http://adaged.blogspot.com/2010/06/experts.html

Tenderloin or Taco_?

The state of the advertising business can be summed up pretty easily, more for less. Give me more services for less pay. It is happening across the board right now. What is it exactly that you want? Do you want to sell your products? Selling your products consist of one of the most important things, a visual advertisement... professional photographic imagery that sells the product... and that costs money. After all the time and money going into developing and producing a product, it's the image that grabs the attention of potential buyers and sells the product ... Just look at most of the photographs that catalogs offer on the internet, they are cheap looking and very badly executed, camera inputs are wrong or they're shooting with a cheap camera that does not support camera adjustments, and lighting usually sucks. I do see a trend happening with some of your bigger companies producing better photography online, and there are many print catalogs that have consistently produced beautiful photography. You get what you pay for. Some companies don't realize how many more sales they can execute had they put more thought, and better photography (this costs more $money$) into their layouts, print or internet, but eventually they will...to stay competitive and make money. Spend the money on a tenderloin, sales will benefit, and it tastes better.