Practice management | PrAcTIcE PhoTogrAPhy |
PhotograPhy for the aesthetic
Patient
Holly P. Smith discusses the value of photography
in a clinical practice setting, and offers some handy tips to ensure the best patient photographs are achieved
marketing purposes. all of these reasons depend on accurate photographic documentation. The majority of physicians and office
P
staff are not properly trained in existing photographic standards for good patient photography. It is important to implement these standards into your practice, because aesthetics is all about aesthetics. It is about being able to visually show an aesthetic improvement and if your photography is not good, it can often depict inaccurate results or more often, no results at all. In a cosmetic or aesthetic practice, the
practice of photography can be extremely beneficial when communicating your goals to the patient. This can be performed through simulated imaging and preoperative/treatment analysis of your patients’ photographs. Providing photography in your practice is adding a service to your patients. It is one of the most valuable tools that can assist your practice. For example, photographing your patient’s result over different time intervals can reinforce your patient’s perception of treatment success, which leads them to experience a greater level of satisfaction. Another example is by providing samples of your work rather than using stock imagery. This helps gain trust with your patients by showing them that you get results. Photography sets the foundation
HOLLY P. SMITH, BFA is Owner, MedPhoto Group
www.medphotogroup.com
70 ❚ email
holsmi1@gmail.com July 2011 |
prime-journal.com
for how your work will be evaluated and presented. Setting high standards in photography and using existing protocols will ensure that your talent is properly represented.
hotograPhy serves a multitude of purposes in medicine;
medico–legal
research, reasons,
comparative studies, and publication, as well as for
Principles of photography Staff and physicians, who may not have a background in photography, actually perform the majority of patient photography. Knowing photographic basics will help improve your skills when photographing in the operating room or clinical setting.
Aperture Aperture refers to the size of the adjustable opening in the iris of a lens that determines the amount of light falling onto the film or sensor. The size of the opening is measured using an f-number or ‘f-stop’. As f-numbers are fractions of the focal length, ‘higher’ f-numbers represent smaller apertures1
. The smaller the aperture, the
greater the depth of field, meaning that you will have the forefront, middle, and background in sharp focus. For patient photography, it is important to use a small aperture, as you want all areas to be in focus. An aperture between f11 and f22 is suitable for patient photography.
Shutter speed The shutter speed determines how long the iris of the camera is open, exposing the film or sensor to light. For instance, a shutter speed of 1/125 s will expose the sensor for 1/125th of a second. Electronic shutters act in a similar way by switching on the light sensitive photodiodes of the sensor as long as requested by the shutter speed2
. For patient photography, it is
important to use a shutter speed faster than 1/60. Anything under a 1/60 can produce blurring if the patient or photography moves even slightly.
Depth of field Depth of field refers to the distance between the closest and farthest in-focus area of a photograph (also called the focal
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84