OK, So What's With The Pictures?

 

Commentary:

Let me start by saying that I am one of the least photogenic people on the planet. I'm amazed at how some people can apply just the right amount of muscle tension to form the perfect smile every-time. For me, I can't hold it together for more that two seconds. And it never fails, the person taking my picture invariably takes a second too long to snap the shutter, just as I feel my face distort under the pressure.

Then there's the reality check of actually having to see myself in the photo. A point in time that shows me what I actually look like to the world. I prefer to look a myself in the mirror and allow my mind to delude me into thinking that I look much better than I actually do.

This is on my mind because I need to have a professional photo taken for a project that I'm working on. So with this looming, I can't help but notice the photos my competitors are using.

I find that most are very well done. Some are very natural and obviously are the ones that are lucky enough to have the right gene switched on in their DNA that I referred to earlier. And then there are the ones that had professional photos taken that look good and work very well.

Then there's the other category.  

I know that this has been addressed numerous times, but I can't help it. I have to ask; What's the deal with the props?

Showing off one's prowess using the telephone doesn't impress anyone. We all know how to use one. I recall one local broker in particular that I'd see in those home magazines posing with a french phone. Although, I haven't seen her around in a while. Maybe she moved to France?

With the advancement in telephone technology it was inevitable that the cell phone would be the next bright idea. Pictures of agents (mostly the younger Guys) holding their cell phones up to their heads looking busy. On the run. A new and improved model over those agents still in the dark ages using desk phones. A Real Estate Agent Action Figure. Collect them all. (cell phone, blue tooth headsets for each ear, push-to-talk walkie-talkies, satellite uplink sold separately. Batteries not included)

This next group I just can't figure out. The "through the haze glamor shot". It's as if someone smeared petroleum jelly over the lens of the camera. When they meet with their prospect in person do they hand them a pair of glasses with the same substance smeared on the lens, or do they apply it directly to the prospect's eyes to create the same effect?

Then there's the photos that fall into the category of; What the hell are you thinking? You're suppose to attract business, not scare it away!

Some of you (mostly Guys) look like you stumbled in from pulling an all-nighter at the neighborhood pub. And good Lord there was one poor woman; deer-in-the-headlights eyes bugged out, wound so tight that you could see her bobby pins popping out of her hair. There's no way I'm getting into a car with someone that close to the brink for fear that the first stop on the property tour would be the Bates Motel!

For the full effect click the play button.

In all fairness, photographic faux pas aren't exclusive to real estate agents. The business world, in general, has their share of "pompous posers".

Anyway, I called a professional photographer that I know to see if he can work some magic. He told me that he was "taught the proper techniques for posing and lighting so I was going to get the best of the best". He also said that he wasn't a miracle worker. (Oh well.)