Professional Obituary Photographer
We, as photographers, have a public service project to address as soon as possible. Open up today’s newspaper and take a look at the obituaries section. You will see how difficult survivors find it to locate a decent photograph of the recently deceased for publication with the obituary. During recent months, I have been tasked with the responsibility of preparing obituary photos for print in the newspaper. These photos are usually provided by the families or funeral homes conducting the funeral. I see photos coming from a wide variety of places including cell phone images, wallet-sized photos that have been in someones billfold for years, very low resolution digital photos, photos that have faded into oblivion, torn photos, and about anything else you can think of. I suppose that when a loved one dies, there isn’t really a lot of time available to go look for a good photo. Maybe I can get rich by creating and marketing a “When You Die” kit that people can fill and file away much like the home first aid kits. The first thing that goes into the box is a decent quality photo that can be used for the obituary. It could also include an inscription for your tombstone. It would really be neat to have a digital recording for the grave as well… a message from the deceased that can be accessed by any passers-by who want to press the button. If Nostradamus had done this, we would be able to find out if he was a fake or not. Maybe someone would have also confessed to being the gunman on the grassy knoll or claimed responsibility for the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. Your grave would then become a tourist attraction. Your legacy would live forever.
Oh well… Maybe I’ll just start a local website as a professional obituary portrait photographer. I think I would have a corner on the market. I don’t believe anyone else around here is using that marketing strategy yet. I think I would like to use the photo above for my obituary. It shows a bit of my personality and attitude and that would be a good way for people to remember me…
I can empathize with you on the quality of photos. My wife has been getting into doing photo montages for a local funeral home, as well as for some other general events. I get suck with editing the photos, and I’m not too good. But the range in quality is simply amazing.
–Tk