Commercial Photographer Ukiah | Business Portrait Photographer

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Authentic Imagery that Tells Your Story and Sells Your Brand

PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL BRANDING
by Catherine Vibert, Photographer

Award-Winning Ukiah Portrait Photographer

Portraits that suit your brand story.

We are inundated with visual imagery every day. Our addiction to entertainment and our electronic devices expose us to, on average, 5,000 ads a day. And each of those ads contains imagery that reflects a brand. What’s your brand saying?

When people come to your website or see your advertisement, they are naturally doubtful and suspicious. The images that you rely on to express your company or yourself had best be truthful and believable. They had better be professional. And that’s the job of commercial photography: to make your visitors want what you’re selling.

You undervalue the power of imagery at the expense of your bottom line.

You need expertise. An International Print Competition award-winning Ukiah photographer in portrait photography and illustrative commercial photography, I can capture the images you need to transform your enterprise into a trusted partner. Portraits, products and people tell your brand story. Whether you are a micro-business or a large corporation, only quality commercial photography will help your clients connect with you and your brand.

Photography for Social Media Branding

Example of LinkedIn cover crop

Social media exposes us to personal and business branding. Whatever you post has to compliment your brand to further your reach. It’s no longer enough to be visible; you must be exceptional. Images create a visual language — the quickest way to make a lasting impression. Good or bad, you will be judged and evaluated, your image filed away in one box or the other.

If you are using social media, what does your online imagery say about you? Does it say you are a professional, or does it say you don’t care how you come across to the world? Regardless of what you think, your image is indeed delivering a message. People see you and ask:

• Who are you?
• What do you love to do?
• How seriously do you take yourself, your job, your company?
• What do you wish to communicate to the world?

This is personal branding. It is what people say about you when you are not in the room. And it is the only means you have to reach people outside of your personal bubble — in other words, your potential customers.

Social media pages give you an opportunity to make an impression. Those rectangles, squares and circles can represent you to those seeking you. They can help you communicate who you are and what you do. Take advantage of the real estate on your page with meaningful imagery that tells your story and entices people to engage.

That’s what professional branding photography can accomplish. This is what I deliver as a Ukiah and Wine Country based commercial lifestyle and portrait photographer. California has such a variety of stunning backdrops and exquisite locations, both urban and natural. Let me help you make an unforgettable online splash on all of your social media channels.

No More Boring Corporate Portraits

Consider having your portrait show how & where you work.

Remember school pictures? Some of you may still have nightmares. This photographer vows to end the dull corporate headshot forever. Show some personality! That’s what inspires trust. That’s what inspires sales. Business portrait photography in the should make your customer want to connect with you.

Your portrait should be lit so that it flatters you. But it should capture your expression; it should scream your brand message. It might be humorous, serious or welcoming. Whatever your brand is about, that’s what your photo should be about. It takes a talented photographer to capture that essence. It takes Catherine Vibert Photography.

 A custom session with a commercial headshot-trained portrait photographer can deliver more than a portrait — she can tell your story in a photo.

Portraits in the studio, or on location.

Commercial Photography Studio Space

When the situation calls for it, Catherine Vibert Photography partners with a Berkeley commercial photography studio — a creative space that can accommodate large corporate group portraits, commercial product photography and creative projects. If you need professional space, we can supply it.

In Northern California we are close to many wineries, farm property and Pacific Ocean, in addition to being close to urban backdrops galore! Depending on your needs, the local (and nearby) vistas make excellent backdrops for personal branding photography or fashion photography.

Travel to your business within the continental US can also be arranged, so your staff does not have to lose any momentum in their productivity. Whatever and wherever your needs, an experienced professional photographer can deliver.

Wine Country Ukiah Photographer

Why Hire a Portrait Photographer in the Wine Country, or anywhere?

“Why should I hire you when my brother/friend/Aunt Betsy will do the job for free?”

Truth be told, anyone with a smart phone can be a photographer these days. But a camera does not make a photographer any more than a pen makes a poet. For the picture to look professional, the photographer has to understand light and color, texture and shadow, angle and insight. Not every photographer is Mapplethorpe, and not every writer is Bukowski.

Remember, your image will brand you. Don’t put yourself in the position to have to accept whatever your brother/friend/Aunt Betsy hands you. This is your brand! You must control it. Your online presence affects your bottom line. Can you really afford to have anything less than imagery that shows your commitment to professionalism?

The camera is like a musical instrument. You wouldn’t buy a musical instrument, and then go perform in public, would you? You need to practice out in the woodshed for years before ever performing in public.

It’s the same with photography. It takes hundreds of hours of training in lighting, posing, composition and camera angles. It takes years of experience to bring the best out of people in front of the camera. Catherine Vibert Photography brings all that experience and professionalism to bear. When you make an investment in a portrait photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area North Bay, your image results must be consistently excellent, for you and your entire team.

Before you decide to use a free stock photo or hire your Aunt Betsy as your portrait photographer, ask yourself what your brand is worth to you. This is your brand, your story and your bottom line. Your photo is an investment that adds value to your reputation, your brand and therefore your survival.

Ultimately, your clients don’t care who took the picture. But they are making their decisions based on what they see. Once they’ve made up their minds — which can happen as quickly as six seconds! — it becomes difficult to impossible to win them back if you left an unfavorable impression. Always hire someone based on the quality of her work, including her passion, artistry, training and experience.

As a Ukiah Business portrait photographer, I offer a variety of options for corporate headshots and business portrait photography. I work with individuals and small enterprises, as well as large businesses and corporations. I can overcome all manner of challenging lighting situations, and my work in post-production is unparalleled.

The proof is in the photo. I urge you to check out my galleries before you consider hiring me. Every photographer’s palate is different; I want you to hire me because you like what you see and you want results comparable to that. And if you don’t want me, I urge you to hire another professional photographer. If you go with Aunt Betsy, you might get lucky, or you might waste hours of your time and productivity with nothing valuable to show for it.

That’s the real cost of cheap photography.

 

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A Passion for Fashion

Fashion photography is about the clothes.

I trained in fashion photography in a city that is new to fashion, Asheville, NC, and therefore rife with the creative juices of a vibrant collaborative arts community — a synergy between the designers, models, hair and makeup teams, collaborators and photographers. I shoot editorial fashion because I love to do it. Newly relocated to the Wine Country, I look forward to bringing a fresh approach to this vibrant area.

Editorial fashion tells a story, complete with costumes, makeup and drama. My love of fashion photography is an extension of having spent a great deal of my life on the stage. All that drama is just a way to make the clothes pop off the page, so that’s where my photographic eye always focuses. After all, the job of a commercial photographer is to sell clothes.

Creating a memorable commercial fashion image for magazine submission or for charity takes passion, dedication and hours of work. I have been published in fashion advertisements and editorials. I served recently as lead photographer for the Goodwill Industries’ Color Me Goodwill fashion show. I love my work, and it shows in the results.

 

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Commercial Product Photography vs. Storytelling Photography

 

A blend of commercial product photography, portrait photography and editorial photography.

Product photography is not just food on a plate or an art object in a corner. Catherine Vibert Photography regularly shoots products such as handcrafted items so they can be sold on Amazon, Etsy, and other online outlets. But artists need to sell not only the artwork, but themselves. The photo has to capture who they are, just like a commercial portrait has to capture the corporate brand. It’s the same thing, only different. And just as valuable.

But not everyone wants or needs commercial product photography. To document your art in progress, you can hire me in half-day increments to take illustrative style images of you working on your art, developing your craft… doing what you do. This is an excellent option for artisans who want to market themselves to the public.

Use these images in your blog posts, on your website pages and in your social media pages. Use them to highlight narrative articles about you in magazine pages. They aren’t portraits, and they aren’t product photos. They’re images of your hands at work, the materials you use and process you employ to create. They tell the story of you and your brand, which helps sell your work.

 

Make the Emotional Connection

Commercial photography at the bottom line is geared to entice people to buy based on an emotional response to visual stimuli. A quality commercial image needs to be authentic. It needs to grab the viewer’s attention. It needs to provoke a positive feeling.

In order for people to identify with your brand, you need authentic, high-quality imagery. If you use unprofessional or ubiquitous stock photography, you cannot create a connection with your customers, who will then go elsewhere. Without quality commercial photography in Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Hopland and the wine country in general, you are losing customers to your competition.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Let’s tell your story.