OOH Photo Today
GROWING UP IN THE 1960s and 70s my life was well documented by my father’s passion for photography. It seems like every birthday party, holiday, summer “pic”nic, camping trip, cub scout event, and yearly Halloween costume was carefully captured on Kodachrome transparency slides. My father, the perfectionist or what we would nowadays call OCD, carefully labeled and stored these tiny 2-inch images “Processed by Kodak” sandwiched in wafer-thin white cardboard slides. These were carefully brought out from the closet for what we called “Slide shows.” This consisted of a slide projector, a 5-foot retractable movie screen on a tripod, and willing friends and relatives which could amount to potentially hours of sitting in a dark room or basement viewing vibrant colored images. Having popcorn made it very special.
If Ken Burns ever wanted to cover my life on a PBS series, I have plenty of images for at least a three-part series. However, I think it best I keep those photos to myself. My dad had a knack for composing a photo, and he was proud of his talent. My wife on the other hand came from a more occasional Kodak Instamatic flash cube kind of family. Their family photos are stored randomly in a shoebox.
Today, as the inherited conservator of my dad’s tiny family images, I can look back on my early childhood and confirm these events in my memory did happen. For better or for worse my wife must rely on her memory and a small envelope of black and white photos. How true is this of so many Americans? We have a past; photos link us to moments in time that often stoke memories we cherish to have.
Now look at us as part of the visual Billboard / OOH Industry, are we stoking future memories? Are we making the effort to take great photos of our client’s creative campaigns, national or local that we can be proud of? Are we willing to project these images on a giant screen for our OOH tribe to ooh and awe at? Certainly, a few of us are but think of the opportunities lost. We have an opportunity to stoke the best of memories. Are we doing so in OOH?
FotoFetch is committed to helping you create cherished memories for your clients. I would like to invite all my clients to our slide show. We are shooting thousands of photos a month. FotoFetch works with over 6000 independent photographers throughout North America who know how to take OOH photos, videos, and drone images. We can assist in easing your photography pain points by turning them into sales assets.
Not all of your clients’ images will be award-worthy, but I believe they are still proud of their campaigns, and they deserve a well-crafted photo. I sold OOH transit and billboards for 30-plus years, and I know there is nothing better than stoking the good memories of customers when it comes to securing future sales. FotoFetch is an advertiser with OOH Today.
by Steve Lind, Chief Evangelist
ph. 206-409-2647
Visit http://fotofetch.com