Share LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT THANKSGIVING!

As friends and family will gather this week to give thanks and relax, we take a moment to share 5 facts that you can talk about around the dinner table on Thanksgiving!

PIGSKIN TRADITION

The tradition of football games on Thanksgiving dates back to 1934, when the Detroit Lions played the Chicago Bears in the first NFL game broadcast nationally. George A. Richards, a radio executive and owner of the Detroit Lions team, wanted to gain the attention of fans with a Thanksgiving Day game. His idea worked, and all 26,000 tickets sold out two weeks before kickoff. The Lions have hosted a Thanksgiving game each year since. The Dallas Cowboys also began hosting on Thanksgiving in 1966, and a third game was added with rotating matchups in 2006.

AMERICANS REALLY, REALLY LIKE TURKEY

The National Turkey Foundation (NTF) estimates that around 88 percent of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving, and about 46 million turkeys were consumed on the holiday in 2015. Turkey has become a bigger part of the American diet recently, with consumption nearly doubling over the past 25 years, according to the NTF.

BUSY DAY FOR PLUMBERS

The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day for plumbers, according to Roto-Rooter. Meal prep and cleanup can clog drains and garbage disposals, and guests requiring “additional clothes washing, showers, and toilet flushes put a strain on household plumbing,” the company says. It experiences a 21 percent increase in calls over the four-day weekend than any other Thursday to Sunday period in the year.

THIS STATE IS ALL ABOUT TURKEY

Minnesota produces more turkeys than any other state in the U.S., raising close to 46 million last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

THE PRESIDENTIAL PARDON

The first official presidential pardon of a turkey occurred much more recently than most might think: President George H.W. Bush did it in 1989, and it’s since become an annual tradition. Stories of unofficial pardons, however, go further back - perhaps even to President Lincoln’s days, when he supposedly pardoned a turkey after an impassioned plea from his son Tad for the bird’s right to live.

Why Great Photography is Important for Your Online Business

I was reading an interesting article the other day, exploring how you get improved sales from your website. Not surprisingly, the key takeaway was the importance of high quality photos and videos contributing to the success of your online venture.

Humans are visual creatures hence what others see has an undeniable impact on our success. Images transcend language and words and allow for a greater understanding of whatever is being discussed. Since first impressions are formed within seconds and since most of the information we consume and interpret is visual, quality design can make your site and your brand stick in the viewer’s mind as professional and credible.

A professional, modern looking website can immediately build trust and guide visitors to take action. When it comes to web copy, people rarely read a piece of content word for word. On the other hand, images stick with readers longer and are more likely to give you a greater return on your content investment. The design of a website is significant because it affects how quickly visitors can find what they are looking for. If navigating the website is difficult or frustrating, the visitor will leave and try on another site, resulting in a lost opportunity.  A good design will be easy to understand and navigate, helping potential customers find what they need and taking you one step closer to making a sale or getting in touch.

Professional images capture authenticity. Photographs not only show the visitor what you offer, but can also make them want to act. People no longer just want to browse a website, they want to experience it. The restaurant website www.portillos.com is full of quality, tasty images of their varied product selection. The tantalizing photos make one want to rush over and eat… a lot! The simplicity and consistency of the images speaks to the quality of the product.

It’s simple: the more professional, compelling and enticing your site’s photography is, the more business you’ll conduct over time. We’re not just talking about pretty pictures, we’re talking about a way to visualize information in a simple way that makes sense to the client. Using good photography of your products and services will help you market to a much larger audience. Photos open your content up to a whole new audience through giving visitors the chance to share your imagery with friends and family. Bonus: shared images are basically free advertising. Professional photos can make your visitor understand your product or service more.

Most clothing websites already offer images of outfits that you can rotate and zoom in and pan across the product. The 360 degree rotation style seems very popular with shoes and handbag retailers.

Rikki Hunt, director of Nine Fashion, was quoted as saying “It's worth investing in quality photography. We employ local models and a professional photographer for EVERY new product range.”

The addition of video has created some interesting changes, not simply boosting sales, but reducing returns – the curse of any online retailer. In the article, Mark Newton-Jones, CEO of Littlewoods says “We've seen benefits in terms of customer engagement, improved conversion rates and higher sales.”

If you are striving to be professional and knowledgeable in the workplace, then your website needs to reflect that. Using great design and quality photography is a necessity in this visual world. Great design should convey a message in an easy, simple way, transcend language barriers, provide a good summary of information, support and break down complex concepts, and take a fraction of a second to understand.

HALLOWEEN FUN FACTS!

With yet another holiday upon us, we take time this weekend to celebrate some of the spooky, kooky facts around the upcoming Halloween celebration.

HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT HALLOWEEN

Trick-or-treating harks back to the Middle Ages and All Souls’ Day, when poor people in Britain would beg for soul cakes, a sweet-bread treat, and pray for dead relatives in return.

When trick-or-treating first became popular in the United States in the 1800s, more children played mischievous pranks than asked for candy. By the 1950s, though, the focus had switched to good old family fun, with sugar-hyped children dressed in costumes.

The candy-collecting tradition has spread from the United States to Canada, Australia, and Western Europe, where more and more little goblins now trick-or-treat. In parts of England, children carry lanterns called punkies (which look like jack-o’-lanterns) and parade through their towns on the last Thursday of October. In Ireland, rural neighborhoods light bonfires, and children play snap apple, in which they try to take a bite from apples that are hung by strings from a tree or a door frame.

Chocolate makes up about three-quarters of a trick-or-treater’s loot, according to the National Confectioners Association.

TIPS FOR SAVING CANDY

In the event that the candy isn't scarfed down that first night, separate chocolate out and keep it in a cool, dark, dry place. Milk chocolate is good for no more than 8 to 10 months, while dark chocolate lasts up to two years. Hard candy will also stay fresh in a cool, dry place for about a year. Make sure to store any soft candies in a covered dish away from direct heat and light. Enjoy them within six months.

If you find yourself with more candy than you know what you do with, put your leftover sweets to good use by sharing them with neighbors or coworkers.

FUN FACTS ABOUT CANDY CORN

• Candy corn has been made with the same recipe by the Jelly Belly Candy Company since around 1900.
• What's in that recipe, exactly? Sugar, corn syrup, and marshmallow.
• One serving (about 30 pieces) has 140 calories, the equivalent of three miniature Hershey bars.
• The National Confectioners Association reports that more than 35 million pounds were manufactured in 2015, amounting to almost 9 billion kernels.

Why Food Photo Studio? Let Me Explain...

From time to time, I like to share news and information about our "food" creative studio... Below is a recap of a recent series of articles I've done to explain the "why" of us, and examine the reasons why clients work with us.

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At Food Photo Studio, we pride ourselves on operating a diverse business model that allows for us to be nimble, cost effective and extremely efficient for our clients. But since we’re often asked “why Food Photo Studio?” when talking to prospective clients, we decided to put together a series of blog posts in recent months that talk about some of the key attributes that make our studio stand out… you can read these posts through the links below:

WE’RE NOT JUST PHOTOGRAPHERS:

ARTICLE LINK: http://bit.ly/2vik4oY

OUR SUBURBAN LOCATION:

ARTICLE LINK: http://bit.ly/2vtGT5x

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPPING:

ARTICLE LINK: http://bit.ly/2sULKhS

PUTTING FOOD IN MOTION:

ARTICLE LINK: http://bit.ly/2vJCRHx

USING TECHNOLOGY:

ARTICLE LINK: http://bit.ly/2xvDkNm

WORKING WITH AGENCIES:

ARTICLE LINK: http://bit.ly/2yEyWzw

We know that choosing the right studio and a visual content creation team is critical to the success of your business, and we hope these articles help outline for you “why” we feel we’d be a great fit to help your future success… let’s talk and discuss your challenges and the ways that we could help!

"Agencies Love Us" (6th in a series of "why")

Key highlights:

How agencies use us:

Agencies think of us as true partners… an extension of their firm! We help them grow their business through introductions to companies that we know, while also helping them build their clients’ businesses through the development of outstanding visual content.

Why we enjoy working with agencies:

We are flexible, we know we can’t do ALL the work, and that’s okay… we think of the long view of the relationship in terms of helping our agencies succeed and build lasting client relationships that in turn drives repeat work to our studio.

Things to think about when looking for a visual content creation provider:

Find a studio that’s flexible, can accommodate multiple client shoots at once, and that can potentially deliver to you introductions to build new client relationships!

Several of our clients are Creative Agencies and Marketing Agencies who don’t specialize in visual content creation, but who do want to provide this for their clients when it is appropriate.  We basically become their own personal Visual Content Department!

Working with an agency is great fun, we get to know the team and they get to know and trust us.  But what are the top reasons agencies keep coming back to us?

Profit Margin

Everyone is in business to make a living of some sort, and we understand that your profit margin is one of the key needs of every agency who decides to outsource part of their business.  Because of the repeat business we develop with agencies we are able to reduce our own rates, and make further savings by overlapping production resources.

Complete Discretion

Being discreet is essential.  When we start to work with an agency we become part of your team, and we go to lengths to ensure that your client believes nothing else.  We often meet with an agency’s clients, and always refer to ourselves as part of your team. 

Your Own Portfolio

Sometimes when you are pushing for new business it helps to show the client other similar work you have successfully completed.  This is often the case when the agencies we work with are suggesting different types of visual content.  To help with this we can create a “portfolio” specifically designed for the pitch or industry.

Creative Collaboration and Flexibility

We frequently brain storm creative ideas and execution.  With our complete knowledge of visual content creation and production we can make suggestions and give fast estimates on queries.  We also support new ideas and ‘out of the box’ thinking – from cutting edge techniques to basic services. On the other hand, we love agencies with their own clear creative ideas, which are often incredibly refreshing and unique.  Some agencies will have members of their staff who will art direct the shoot and all we are needed for is to provide the smooth running production operations.

Full Service in All Areas

One of our greatest assets is that we are experienced in all aspects of visual content.  So you can confidently say ‘yes’ to any visual ideas that your client may come up with, or that may be raised in your meetings.

Total Trust

One of the reasons we form long lasting relationships with our agencies is that we are completely trustworthy.  Even when your client may have needs outside of the marketing arena we still refer any queries to you.

Our studio and corporate office are located in Schaumburg in the Remington Tech Center. This provides an optimal spot for our group of companies, as we have FoodPhotoStudio.com, CurtisNewbornPhotographic.com, and ObscuraCompanies.com, all located under one roof. Our brands in total provide a complete, turnkey solution for visual imagery and marketing execution, and the services that we provide go well beyond photography.

Would you like to learn even more about the advantages of working with us? Click on each title below to check out these recent posts:

• SUBURBAN LOCATION 
• PROPPING 
• NOT JUST PHOTOGRAPHERS 
• MOTION 
• TECHNOLOGY 

So as I close this post, all I can say is that if you’re thinking about food photography, give us a look… and check our blog each month for more about “why” FoodPhotoStudio.com is THE place in Chicagoland for highly creative, cost effective imagery!