Is a Picture Worth a Million Dollars?
Recently, a client was talking about how the shoot we were scheduled to do could produce “a picture worth a million dollars”.
You have already heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” (In fact, I wrote about it a while back here)
Yes, they were being quite serious.
You see, the pharmaceutical research start-up had just finished a round of funding and now was building a “real” web site.
The new rebranded website would go beyond the one page landing page and reflect their cutting edge research, novel methodologies and unique culture of the young company.
I Guess a Picture Really is Worth a Million Bucks
They hired a brand expert, a writer, a designer, and me, the photographer.
We all sat down to discuss the science and appropriate visual concepts. Most importantly, we talked about the type of images that would illustrate the company culture. They needed to hit their target audience – namely, the pharma investors – right between the eyes.
We took those concepts and did a walk through of their labs and offices. There were copious notes of the lab equipment and personnel that should be featured in various sections of the site.
We also evaluated the labs for lighting, colors, access, schedules and tidiness. We wrote down who needed to be where and when. This was key to developing a shot list that would drive us creatively through the photo shoot.
Pharma Investments
Once the location scout is complete, we will work up a schedule for the actual shoot date that will include the approximate times for each location, what team members will need to be there and any other notes, such as props etc.
On the day of photography, everyone will know where they need to be and when they need to be there. All of the props and wardrobe are ready to be prepped and we will have all of the equipment that we will need to accomplish your photography ready to rock.
Everyone’s time will be used efficiently and all that is left to do is show up and start creating great images!
The Results of Our Photoshoot?
As a result of our preproduction, it was a fun, creative and very prolific shoot day. Our only challenge was getting access to one of the key pieces of equipment. It was in use during our scheduled time. A little juggling of the schedule got us over that hurdle.
Looking over the gallery of selects was a very happy client, anticipating how they would be able to impress their potential investors and get their funding.
They got their picture worth a million dollars!
Check out more lab photography here.
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Creating edgy conceptual lab photos in the CRISPr Labs in Cambridge, MA