Photography has undergone a radical change in the last few years. This is largely related to the abundance of cheap fancy digital cameras, and lots of people photographing everything. Cameras are now even on most cell phones, so one is always available. Someone in the office is a pretty good photographer, and these folks are shooting for their companies. And now the photography is "good enough" and almost free for these companies.
The building industry uses photographs and other visuals to show their work. These photographs appear on websites, printed brochures, proposals, and other marketing materials. Photographs contribute to each firms brand. They show potential clients what they are about, what they do. These visuals greatly impact how potential clients come away from the interaction, and reinforce the brand.
Examine the marketing materials for the leading companies in your part of the industry. I'll bet they have quality photography to promote their work, and reinforce their brand as "quality". These firms promote this impression. "Quality" is overtly all over their interaction with clients, including the most important visual; photography. Clients want to work with quality companies. And they will pay for it, because they know that the quality will last long after the memory of the "good deal" they got by choosing mediocrity.
So I implore my clients to consider the feeling that their potential clients get when they interact with them. Do their clients feel mediocrity after their initial website visit? Or were they "grabbed" by that first photograph on that website homepage?
I want my clients to value the quality photography that I strive to create every time I shoot. I want them to understand that professional photography is essential to the success of their business. And I want them to choose a professional, even if it isn't me. I want them to choose great, rather than "good enough".
