The importance of great photography

Hi Everyone! Sorry it’s been a while since my last update. Hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year! (Here’s hoping 2014 is the best year ever)

Today I just wanted to talk with you about the value and importance of sourcing great photography for your projects.

Now, there are good images everywhere these days, dime a dozen as they say. Type something in Google and whammo – gazillions of high quality stock images are fanned out before you, awaiting your discerning selection. Copy. Paste. Done. Home in time for tea and crumpets. (just hope nobody hunts you down in the distant future for copyright infringement).

The problem is of course, those images are just ‘okay’. They’re available to everyone. They’re generic, impersonal ‘place holders’ that do the job – sort of. They add a bit of visual interest for sure – but what about emotional content?

The world is full of things competing for your attention. Movies, billboards, commercials, banners, sandwich boards, radio jingles, magazines, newspapers – argh – so much crap to process! But what in life do we truly absorb? What do we choose to take into our hearts and minds and carry around with us all day? Not a generic stock photo that’s for sure, or a song that kind of sounds like that other song. Or anything even remotely unoriginal.

Good images are good enough – but is good enough good enough for you? Good enough for your people? Come on, life is short. You deserve better.

A truly great image stirs something inside of us. A great photo elicits an emotional response and makes a synaptic connection. The best images tell stories without words. They’re sincere and taken with care, craft and creativity.

Cameras are so inexpensive these days. You don’t need a fancy DSLR to take an interesting, clear image for your Facebook page that has a personal touch. Just think about it for a bit before you pull the trigger. You don’t have to be a genius to learn about light, and how it influences and enhances your personal photography. If you can spend some time, and take some care, you can become quite handy with a point-and-shoot and capture some truly useful, beautiful content that will last an epoch. It’s in your interest to learn how to take a good photo, because you can’t hire a wedding photographer to follow you around 24/7.

Of course, when you have something special that needs documenting, it’s important to consider the semi-professionals and professionals who do this sort of thing for a living. You know they love what they do, because most could make more money doing pretty much anything else. They’ve invested in some great (and very expensive) glass and have stacks of gorgeous, geeky gear. They understand flashes and strobes like old friends, and are the only people in the world that use umbrellas when it isn’t raining outside. Most importantly, a pro knows how to make a dynamic, exciting image that you will treasure forever. When the pressure’s on, the pro will almost always deliver.

Whyalla has so much photographic talent out there, it’s insane. Just do a search on Facebook. You may have heard about Rebecca Scharber, but what about Bubbles of Sunshine, Tickled Ink – these girls  can really take a photo dude. Far out.

Finally, there is an ‘amateur’ photography group in Whyalla, and there’s probably someone in your extended family who fancies themselves as a bit of an Ansel Adams. For god sake, support that person! Creative people are really up against it in this world. Musicians have been pushed out by pokies and DJ’s. Painters marginalised by cheap-mass produced art. Writers – well, who even reads any more. But photographers – oh photographers! Even the worst among their number have something the majority do not. They actually give a shit about making photos. They understand the inherent value of a slice of time, one sixtieth of a second of space and light, somehow encapsulated in twenty four million perfectly aligned pixels, preserved forever and ever (pr at least until the inevitable heat death of the universe)

And, might I make the passing observation, if you truly give a shit about something, I reckon you’ll get better eventually. So back those peeps up! That person who prefers being behind the camera rather than in front of it is providing a remarkable community service and is literally preserving the fabric of history.

In short, embrace great photography in your life, your work, your business. Embrace creativity and art, wherever you find it it. Art enhances everything we do, everything we are, and represents that which we may one day become. That we have books to read, and Beethoven to listen to, and we can afford to buy an actual oil painting or go watch someone play a real guitar – bliss and privilege!  The art of children especially – that human beings are apparently predisposed to creating art, and that in ideal circumstances they are encouraged to do so – this my friends, is surely the greatest product of civilization.

Give your kids a camera.

Cheers,

- Richard

Sincere Condolences

My client and friend, Dr Robert Simpson, sadly passed away last week.

He was a wonderful person and a joy to work with.

Rob was also my dentist, and expertly pulled out one of my molars out last year. I can’t tell you how scared I was – I had never had a tooth removed before. But he took it out quickly and without pain – and I was so, so thankful.

Dr Simpson spent his life helping people in pain and making that pain go away. Dentists are often so under-appreciated. It is so sad I can’t tell him how glad I was to have known him.

I was so proud to have been chosen to design his logo, website, business card and stationary. He seemed to really love his logo, so much so, he managed to have it painted onto his numberplate!

His was a life well lived.

Welcome to my new website!

Hi everyone, just a quick message to thank everyone for visiting my new website!

Dream Think Design, my new business name, encapsulates my two greatest strengths. A vivid imagination and a dedication to a considered thought process.  I like to combine my ability to think ‘differently’ with a rational grounding in reality and practicality. I realise that the most awesome idea in the world isn’t so awesome if it just can’t be done. however, I always, always push beyond the accepted boundaries and strive for originality and excellence in a world full of mediocre design and service.

I don’t compete on price. That doesn’t mean I’m expensive. Far from it, in fact. I’m in the business of providing value.

I’m not a national corporation or a big company.

The only thing between us right now, apart from distance, is my reputation and my humanity.

I care about your business. I care about my customers. I care about my community. I live here – I was born here.

My primary aim in life is to make a lasting difference in people’s lives. I want to contribute in a constructive and sustainable way and emphaise the importance of localism and customer service in an increasingly depersonalised world.

I hope, some day, we we’ll have the opportunity to work with each other and make a difference together!

Cheers,

- Richard