Full video transcript:
Chris Vaughan: "When Care For Your Life, a family run group of five care homes decided to revamp their website, and wider marketing material and make the move away from generic stock
photography. They came to me looking for photography that felt real warm and professional.
This is the story of what we created together."
Gawtham Ravivaruman: "Care For Your Life, we’re a group of five care homes three in Lincoln, one in Skegness, one in Fair Haven. We have two that are for nursing and three that are residential, you know, we focus on care for the elderly, whether that be residential, dementia and for two of our homes, nursing. You know, we just focus on the homes being a very happy place. It's a very tough job for a lot of the carers, and it's a very tough time in general for someone looking for care. But the peace of mind I think you get, once you know that your loved ones are in somewhere like our homes, I think is huge. And so that's kind of, I guess, what we're here for."
CV: "From our first meeting, it was clear they needed three things. Images that showcase their properties. The natural and candid shots of daily life and images that celebrated their staff, who are a big part of the high quality care they offer."
GR: "I looked at photography services online primarily just like googling it and considered a few different options. But I think the thing that sort of made the big difference for me was looking through portfolios, looking at pictures, and as well there's the types of people the photographers had worked with. So which businesses they worked with, what else they can do. Because for us we had a pretty broad need in terms of we needed pictures of rooms, we needed pictures of buildings, like external shots that are kind of, you know, like a letting agency might have. But then equally, we need those more emotional, candid moments of someone with a carer, people smiling, laughing. And I think, yeah, I think when looking at portfolios, that's what really made the difference, was seeing the range and also the quality of all the pictures."
CV: "Care home photography is all about trust, not stage stock images, but genuine moments that became the focus of every shoot."
GR: "It was five shoots and the experience was, I want to say, better every time, but realistically it was great the whole way through. I think, you know, I don't know what I was expecting, but we knew obviously there may be some difficulties from our end in terms of getting the residence in certain rooms or, you know, do we have to try and initiate a situation for a picture or can we just let it be? And it just sort of worked out that everything worked out pretty perfectly in terms of timing. We got so much done in in a fairly short amount of time, and as well we got a lot of those moments where I think you just sort of did your thing. You know, we didn't have to really doctor anything."
CV: "We photographed all five homes adapting to each one's pace and personality. Whilst we had a base template of a photography brief, we had to react and adapt to each home's individuality and what was happening on the day."
GR: "The process collaborating was very smooth, you know, because it was five shoots and the homes differ in terms of how busy they are, and especially on the day. It's different every time. Some managers wanted to be more involved. Some were happy to take a back seat and I think you filled that gap regardless of if it was big or small perfectly, really. You know, I was present for all the shoots and I felt like anything I asked for, even a lot of times you would suggest things that were not in my mind. It just all kind of went very smoothly."
CV: "For Gawtham, what stood out was not just the range of images, but the reaction they received."
GR: "The quality of the images was, yeah, like I said, beyond anything I could have expected really. And I think, yeah, I mean, again, I don't know what I was expecting. Obviously I've seen pictures in other care homes and things like that, but it just felt like, you know, it felt like these are stock image level pictures, but with our residents and they're not fake. You know, they were real moments. And you can see in the pictures, which I think was something I know I was a bit kind of I was wondering how was that going to turn out. And so it was really nice to see them. And I think as well, a lot of the staff and the managers, they said they've not seen their home sort of captured like that. And that was very special for them I think."
CV: "The images that are being used across brochures, the Care For Your Life website and care home directories, but just as importantly, they've boosted staff morale given a fresh perspective on the difference they make every day."
GR: "It's doing a lot for like staff morale to kind of see the little moments that they have every day, that they have, not sort of evidence of that, but, you know, they can see it in a very physical form where they couldn't see themselves necessarily from that perspective. Especially for the managers as well, they can you know, for them it feels like it's their home. And so to see it in that light I think is huge for them."
CV: "This project wasn't just about taking photographs. It was about telling the story of care, connection and community. And that's what makes these images so powerful.
If you'd like to schedule a free online consultation with me to talk about your photography requirements, head over to ChatWithChris.co.uk."
GR: "I'd say 100% do it, yeah, I'd say definitely, definitely reach out. Definitely get on a call. You know, start talking about what you want and and things like that. And then you'll realise, okay, this guy knows, this guy knows exactly what I want and how to execute it. And I think just look through the portfolio. I think the portfolio does enough, really. I think that's all the convincing someone should need."