If you hire me for a PR photshoot it’s because you’ve got a story to tell. And my job is to turn up and realise that story visually.
Sounds grand, but in reality that just means I take the photos that illustrate what you’ve written on the press release. So, it never hurts to show me a copy in advance – honestly, that tells me far more than ‘we’re trying to get into the papers.’
News outlets want a story that they can tell, so you need one for your press release. That might be as simple as ‘we’ve moved offices’ though if you can introduce another element into it that’s better. In this example, my client Stone Store were opening their first showroom after years of trading solely online. They opened up their new premises in Wilmslow and invited me along to take some shots.
The story revolved around local boy Daniel, the MD of the business, so obviously I needed some photos of him in the store. As the story was also about the store opening, shots of the interior and exterior were also essential. These will also be useful for any social media campaigns that might be running over the short term. Seeing images like these in the press and on websites helps to fix the place in the readers’ minds – so they recognise it if they drive past, or simply like the look of it and consider checking it out. A few shots of staff members, along with a sense of what it’s like to browse in the store completed the brief I was given – it’s always good to have faces in shots, so you know who you might be dealing with if you visit.
Part of the point of PR work is that the news is about to be released imminently, so a quick turnround on the photos is important. In this instance, the shoot took place in the morning and the photos were delivered by early afternoon. Google notifications started pinging a couple of days later to show the press that was being generated, like this feature in the Knutsford Guardian.
Have you got a story about your business that you’d like to get out there? Some great photos will help bring attention to your story when it hits news desks. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like to discuss your own project or get a price for PR coverage.
