Toronto Portrait, Interior, Corporate, Event and Product Professional Photography Services.

WEBSITE PHOTOS

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:37:33 +0000

First impressions count, and your website is no exception. The good thing is just like new clothes or a different hairstyle can update and improve your physical appearance, updating your website can do just the same for your professional image. Original customized photography on your website is a great way to accomplish this. Here’s some ideas to get you thinking about how photos can overhaul your website’s overall appearance:

1. “ABOUT US” – update your headshots

If there’s one thing you must invest on when it comes to your website revamp, it’s updating photos of your executive team and staff every two to three years. Putting old photos on a newly designed site is like buying a new top, only to wear it with faded and washed out pants, it looses its effectiveness.

Whenever my company is photographing executive staff either on location or here at the Donna Santos Photography studio, I get the chance to really photograph people in a completely different light or perspective. It’s the opportunity to enhance and empower your brand through the way people are photographed.

Photo by Donna Santos

2. “HOMEPAGE” – mesmerize your audience with rotating images

Homepages that have rotating images that move in sequence tend to get more views. Take a look at my website to get an idea of what I’m talking about at http://www.donnasantos.com. By using photographs to tell a story to your audience about who you are what your brand is all about you’ll intrigue your them to stay longer and engage with your brand online more. As well you can use these rotating images to showcase new and exciting things happening with your company. The homepage is a window of opportunity to connect and entice your audience, so make it count with customized photography. Stock images don’t hold anyone’s attention anymore, as they can seem boring and bland. Customized photography ensures you give your website life and personality.

3. “PRODUCTS AND SERVICES” – make audience visualize enjoying what you offer

When a company has tangible products to sell online, the importance of having a photo of that product on the website is non-negotiable, you just have to have it. When there’s nothing tangible to sell like services, then how do you showcase that? Services are rendered by people, your people are your assets so why not show them off. A photo conveying your services could look like a team tackling on a project together in a working environment. Or, how about showing a photo of a satisfied client having a one on one consultation with a company representative.

4. “CONTACT US’ – invite your audience to visit you

If you have a great office environment with some great employees, why not let everyone know. Companies can build trust and rapport with their customers by using photos to show your audience ‘we have nothing to hide’. You can include this as a blog update on your website or as part of your social media, and you might even inspire other people to hire your company based on showing them the work environment through customized photography.

X-Design Team Photo by Donna Santos

It's a fun place to be ... Photo by Donna Santos

Photo by Donna Santos

5. “NEWS & EVENTS” – Keep your audience anticipating

If your website features a “NEWS & EVENTS” page why not use this as an opportunity to feature a photo slideshow or photo gallery built into your website. A better idea would be to turn this slideshow into a video to post on your updated website. Add music and some text and you can post it to online video networks like YouTube as well and get noticed. Or you can even create a presentation to show potential clients of your products and services by using a photo slideshow or video.

Photo by Donna Santos

Updating your website can be a daunting task, figuring out what photos stay and what goes can be just as daunting. Why not let us figure it out for you by booking a complimentary consultation on how to best showcase your company through photos on your website. Email us for an appointment at info@donnasantos.com

6 PHOTO – SEO TIPS

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:30:26 +0000

6 Tips for Driving Traffic to Your Website Using SEO on Your Photos

Start using photos on your website and you’ll see an almost immediate difference in the amount of time people spend there. But wait, your work is not done yet. Now the challenge is to take it to the next level of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and tag and label your photos with keywords and tags.

If you want to drive people to your site and keep them there with SEO optimized images, do these 6 things:

1) Find the best, most relevant images possible. If you’ve ever had to sit through a slide show of poorly focused and framed boring photos, you know what a turn off it can be. Spend a little extra time looking for and hiring a trained professional. Or spend the time yourself creating that great image that’s so incredible readers want to send it to their friends. Make sure the photos are relevant and tied to the content in your blog or content. If you’re writing about ‘product assembly’ make sure the photo relates to ‘product assembly’ in some way. Great photos are easier to tag because they’re clear in what they’re about, and easier to describe when it comes to keywords, metadata and alt tags.

Photo by Donna Santos

2) Alt Tag your photo properly. Many business owners get confused between alt tag and title. “Alt tagging” simply means putting a description to your photo in the “alt tag” form on your website when you upload the photo. That way if the picture doesn’t load, or if the viewer has disabled images in their browser, people at least know what the image is a photo of. Search engines look for the alt tag because it is text and they search text, not photos.

www.yorkvillesmiles.com Photo by Donna Santos

3) The title is different from the alt tag. The title attribute is a link to another webpage. The rule is, always add the alt attribute to your images but include the title attribute only if the image is a link. If for instance you have a photo in a post about “whiter teeth” you can link the photo to another webpage on your site (or an outside site) by putting the link in the title box. That way when readers “roll or mouse over” the photo they know to click on the photo for more information.

4) Complete the meta-data information on your photo file before you upload it. If you open up your photo’s “info” using software program Adobe PhotoShop (File/Info) or most other photo editing software, including Microsoft’s Pro Photo tools, you’ll see fields for filling out the “metadata” of the photo. This includes things like the photo caption, the version of the photo, keywords, your copyright notice, the title of the image and even the GPS location if that isn’t done automatically. Fill out this information before uploading it to your website. Then complete the alt tag and other SEO fields as well once the image is uploaded.

5) Keyword your photos. Keywords are what people use when they’re searching for something. If you’re shoe shopping, keywords you might use when searching might include “shoes, feet, high heels, loafers, sneakers, boots, footwear.” Keywords help people narrow their online search quickly. Imagine having to sort through one hundred billion websites to find the 200,000,000 stores that sell shoes. Keywords help searchers narrow their options. While searching “shoe store” might get you several million websites that sell shoes online, searching on “neon green sling-back shoes in size 11,” will greatly reduce the number of sites you have to search.

Customers who are ready to buy will search for exactly the item they want. If you sell ‘neon green sling back shoes” and upload a photo of it, make sure your keywords describe it in five words or less. If you do, chances are your website will popup higher in the search results—especially if your customer is searching in Google images, looking for photos of neon green shoes rather than websites of companies who sell them.

6) Rename your photo. That great photo of an “exhibition booth in Metro Convention Centre in Toronto” is known as IMG_5617 in your filing system, but that name does nothing for your readers or the Internet’s search engines. No one is going to search on IMG_5617. They are going to search on “booth,” or “exhibition booths,” or “exhibit and booth.” Rename or name your photos so search engines can find them. Keep your name short and objective. Do not use adjectives like “beautiful” or “awesome.” Something like, “exhibition-booth-toronto-mtcc” is fine. Use the dashes, not underscores, between words. Google doesn’t recognize underscores or spaces and tends to join words together.

Exhibition Booth at MTCC Photo by Donna Santos

It takes more than just great photos to drive people to your site. Your images must be properly tagged and labeled. I hope these tips have helped you do that for your images. Did you like these practical tips? Get more! Sign up HERE to receive great, no fluff, no nonsense tips on how to use photos to generate traffic to your website.

GIFT CERTIFICATE

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:42:04 +0000

Give the gift that will be appreciated and remembered forever. Thank, surprise, pamper and appreciate the most valuable people in your business with the timeless gift of a professional photo shoot. Help those you appreciate the most capture what’s most important to them. Donna Santos now offers Gift Certificates for the people in your life who’ve contributed to your success.

This is the best gift for:

Your Hardworking Admin Assistant
Your Supportive Mom / Sister
Your Business Partner
Your Most Loyal Client
Your Generous Mentor
Your Dedicated Volunteer
Your Self

When you don’t have the words to say how much you appreciate them, tell them with pictures. Give a Photo Gift Certificate for a fun, exciting photo session that includes a professional hair and make-up session and *more. The recipient of this Gift Certificate will have the option to choose which of three photo packages is best for them.

1) Business Portrait — Dynamic business portraits convey the passion and essence of the people who make up your company. A Business Portrait gift package provides the recipient a portrait suitable for social media profiles, publicity, editorial submissions, and press kits – announcing to the world that a true business professional has arrived.

2) Personal Profile – Our smile, our eyes, and our personality say it all. Great photographs capture and portray our very essence for all time. When you’ve only got seconds to make a great personal statement, this is how you do it—with a photographic personality profile. The Personal Profile package offers a relaxed and causal look, perfect for dating profiles, acting headshots and social media sites or blogs.

3) Lifestyle Portrait — When a person is surround by the people they love — family, friends, partner (even pets), they’re often surrounded by photos of the ones they love. The Lifestyle Portrait captures the warmth, fun, fuzziness and timeless look of love and loved ones. This package is perfect for family portraits, best friends portraits, and engagement portraits.

*All packages include:

Phone consultation

1.5 hours of photo shoot with Donna Santos

3 Different Looks

3 Touched up High Resolution Images

All digital proofs

Hair and Make up Application

Mini make-up lesson

Customized cosmetic shopping guide

Gift Card expires 16 months after date of purchase

All these for $499 only (+tax)

At the end of the day, you and/or a valuable friend, employee or vendor will walk away with the striking, high quality, professional photos. Whether you want or need to communicate a brand, a business, and a personality or just have a professional image to show the world, these are photos you’ll be inspired and proud to give or share.

Are you ready to give the gift of photography?

Click HERE.

EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:30:09 +0000

Debbie is a marketing manager for a large corporation. She has been planning the company’s first trade show for almost a year. But when the photographer her assistant hired showed up the day before the show for set-up shots, she groaned. Her assistant already made 3 out of the 5 mistakes event planners make when hiring an event photographer. The photographer, a talented college graduate, was a brilliant photographer with an impressive portfolio. He was friendly and upbeat, but it takes more than a great portfolio and a winning smile to successfully photograph an event.

Debbie was lucky. She was able to call in a favor from another photographer she had worked with before, and salvaged the event photography. Unless you love an adrenaline pump, make sure you ask the critical questions before you hire:

5 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE HIRING AN EVENT PHOTOGRAPHER

1.) How many possible ways will I be able to use these photos and what is my primary reason for taking photos of this event? E.g.:

Promotional photos to illustrate the next conference, tradeshow or corporate event
Publicity and media promotion next years’ event.
Annual report photos
Company website
Personal photos as gifts for attendees
Company newsletter
Flyers, ads, brochures or collateral material

By not knowing what you will be using the photos for you’re putting yourself at a severe disadvantage as you will not be able to negotiate the best price, terms and shots in language the photographer will understand. Knowing what you want to do with the photos makes you ready to start your search for the right photographer. Be aware that different photographers can be brilliant in one arena and fail in another. Asking the right questions will ensure you get the best photographer for your event.

Considering you’ve determined your end uses, seen the photographer’s website, and looked at their testimonials on LinkedIn, now it’s time to ask the critical questions.

2.) Do you have an example of a full photo coverage of an event?

Online portfolios are great but most portfolios only showcase the highlights of the event and the photographer’s best shots. By asking for a full coverage review, you’ll be able to get a good sense of the photographer’s style, approach and attitude.

While you’re looking at the photographs don’t be distracted by the great shot. Ask yourself, is the photographer:

At the right time at the right place?
Able to take candid and posed photos without being awkward?
Able to take good candid photos, meaning people in the photographs look comfortable and relaxed as they are being photographed?
Able to take flattering photos, such as not getting pictures of people with their mouths open or chewing, or eyes closed. Do these photos make the event look and feel like something that I wouldn’t want to miss?
Gives you a good sense of what transpired during the event?

Here is an example of a full event coverage I did for IncentiveWorks in 2011. It was a 3-day event coverage of various types of activities. See for yourself

Event Photography in Toronto by Donna Santos

3.) Is the photographer professional?

Anyone can make a good first impression. If you want to add a photographer to your roster go the extra mile. Invest a little bit of time and money in getting to know the person. Spend at least half hour getting to know your photographer, longer if the shoot is really large or important.

If you’re planning a major event consider taking the photographer to lunch, or hire them to shoot a smaller in-house event. Notice how they interact with you, or the waiter/waitress or your employees or staff members when they’re not aware they’re being watched.

Professionalism is conveyed in many ways:

How does the photographer shake your hand? Is their grip limp or firm?
How do they dress? Casual or professional?
Do they appear sharp, focused, interested and alert?
Are they clean? Do they wear a lot of cologne or have a body odor?

Can they carry on a conversation with ease? Are they friendly, relaxed and easy to talk to? They will be asking guests to move, pose, or interact with them at some point during the event. Your important guests will associate the photographer’s professionalism with your brand. So, is this photographer one that understands and can carry your brand?

Conference in Toronto, photo by Donna Santos

4.) Do you have proper equipment?

You don’t have to be a photographer yourself to ask this. You do need to know that there are standard kinds of equipment that all professionals carry. At a minimum your photographer should have a professional or commercial camera with interchangeable lenses. A point and shoot camera just doesn’t cut it. They should also have various types of lenses to capture the right kinds of images, including at least one long lens that is good under low lighting conditions, a wide angle lens (not a fisheye lens) and a variety of versatile lens that can capture close ups to medium shots. They need flash equipment if setting up indoors.

5) Do you have back up equipment?

Your event only happens once. Your photographer’s loss is your loss. Cameras are not made perfect. Even a new camera or a camera that has been faultless for years may freeze. They do have imperfections. Your photographer should always keep a back up camera body and flash on their person when shooting. They shouldn’t leave it in the bag or keep it in the car while they’re covering an event. It should be with the photographer and ready to shoot in case anything happens to the main camera. Ask: “Do you have a backup camera and flash?” Again, a point and shoot camera is not the right equipment either as a primary camera, or as a backup. The backup camera should be the same quality or comparable to the main camera.

Those are the questions you want to ask your photographer, but your photographer should also be asking you questions as well. A photographer who “knows their stuff,” will have a list of things to ask you. If they don’t, keep looking elsewhere.

Photographers want to be ready and to be psychologically prepared for your event. If they ask these questions, you may have a good candidate:

What do you plan to use the photos for?
How’s the lighting condition at the venue?
Do you have a shot list and a list of people you want to be photographed?
Can you provide me with the programme or schedule a few days before the event?
Is any lighting set-up required?
When do you want the finished photos and in what format?
Is it possible to see the site before the event?
What did you like about my photos to cause you to select me?

They are asking why you chose them so they can determine if you liked the lighting, the candid shots and other things about their portfolio so they can get an idea of what you expect. They are trying to ensure that they will deliver the product and photos you want.

Photo by Donna Santos

Thankfully, due to Debbie’s resourcefulness the event went off without a hitch and the photos taken were able to be used for years afterwards to showcase their products and services.

I hope you find value in this information and you’ll have a better sense on what to look for in an event photographer.

If you would want to know more about my services as an event photographer, let’s chat: info@donnasantos.com , 647. 274.4377

Protected: CLAIM YOUR GIFT CERTIFICATE

admin — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:55:20 +0000

TESTIMONIAL VIDEO

admin — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:30:59 +0000

One of the most powerful marketing tools available to businesses are Testimonials. An endorsement from a satisfied customer can speaks volumes about your business.

Wu Xing Martial Arts understands this concept very well and have opted to use this technique rather than to simply talk about their company and services. To make it more powerful, these testimonials were communicated through visual storytelling which has a much greater impact when it comes to grabbing and retaining viewers’ attention.

With a number of loyal, willing and very eager clients, we were able to film their stories and testimonials in away that fit what Wu Xing was trying to communicate and the clients they are trying to reach, specifically baby boomers.

Here are some helpful links and resources why Testimonials are champion in marketing your business.

http://bit.ly/xlaWl9

http://bit.ly/yYfzEp

PHOTOS + SOCIAL MEDIA

admin — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:11:29 +0000

Using Photos, Google and Social Media to Attract Business Part 1 – 5 Ways to Use Photos to Create a Social Media Impact

If your goal is to keep visitors on your website longer, studies show nothing increases browsing time like using great photos and videos along with text. Visitors will read your content, but people are visual creatures. We are hard-wired to linger over powerful images. So how can you best use visual images to attract members of your social media community?

Here are five simple tips.

1) INVOLVE YOUR COMMUNITY. Involve and empower your community by asking for their opinion. Announce to your community that you are going on a photo shoot for your business. Ask or post some questions they can feel confident answering such as… “Does anyone have any tips on how I can calm my nerves on this shoot?”

Asking questions on FaceBook does three things:

a) it gets your readers to interact with you in a positive, affirming way
b) it allows them to share their expertise and be recognized by other readers, which builds a sense of community around your page
c) it sends a message that you value them and their input

2) BUILD ANTICIPATION. As the day of your or your company’s photo shoot draws closer continue to engage your social media community. Update them on what you’re doing. Use your status updates to let your members experience your experience, or talk about their own experiences, as the photo shoot date approaches. The benefit to you is the community stays involved by having something to look forward to.

building anticipation for social media content

3) GET FEEDBACK. It’s payoff time. After all that time your readers spend wondering and helping you get through your photo shoot jitters, your readers will want to see the photos! After the photo shoot is done and you’re down to a few choices, create a poll within your community. Ask their opinion about what photo they like best. Encourage them to comment on why they like a particular photo or video. Think carefully about how you phrase your poll and don’t ask yes or no questions. Ask open-ended questions that encourage opinions. Ask, “What did you like about this photo?” rather than “Did you like this photo?”

Some people will vote for a photo simply because they think it’s a good photo. Ask them to vote for the photo they like the best, but also ask them to vote for the photo that represents what your business is about. The two images they select may not be the same! Such a conversation allows readers to comment on how they see your brand. Such comments give you insight into how they think about your product or service.

Ways to involve community on Facebook

4) PUT YOUR READER IN THE PHOTO Photos help people see themselves using your product or service, so make sure your photos are warm, inviting and engaging. When we see a sunny, sandy beach, or a series of photos of a car, camera or boat we’re considering purchasing, seeing powerful photos that help us imagine ourselves in the picture can be tremendously motivating. Who hasn’t ordered a dessert or entrée simply because the photo on the menu looked so inviting?! Remember to use photos that encourage readers to visualize themselves in the picture in a positive way. Tying in photos to contests and polls by asking, “What five friends would you invite to join you here?” or “What else does this photo need to be perfect?” gets your readers thinking, even if they don’t comment.

5) SHOWCASE YOURSELF—AND OTHERS. Use photos of people using your product or service. User photos, such as People love to see what other consumers are doing with your product. Encourage readers to share their photos of themselves or business using your product or service. Nothing says great word-of-mouth advertising like a photo of a happy consumer with your product or service. Newspaper websites, for instance, often encourage readers to share photos of everything from their favorite pet or baby photos, to pictures of their gardens. See sample here: http://bit.ly/wdHYzR

Check with your photographer if you’d like to encourage users to share your photos to make sure you have the rights to do that. If you own the rights, you might want to watermark the photos with your website address to make sure readers know where the photo came from.

Increasing traffic to your website and keeping visitors there longer doesn’t take a lot of expense or time. But it does mean understanding how people respond best to photos. Did you like these practical tips? Get more! Sign up HERE to receive great, no fluff, no nonsense tips on how to use photos, videos and more to generate traffic to your website.

READY FOR VIDEO?

admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:28:36 +0000

WILL YOU SINK OR SWIM IN THE ONLINE VIDEO STREAM?

Worldwide, viewers watch more than three billion videos on YouTube each day. The only thing people do more than watch video is upload video.

VIDEO-CASE STUDY

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:24:13 +0000

Dr. Tanya Smith has a unique specialty. She combines a western approach with eastern medicine and discipline to the arena of fertility.

Dr. Smith is very passionate about what she does and has a wealth of knowledge that she wanted to communicate in her video. My role during pre-production was to pick out key messages that potential clients would be drawn toward. By asking questions about her business, her clientele and her overall objective for the outcome of the video, I was able to establish 3 key elements to feature in the video:

1) her experience and credibility

2) her unique approach

3) her connection to her clients

The narration in the beginning is my favorite part of the piece. This segment alone served 3 purposes;

1) getting the audience’s attention

2) touching upon emotion and

3) helping them understand the process

This segment opens up the mind and the heart, creating a solid foundation in which Dr. Smith could continue to build her messaging upon.

INSPIRATION

admin — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:35:04 +0000

When I’m looking for inspiration for work, I usually look at art, magazines, architecture, videos and almost everything outside my world. It is only when I saw this video of a courageous woman who have made a difference in her life by doing what makes her happy without reservation, facing fear and appreciating life at the same time. She grew up most of her life without a mother but have surrounded herself with friends, family and positive people to teach her about many things. I have not been a part of her life for the most of it but am very grateful that she shares it with me in this video..in it is my younger sister Janine, she’s my inspiration for life. Who’s yours?

Toronto Portrait, Interior, Corporate, Event and Product Professional Photography Services.

WEBSITE PHOTOS

6 PHOTO – SEO TIPS

GIFT CERTIFICATE

All these for $499 only (+tax)

Click HERE.

EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY

Protected: CLAIM YOUR GIFT CERTIFICATE

TESTIMONIAL VIDEO

PHOTOS + SOCIAL MEDIA

READY FOR VIDEO?

More than 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every single minute!

65 percent of those viewing video said they visited a vendor’s website after watching a work-related online video
53 percent conducted a search for a vendor/product/service for more information
42 percent made a business-related purchase

VIDEO-CASE STUDY

INSPIRATION

Toronto Portrait, Interior, Corporate, Event and Product Professional Photography Services.

WEBSITE PHOTOS

6 PHOTO – SEO TIPS

GIFT CERTIFICATE

All these for $499 only (+tax)

Click HERE.

EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY

Protected: CLAIM YOUR GIFT CERTIFICATE

TESTIMONIAL VIDEO

PHOTOS + SOCIAL MEDIA

READY FOR VIDEO?

More than 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every single minute!

65 percent of those viewing video said they visited a vendor’s website after watching a work-related online video 53 percent conducted a search for a vendor/product/service for more information 42 percent made a business-related purchase

VIDEO-CASE STUDY

INSPIRATION

65 percent of those viewing video said they visited a vendor’s website after watching a work-related online video
53 percent conducted a search for a vendor/product/service for more information
42 percent made a business-related purchase