Bringing your product into sharp focus
Everyday things are not always the way they appear; May’s Puzzle picture may well be something you look at often but don’t really notice.
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For the Puzzle solution just click on the image.
The wood burns brightly
I first watched ‘firewalking’ in 1962 on a black and white television during one of David Attenborough’s early wildlife documentaries when he visited a remote tribe who used it as a right of passage into adult life.
How could anyone walk on red hot coals without burning the soles off their feet? To a twelve year old this was quite extraordinary and I have to say left a question in my mind which has never gone away.
50 years on I now know the answer, because I’ve done it and it’s all thanks to business networking and a chance meeting with Tracey Miller and her partner George Swift who run a motivation and coaching business called Bigger, Brighter, Bolder.
I suppose we all have a ‘bucket list’ and meeting up with Tracey has given me the chance to cross something off mine and experience a couple of the most exhilarating moments of my life.
When she told me that George was a qualified Firewalking instructor I needed to know more and that’s why I ended up sitting in a room with seven other ‘mad fools’ at the Regency Park Hotel in Thatcham in a seminar that would culminate in walking across red hot coals.
As we sat and listened and self analysed our reasons for being there and what we wanted to get out of the experience, George took us through an emotional roller coaster of highs and lows of our lives and how these influence self esteem and confidence building.
Raking over the coals
After about 2 hours we all went outside to see the fire being lit and begin to understand the magnitude of what was going to happen.
Back inside we were all mentally prepared for the firewalk but George had another challenge for us before the big one, each one of us would break an archer’s arrow simply by placing the point in the soft part of your throat with the other end wedged against a block of wood and walking onto it. Testing how strong the shaft of this arrow was by placing it between two hands and pushing was quite alarming especially when I realised the metal point would be in the most vulnerable part of my neck.
It seemed strange putting on protective goggles to save my eyes from damage when I was about to stab myself in the throat but in fact we all successfully met the challenge without injury.
With time now ticking and the fire outside reaching its hottest point the time had arrived to face the great challenge.
A mound of red hot embers greeted us and James, one of George’s fellow instructors, began to prepare the fire bed by shovelling these onto the turf. Still glowing red, a laser directed thermometer checked the temperature and gave a reading of 1300 degrees Celsius.
The fire awaits
The moment had now arrived and carefully following our instructions, one by one we walked confidently over the coals, about 4 steps, into the supporting arms of George and having any pieces of ash rinsed of with a hose.
What did it feel like, my memory was not of heat but of the sort of crunch you get walking on deep snow, yet I had walked over red hot coals which by now were around 800 degrees and still had skin on my feet and no blisters.
Knowing I may not get the opportunity again, I walked a second time and in fact when fresh coals from the fire were added to bring the temperature back up I walked a third time and myself a sneaky look down at my feet on the red glowing coals, to see what I was doing.
I walk the coals
This was a truly momentous challenge and the empowerment I achieved with that first step onto the coals cannot be adequately described in words.
How could I have expected when six years ago my good friend Nigel Morgan of Morgan PR introduced me to the power of business networking for my commercial photography business it would have led me to achieve something so personally amazing.
With special thanks to Tracey, George and James who made this happen.
The broken arrow and my certificate
I’m pretty sure that when Google made their You Tube video to promote the search and hashtag improvements to Google+ they had no intention of offending their audience but the careless use of hands and fingers is something all photographers and indeed videographers need to be aware of.
Is this what Google really think about their customers or should they be more aware of hand gestures and how they are interpreted?
Nearly all professional photographers will have encountered the character in the back row of a group shot casually giving a two fingered salute which sometimes escapes the eagle eye of the editor and gets published but this slip by Google illustrates how important it is to check your pictures and videos before you publish them.
Some people use their hands in an expressive way and used properly this can be a powerful addition to any visual presentation but we need to be aware of how these movements are seen by the viewer.
When I first looked at this video my unconscious mind was suddenly jolted by what I thought I’d seen on screen; now some would say any offence is in the eye of the beholder and maybe my mind is not as clean as it might be, but I can’t be alone in being momentarily shocked by what I thought Google was saying to me.
The lesson from this has to be make sure you examine any picture or video carefully before you publish, and always get several other people to look at it too in case, like me, their minds are not as innocent as they would like.
One Rotten Apple can ruin you
The incredible power of electronic media for recommendation or condemnation can easily make or break a business.
Being a commercial photographer based inWest Berkshire, I understand how important visual impressions are, but these are secondary to the perceptions people get from other sources about the way companies support and assist their customers.
Following my post about British Gas and how they didn’t react to my comments on Twitter, I have since discovered they do have a social media awareness and they do monitor it.
Soon after my ‘tweet’ about them not following up on telephone complaints and asking if anyone knew if British Gas were active on Twitter they ‘tweeted’ me asking how they could help and that if I followed them and sent a Direct Message (DM) with the details of my complaint they would look into it.
Bearing in mind I had waited days to no avail for a telephone call from the British Gas call centre I realised how quickly criticism launched on a public social media platform evoked a reaction.
Now, I’m delighted that with Twitter’s intervention I’ve been able to get my complaint dealt with satisfactorily and agreed a settlement for my lost time, but I have concerns that anyone in business who isn’t keeping their finger on the social media pulse could find their reputation being damaged without them knowing.
If you’re not on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin or don’t have a social media presence , you may never know what people are saying about you on the internet, yet wonder why your product or service isn’t selling and customers seem to be avoiding you.
For this reason alone it’s essential that you monitor key words about your business, even if it’s only the company name, otherwise you could be the last person to know something’s wrong.
We all love recommendation and positive reviews but we must also be aware of malicious comments that can destroy a reputation. How many restaurants and hotels have suffered as a result of bad reviews on sites like Trip Advisor?
We should never forget that as individuals all our tastes are different and what we think is good may be someone else’s worst nightmare; but without knowing what’s being said, what steps can you take to correct any problems. This is why it’s essential that any business that relies on word of mouth recommendation understands and acknowledges the power of electronic media and no matter how large or small has an active policy of monitoring what’s being said about their company.
The greatest photo in the world showing the most fantastic product or service cannot overcome negative perceptions created by words so always listen to what others are saying about you and know how any people working for you are handling complaints.
Image is not just a picture it’s all about looking after your business and caring for your customers.
What's not cooking at British Gas
Anyone in business will tell you that the most important route to success is going the extra mile and keeping the customer happy by giving them what they think they want.
As a commercial photographer I know this better than most since in the digital age everyone’s a photographer and the majority of clients have a preconceived idea of how they want to look or how their product should be presented.
By listening to what they expect and guiding them around the practical obstacles I get the chance to build a relationship and show them the value of using a professional expert and establishing the magic of rapport.
This kind of personal attention is what sets small business apart from the impersonal multi-nationals who generally seem to adopt the attitude of we’ll give you what we want to, not what you need.
Having spent yesterday afternoon waiting for a British Gas engineer to carry out a routine central heating inspection; don’t you love the way they give time slots and then just before it’s due to elapse ring to say they can’t get there.
I got a call at 10 to 6 in the evening, apologising that they hadn’t been able to fit me in and offering me the first call of a 2 hour slot the next morning.
Accepting that “stuff happens” and it must be difficult to schedule so many jobs I agreed but as my allotted time disappears into the distance, I guess I’ve been stood up again.
The trouble is that this promise was pure British Gas “hot air”; they hadn’t told the engineer what they had agreed with me, so his work sheet said between 8 am and noon, he finally turned up at 10-15am, not his fault.
The main lesson we can all learn is not to make promises you can’t keep and certainly don’t lie, always be aware of the damage failing to keep them can result in.
I know that as a small business I always try to go the extra mile and give added value to my customers, if big business replicated this attitude people may be inclined to spend more with them and growth would begin to return to the economy.
The other lesson is when you do mess up, and it happens; make sure that your apology is sincere and any action necessary is prompt. “I’ll get my supervisor to call you”, just doesn’t cut it especially when they don’t bother to ring back.
Why do these utility companies spend so much on telephone cold calling and doorstep selling when they can’t supply what they offer, my list is growing Talk – Talk, British Gas, all credit to BT who at least try to resolve complaints with BT Care.
Maybe these large corporations should be buying their customer relations training from the small businesses that know how to treat their valuable clients properly.
My good friend Nigel Morgan at Morgan PR frequently posts about large organisations ignoring the power of social media and how great an impact this can have on reputation if you ignore Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and the myriad of other social networks your shareholders could be exceedingly unhappy.
In some ways I’m grateful that my time waiting in for British Gas hasn’t been entirely wasted and I’ve written this blog post.
The challenge of dark backgrounds
One of the big challenges for any professional photographer has to be the unknown and the unexpected and last night was certainly one of those.
I offered to take photos at the Question Time event staged by my good friend Dawn Ray from Best of Newbury and I knew Nigel Morgan from Morgan PR was going to be tweeting the session live on Twitter the social media network.
Five minutes before I left, Nigel rang me and suggested I bring my laptop so that he could tweet pictures as I took them, so dashing out of the door I grabbed what I thought I’d need.
Not knowing if the venue had wi-fi available I planned to shoot using a DSLR and upload to the computer, do a quick tweak and resize them and pass them on a USB stick to Nigel so that he could integrate them as the questions were answered.
What I hadn’t expected was that the venue had set up a stage in a drama studio with thick black curtains as a backdrop and incredibly high black painted ceiling, and very low lighting levels.
I immediately realised my chances of using available light were nil and with nothing to bounce flash off I had no alternative but to use flash directed straight at the speakers and any hope of including the audience would be even more of a challenge with the dark surroundings acting like a massive sponge, mopping up the light. Although not a new situation for me, I spent years of my youth crawling around potholes and caves and of course working in darkrooms, these sort of challenges make you think on your feet.
With the male members of the panel being traditionally dressed in dark suits achieving definition between them and the background was essential if disembodied heads were to be avoided.
Add to this the large bottles of water sitting on the desk in front of the panellists just waiting to reflect back at me every bit of light I threw at them I was not optimistic about the outcome of the evening.
But with some careful balancing of apertures and shutter speeds to make the most of any light there was and some gentle manipulation in Photoshop, I achieved my goal.
Toadstools should be kept in the dark
What’s the first thing you do if you know someone important is coming to visit, either at home or at work?
The chances are you’ll start to tidy up and put the things you’ve never got round to clearing up away in cupboards and drawers, then giving the loo a good clean and making sure the towels are spotless.
This happens in business too, whether private or public, and as a professional photographer I’ve often witnessed the frantic attempts by public service and corporate management to keep up appearances when an important dignitary or celebrity visit is announced.
The extremes to which this happens can vary from complete redecoration and replacement of toilet seats before a Royal visit or just making sure the ‘girly calendars’ have been taken down before the CEO’s wife arrives.
Probably the worst instance I witnessed was when a hospital cleaner was castigated by the trust’s Chief Executive, in front of patients and staff, for not completely removing an old stain from carpet in reception which had been ignored for years but suddenly took on vital importance, half an hour before the minister of health was due to visit.
My last week’s post about the magistrate’s court waiting room made me think about how many of the so called ‘very important people’ never get to see things as they really are and as a consequence they never get a true picture of what the public experience and have to tolerate.
When did the Minister of Justice last visit a courtroom that hadn’t been sanitised and prepared with a line up of selected guests, to replace the normal occupants of criminals, witnesses and victims of crime who are required to spend endless hours in these unsavoury surroundings?
When did the politicians and healthcare executives meet real patients who haven’t been carefully screened and selected by hospital PR managers?
When did the company president see the shop floor in its true unpolished working condition?
Brushed under the carpet
These visitors are all living a carefully choreographed illusion and this provides the basis for not understanding what happens every day and passes for normal.
Maybe this is why these politicos and dignitaries have such unrealistic experiences of how our public services, companies and institutions actually run and therefore fail to understand the problems.
Fly on the wall television documentaries have tried to recreate conditions with the boss working incognito on the shop floor, but whenever a film crew is present this will provoke some element of suspicion and consequently distortion will occur.
The only way a VIP or even an inspector will get to see the true picture is to arrive unannounced and unaccompanied, with absolutely no prior hint of a visit.
Transparency is the new political watch word if that is true, why do we conceal the real picture from the very people who need to see it.
If you have experience of these points please leave a comment.
Sign of the times
People watching, is something I do for a living.
As a professional photographer there’s always the opportunity to observe the way people react, their emotions, body language or simply their habits disgusting or very ordinary.
So the fact that I was sitting in the waiting room of a magistrate’s court having been summoned as a witness provided me with an excuse to spend three and a half hours just sitting and watching.
The characters that filled that time were quite extraordinary and in particular I was interested in the people attending the youth court which was taking place in an adjacent courtroom.
My first impressions were of the defendants, accompanied by parents, freshly scrubbed faces suitably ‘suited and booted’ with smartly knotted ties around necks that were obviously unused to such restriction, all trying desperately to show remorse and respect for the court.
The dress of the parents, however, was not so well considered, T-shirt, jeans with rips and hoodies, I began to wonder if their efforts in presentation of their child would really sway the minds of those sitting in judgement when they looked at the so called responsible adults accompanying them.
Something else that stood out was the pride with which these children held their new found attention, the bravado of swearing at their solicitors and relating how they had punched, kicked and nicked their way to their five minutes of infamy.
I was astonished at the relish and excitement with which a few hours community service instead of ‘a custodial’, was greeted by the recipient and friends as though it was a competition to see whose sentence held the greatest kudos.
Looking around the waiting room it was obvious the contempt and lack of respect for the system that those required to attend demonstrate; from the loudly audible burps and other bodily functions to the women using the most vulgar and disgusting swearwords in a casual and everyday manner.
It’s difficult not to stereotype and create prejudices but the uniform of dysfunction seemed everywhere the clothing, jewellery, hairstyles, tattoos and piercings, none of which make the character wearing them any lesser person, but they really weren’t trying to disprove these impressions.
I found it disturbing to hear how ‘inconvenient’ it was to have to wear an electronic tag, not for the reasons of punishment or shame but it meant keeping one leg out of the bath and not being able to meet your mates after 6pm, but “hey it didn’t stop me playing Grand Theft Auto”.
As I was called into court I realised how privileged I’d been to see this piece of British culture in action and that ‘reality TV’ isn’t a patch on real life.
The rewards for crime seem to be greater than the sympathy for victims of crime it really is time that we stop protecting the perpetrators; if they’re old enough to have a social media account, they’re old enough to be identified.
With such pride in the way they look and behave and with such little respect for authority maybe it’s time to start a special Facebook page and let everyone see how proud they really are.
MacKenzie with his new book
They say a picture paints a thousand words, but when it comes to books full of well-intentioned words, anyone who knows me well will tell you about my aversion to reading fiction.
It’s probably a hang back from school days when we were expected to read a certain number of fiction books during the holidays and the resulting detentions when you couldn’t answer questions on them once term had restarted.
I can confidently say that the last fiction I read was the third Harry Potter book, which I read to my younger daughter at bed-time.
So when Nigel Morgan of Berkshire’s leading public relations and social media consultancy Morgan PR approached me to take pictures of Mackenzie Smith to promote his new book “Who pays the Piper” an SAS novel, I was delighted to help him, however I also thought: “So what? – It’s just another story book!”
After I’d agreed to take the commission, Nigel sent me various background materials about the author, and invited me to download the first chapter of Who Pays the Piper for free from the author’s website.
Now I happen to believe that, being a commercial photographer it is essential to know about the product I’m photographing and on this occasion, who, I’m working with.
MacKenzie Smith on the sofa
Establishing a comfortable relationship with them is vital, if you really want to achieve the best and most relaxed photographs and of course building that essential ingredient – the magic of rapport.
To this end and in the interest of research, I decided I must put my prejudice about fiction aside and find out what this book is all about, so I began reading the first chapter, which was included in my brief.
After the first few sentences my imagination was sparked by the visual and sometimes graphic descriptions which appeal to my rather right-brained mind and I soon found myself abruptly halted by the end of the chapter and wanting to know more. So much so, that even without meeting the client, I have ‘liked’ the book on Amazon and pre-ordered it ahead of the September launch.
When I eventually met Mackenzie, it was obvious that he was going to make a great subject, but like so many people before him, he didn’t feel particularly comfortable being photographed and while he is destined to become a much photographed best-selling author, for now it was all new to him.
MacKenzie starting to enjoy himself
The greatest secrets of getting good pictures of anyone is not to be rushed, Nigel had allowed plenty of time to get these pictures, and also to try and take them in their own environment, whether it’s their office or home, these really are key.
My technique is simple, I get my subject to talk to me, while I fire off pictures, inevitably, there will be some bizarre expressions, which you can sometimes share with the client before deleting, although this can be risky as they may react badly and destroy their confidence.
After about half an hour the whole atmosphere changed, relaxation took over and the pictures improved. The plan had been to do some indoor shots and then try and get some exterior shots by the local river but when we arrived at Mackenzie’s office, it had been pouring with rain.
Now fully relaxed
The sky having cleared, we had the opportunity to start some outside pictures, and that heralded an almost Eureka moment; where he had been hesitant about the camera, suddenly, both Nigel and I noticed a change, Mackenzie was starting to enjoy being photographed and even stopped talking to pose, which ended the session with some really great shots which he has started to share on the Facebook page for Who Pays the Piper – you can also follow Mackenzie Smith on Twitter via @MSmith_Author.
The Steersman installed on Rob's yacht, "Justine"
The British have always been at the forefront of invention, this ingenuity, fascination and curiosity that drives so many designers, engineers and craftsmen to take the challenge of trying to provide an answer to a problem by producing an invention is unique.
One such inventor is Rob Chicken of Combe Products in Hungerford,West Berkshire.
A keen yachtsman, Rob noticed a need that single handed or night-time sailors had, to enable them to control the boat when they couldn’t man the helm constantly.
Although there are already systems available they rely on electronics, which need battery power and the greater the needed for the device the more power it uses. Consequently, in bad weather the importance of navigation lights and other essential electrical resources can be compromised by using this automatic steering system.
As a trained engineer, Rob devised a mechanical answer to the problem, which not only addressed the need but produced a far more responsive solution.
After working on the initial designs he produced full working plans and began the tortuous route required to protect his intellectual
Final Adjustments
property rights and ensure the design was covered by the necessary patents, registrations and trademarks. Eventually a working prototype was created and after much testing and development, Rob started putting together a group of fabricators who would produce the final product.
With a finished demonstration unit and having registered the name “The Steersman”, Rob started to consider how to market this invention and at this point I became involved in his enterprise.
As a commercial photographer from Newbury, just up the road from Rob’s base in Hungerford he asked me to go and spend a day photographing “The Steersman” being assembled on his 30 foot yacht “Justine” and to take some pictures to be used in a yachting magazine advert, timed to appear at the Southampton Boat Show in September, where he will be manning a stand.
Fortunately, the weather on the river Hamble was kind and we managed to get some great pictures including some useful stock shots for my own personal library.
For any inventor producing something novel, one of the greatest problems is communicating how it works and what it looks like, this can be a massive challenge and the skill of a photographer will often be essential in doing this.
The importance of getting good clear photographs of a product should never be underestimated and using a specialist in this type of commercial photography is a worthwhile investment.
Rob Chicken
While we were shooting, I also convinced Rob of the importance of having a good corporate portrait or headshot, to accompany any press releases he may send out and with any editorial space he may be given. This would also be invaluable for the increasingly essential social media networking that businesses are becoming involved with and of course the ever important website.
If you are an inventor building a good relationship with a commercial photographer can be invaluable in getting your idea promoted.
