Most of these case studies come from emails my readers send me. With their permission, I share them with the names changed. I do this so that others can learn from what worked and what didn't. Have a story of your own? Share it with me.
- 31vendors photographed
- 9paid shoots booked
- B3page in the local paper
A photo of a jar of wildflower honey made it into the local paper, on page B3.
Lachlan Ashby took that photo.
He also wrote the product photographer press release that put it there, after three earlier releases had gone nowhere.
Lachlan runs a small product studio in a converted shed behind his house in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Most of his clients sell online, from soap makers to a family that roasts coffee in their barn.
One Saturday at a makers market changed how local editors saw him. It also brought him nine paid shoots in two months.
The problem
Lachlan had tried press before. Three times in two years, he wrote a release and emailed it to the local paper.
None of them got a reply. When he read them again later, he could see why. Each one was missing something an editor needs.
No news
The first release announced that his studio had opened. The second said he’d added a new white background setup.
The third celebrated his second anniversary.
All three were about Lachlan. None of them gave readers anything to do, see or learn.
No local angle
His releases mentioned his services and his prices.
They never mentioned Lancaster, its makers or the market where half his clients first started selling.
An editor in Lancaster had no reason to pick them over a story from any other town.
No photo
This one stung the most. A photographer had sent three releases without a single photo attached.
He’d assumed the paper would ask if they wanted one. Busy editors almost never ask.
Small papers often have no staff photographer at all.
A release with a ready-made photo saves them time, and a release without one asks them for extra work.
The solution
Lachlan stopped trying to announce himself and started creating something worth reporting.
He offered the local makers market a free photo day.
He’d set up a small studio at a corner table and photograph one product from every vendor who wanted it, free of charge.
A product photographer press release built on a market day
The release had a plain headline. “Free Photo Day Helps Lancaster Market Vendors Sell Online.”
The first sentence held the whole story. Who was hosting it, where, when and why it mattered to local sellers.
He followed the same order a product label uses. The best product photographer press release ideas borrow that shape for a reason.
Who does it help?
This time, the release talked about the vendors. More than 40 small businesses sold at the market, and many of them also sold online.
He included a short quote from the market manager about why vendors needed better photos.
That second voice made it a community story, not a sales pitch.
What will readers see?
He attached two photos.
One showed his corner table set up the week before, and one was a finished product shot from a past client, used with permission.
He also promised to send photos from the day itself, ready to use with captions.
The process that worked
The idea took a weekend to plan. Three people made it work.
The market manager
Lachlan met the manager two months ahead and offered the photo day for free.
She loved it, because it gave vendors one more reason to show up and stay.
She also agreed to share the event in the market’s newsletter and on its social pages. That alone reached hundreds of local readers.
Together they picked a Saturday in early spring.
The market was busy again after winter, and vendors were planning their online shops for the year.
The business editor
Instead of the general news inbox, Lachlan found the name of the paper’s business editor.
He sent the release three weeks before the market, in the body of a short, friendly email.
He also posted the event on his Google profile using the event post option, so anyone searching for him that month could see it.
When the editor didn’t reply, he followed up once, five days later, with one new detail. Twenty-two vendors had already signed up.
The editor replied the same afternoon.
The vendors
On the day, Lachlan photographed 31 products, one from each vendor who came by. He gave each vendor three edited photos by Monday.
That evening, he sent the editor a short recap with two captioned photos.
One showed a beekeeper holding her honey jar next to his light. The other was the finished honey shot.
The story ran four days later, on page B3, using his honey photo.
What we learned from here
Lachlan’s story shows that a product photographer press release works when the news is real, local and easy to picture.
His earlier releases weren’t badly written. They just had nothing in them an editor could use.
Here’s how his old and new releases compared.
| Got a reply | Got deleted unread |
|---|---|
| A free photo day for market vendors | A new studio opening |
| A headline naming Lancaster | A headline naming his studio |
| A quote from the market manager | A quote only from Lachlan |
| Two photos, plus a recap on the day | No photos at all |
The results kept coming after the article ran. Nine vendors booked paid shoots within two months.
A local radio show invited him on to talk about photos for small sellers. The market asked him to make the photo day a seasonal event.
Events beat announcements
An event gives an editor a date, a place and people to quote. An announcement only gives them a business to promote.
Photos opened the door
Sending ready-made photos made the story easy to run. The paper didn’t need to send anyone, so a small story became a sure thing.
The honey photo also did quiet work after the story ran.
The beekeeper shared it with her customers, and three other vendors asked Lachlan for the same kind of shot.
What Lachlan does every season
He now plans one small event each quarter, with a different local partner each time.
The library, the chamber of commerce and a downtown gift shop have all said yes.
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