Picture-perfect PR: five tips for newsworthy photography

We’re told from childhood that “a picture tells a thousand words”, but it is striking how many people forget this idea in adulthood. If you are trying to communicate a message, well-executed photography can be a powerful weapon and should be factored into any PR programme. However, success hinges on using the right approach.

High-quality, media-friendly photography can help your PR effort in various ways:

• It can win more space on the page: when laying out their publications, editors like to feature arresting photography in prominent positions, and a story with a good photo can become the dominant item on a page.
  

  Gardner Merchant provides event catering at Royal Ascot, Wimbledon and Henley Regatta. Photo by Stewart Goldstein

• A photo can improve the chances of a weaker story being published, if a picture story is needed and your image is strong enough.

• Cleverly-conceived photography can reinforce your message with telling visuals.

• A photo can emphasise the human interest of your story, which is a central goal of media relations.

• The best PR photography (such as the examples here) can create images that are remembered by the audience long after competing stories have been forgotten.

Here are five tips to help you harness the power of PR photography:

1. Identify your target media and analyse their preferred style of photography. For example, the Independent and Financial Times like artistically-composed shots that reveal a hidden dimension to a story, whereas the Sun and Daily Mail favour tightly-cropped people shots that feature families and, preferably, celebrities.

Three girls from a Battersea School observe a 10 minute silence during a Nationwide Building Society campaign for cancer charities. Photo by Stewart Goldstein.

2. Brainstorm novel ideas for how your story could work visually – the more creative, the better. Shortlist these ideas according to the point above.

3. Set aside sufficient budget. Companies suffer from a common delusion that an employee with a camera automatically becomes a photographer. This is a self-defeating falsehood and invariably results in images that are used by no-one. Instead, go with the best photographer you can afford, an investment that should be repaid with images an editor would be keen to use.

4. Select a professional photographer with creative vision and involve him/her in your brainstorming. Not all photographers are alike, so choose someone with bags of corporate and media experience, such as Ric Gemmell, Stewart Goldstein or VisualMedia.

80:20 Communications promotes its media expertise to businesses in the Guildford area. Photo by Ric Gemmell.

5. Allow ample time for setting up and properly composing the shot. It is common for a decent shoot to require half a day’s work, and many shoots entail a full day or more. When pitching a photo to a picture editor, attention to detail is vital.