From vision to viewfinder: Designer expands skills behind the camera

Experienced interior designer Elaine Deeks has expanded her creativity for clients by collaborating with Wiltshire-based professional photographer Barbara Leatham.

 Elaine, who lives near Salisbury, has become a student of “The Business Lens” a photography training programme for businesses, designed by Barbara, who has been a professional photographer for more than 30 years. Barbara started her photography career in the Royal Air Force and has continued in the profession.

 ‘The Business Lens” offers bespoke and detailed photography training to businesses which need to tell their stories through photographs. It’s designed to work for start-ups right through to larger companies with teams and social media managers.

 Elaine, who has run her business, A Box Of Tricks, has been an independent interior designer since 2007 and often works with developers to dress their show homes. She realised that adding photography to her repertoire would be hugely valuable.

 “Great imagery sells the houses – it’s the first visual representation of a show home that a potential buyer might see and it needs to form an emotional connection. The homes I work on are aspirational; they sell a lifestyle. Often photographs are taken which are quite flat and bland and do not convey emotion. Yet we all know that when we walk into a space we ‘feel’ it and react to it almost instantly. Often that’s not logical, we just do and we can decide whether or not to buy based on that feeling.

 “Having had Barbara do my headshots in the past and seen what a difference that made to how people see me – and how I see myself – I jumped at the chance to be part of The Business Lens.

 “Now I have the skills to use my kit to its best advantage and I can really think about composition, the lighting and the textures to show my work off to its best,” Elaine said.

 Elaine, who has a degree in textile design, works with many other clients including private families who want support to re-think their home and also commercial clients, particularly independent retail stores.

 “Each client brings new potential and new horizons for someone like me. Show homes are often a blank canvas. A private client’s home means working around their existing furniture and I learn quickly about their personal style and choices. In commercial premises it’s all about design around functionality and the needs of that business. Interior design speaks volumes silently and instantly to everyone who enters the space,” Elaine said.

 Barbara said: “No one business is the same as another. With Elaine, it was important to understand how she would use the imagery, what kit she had or wanted to purchase in the future and to guide her how to use it.

 “After the training she was given a bespoke guidebook filled with everything we covered during her session. It will remind her of the training and acts as a checklist when she’s on her own and recording her work. I’m thrilled that she’s now able to offer excellent photography to her clients as an additional service for their own literature.”

 “The Business Lens” packages are designed to suit two main sectors: trades such as plumbers, builders, carpenters, heating engineers, electricians, where there’s a clear visual journey from ‘before’ the work is done, ‘during’ the work and ‘after’ work has been completed. The second focus is other businesses which rely heavily on visual marketing such as accountants, estate agents, interior designers or product-based businesses with fast moving stock.

 Applicable to camera or phone use, every training package is designed to give businesses “go to” settings that deliver consistency. Investment starts at £800 and for more information, visit: www.the-business-lens.co.uk

JournalismUK publishes this press release as it was submitted without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.