I was on my way to an industrial shoot in Port Kembla, sitting on the plane reading the airlines magazine when this ad jumped out at me. Wow I thought, do people believe this? 

I know in my past I have had conversations with clients who ask me how I feel about the change from film to digital and whether our industry will survive the change to digital 'where everyone can take great photographs and plenty of them'.

To be perfectly honest, these comments are of a technical nature. The digital cameras of today are good, very good. Then I hear people say to me hey photoshop can fix it. True but there is one big misconception - the camera can do it all. The same applies to clients getting 3 quotes and going with the cheapest. Its not about that either. Its about the creativity of the photographer, the ability to pre visualise  a photograph. To look at a person, place or product and create a visually stimulating image that evokes interest or desire. 

I have spent my whole photographic career trying to give my clients and myself great photographs. So perhaps I'll take the liberty to change the headline above to  - "If you want great photos, go find a great photographer".

When I work on a project I'm looking for three different types of visual communication.

1. Hero shots. These photographs are the standout wow images which tells the story of the client's project. The ones that grabs the viewers attention. The ones people will look at and get the knowledge and understanding of the whole project in a dramatic an interesting way. As with a photograph above you can see the drama that's been created by the aerial shot and the curvature of the wide angle lens.

2. Supporting shots. The photos that are essentially the ones that back up the work of the hero images so viewer can see the detail in the clients product or service. The need to understand the process or product.

3. Layout shots. Designers of the client brochure needs to have space left in the photograph to be able to put headline, text and client logos.ie the sky and the water in the image above. Also the need to shoot vertically for a A4 front cover of a magazine or brochure and hortizontally to use a online website or powerpoint.