While most of the posts in this blog are meant to educate potential clients and provide a bit more insight into the process of architectural photography to non-photographers, I thought I’d take a break and perform a brief PSA for the few photographers that somehow make it this far into my website.

As a small business owner, I understand the difficulties that come with trying to establish your own company. There are so many things to do, so many aspects of the operation to manage, and endless costs to cover. You need to market your product or service in order to earn new business, but you need to afford the costs of marketing. It’s the old dilemma of “what came first?”

With so much to think about, it seems that most design firms, trade professionals, architects, etc… forget about the visual side of marketing and the images that represent their work. Leaving little to no budget for photographing and documenting your work can really hold the growth of your business back, as you’re not always showing off your work in the best light, and in turn limiting the overall effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Buried in my contact form, there’s a small note that reads, “I specialize in architectural photography; I don't shoot weddings, portraits, babies, etc…” Early in my transition to this career, I knew I wanted to specialize in one area of photography. We now live in an world in which really good cameras are ubiquitous and anyone can hang their shingles and call themselves professional photographers. So, what’s an aspiring professional photographer to do in the face of this onslaught of people? The answer is simple: specialize and focus. Years later I can look back and say that specializing on photographing commercial architecture and interior design has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. If you’re curious, keep reading to learn how turning down work can actually pay off.

I recently shared that the overwhelming reason potential clients don’t hire a professional photographer to document their projects is cost.  Understandably, there can be a bit of sticker shock when you receive that first estimate from a commercial photographer; However, what if I told you there was a way to reduce the cost of photographing your projects without having to guilt your neighbor’s tech-savvy teenager into doing it. That’s right! I’m suggesting a way of commissioning photography for your projects without having to sacrifice quality or even the amount of images you would normally expect from hiring a professional.

Lately, most of my time has been spent shooting residential interiors and design, which means meeting new and potential clients. Whether I am in a meeting or portfolio showing, at a design show or making cold calls to potential clients, I try and always find out if a designer has worked with a professional photographer in the past, and if so, what went wrong. As I meet more and more talented designers letting their projects go un-photographed, I’m receiving the same handful of answers. Here are the top 5 reasons I have been given for not hiring a professional architectural or interiors photographer, and my response to how Arris Photography can help:

Theoretically, a good set of tripod legs should last a very long time and outlive several camera bodies.  However, you quickly learn that what you initially thought was a nice feature or a ‘must-have’ need turns out to be either cumbersome or completely irrelevant to your day-to-day workflow and you realize it's time to upgrade.