Do You Always Hold Focus on Quality?

“One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind.”
Dorthea Lange

Click to listen to the back story

by Skip Cohen

​I'm sticking with my "clean up" theme until I run out of things to suggest. Too many of you never think about how the photographs you capture, especially portraits, might be of value later on.

How often have we all worked on something and, whether rushed or exhausted, said to ourselves, "That's good enough?" We've all done it, and maybe it's acceptable when you're fixing something at home, but when it comes to a client, only your best is good enough.

In 2016, Bob Coates shared one of his favorite portraits with me, "Randy," shown on the right. I hope you listen to the short podcast with the photograph, but here's the summary. Randy was struck by a car and died two to three weeks after capturing the images. Bob's portrait was one of the last photographs ever taken of him.

One more major example, and it's so timely following the anniversary of 9/11 this week. Remember the tragedy and the photographs posted as people searched for lost family members and friends. Because so many of the victims were relatively young, there were hundreds of professional portraits, usually bridal or college, even high school senior shots. 

Throughout the industry, there are stories from professional photographers who captured the last images taken of a specific subject. 

Here's my point - NEVER compromise on the quality of an image. Your clients trust you to capture the best photos, and you owe them your full attention. You never know how important today's photographs are going to be tomorrow!

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