Your next family photography session may be your next major investment given that you could spend anything up to $3,000 on wall art and prints. But it can end in disaster if you do not select the right family photographer.
Photography is not like the medicine, pharmaceutical services or even the taxi industry. There are no regulatory controls that require photographers to have a certain level of experience or education before offering to take your hard-earned cash. In fact, the industry is totally unregulated whereby anyone with a camera can set up shop and start a photography business.
Outside some images on their website, how do you know that the photographer that you have engaged to capture your key milestones in your life is going to do a good job? Where do you start your research? Website or google? If you type in Canberra family photographer into google, it will spit out pages of information. But how do you know if the first one you select is the right fit for you?
In this blog post, I explore some of the hints to help you select a professional photographer that may be right for you.
Technically trained
Cameras are getting cheaper and more technically advanced, which makes it easier for any person to offer photography services. However, photography is more than just pressing the shutter button. When you are engaging a professional photographer, you are hiring them because of their creativity and their composition.
There are two ways to help your decision-making. Have they studied photography at college or university or are they a member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers (AIPP). I have achieved my Diploma of Photo Imaging and Photography from the Canberra Institute of Technology between 2019-2020, which has technically trained me across different genres and camera technics. I am also a general member of the AIPP and I am training towards becoming a fully accredited member of the AIPP. The AIPP has a code of conduct that it expects all its members to follow.
Google reviews or others
In economics they call it asymmetrical information. This is where one party to an economic transaction possesses greater material knowledge than the other party. It is commonly used to describe the purchase of a lemon.
Unfortunately, a photographer has greater knowledge of their skills and photography background that the general public that may be booking them. One way to avoid a lemon is to see what other people have been saying about their business.
Therefore, it is important to see whether they have any website reviews, Facebook reviews or even Google reviews to help shape your thinking. You should spend some time going through these reviews to see if they are the perfect fit. If they have no reviews or have their comments turned off this may act as a big red flag.
But sometimes you just cannot beat word of mouth to help inform your decision-making. Therefore, ask your family or friends if they can make a referral. Or reach out to Facebook group for the style of photography that you are after for recommendations. You may be surprised when you shake the tree what type of referrals that you may receive.
Websites
There are two crucial aspects that you should check before appointing a professional photographer – the quality of their work and their services. Their website offers the first port of call for determining both these crucial aspects. All professional photographers will have a website for you to navigate. Do not just rely on social media pages like Facebook and Instagram. You need to find the website helpful with a selection of images in their portfolio. Portfolios can help you make the right decisions about the photographer that you want to select.
Pricing should be clearly outlined on their website and should not be confusing. A key hint is to know in advance of the photo session what is their full price list so as not to be a surprise during the big reveal or when you are ordering packages and prints.
The website should be answering the simple questions that you would like to ask. Specifically, it should answer – Who is the photographer?
What do they offer?
Where are they located?
When I am expected to book a service?
How much is likely to cost?
Get to know your photographer
Do not go into booking a photographer without first getting to know them. This is your chance to check their photography background – whether they are technically trained or have accreditation and membership with the AIPP. If your photographer does not answer the phone, is slow in messaging back to you then this may be a red flag. Another thing to check is their language in their email responses, is it professional or is it very causal? If it is overly causal it may indicate that they the business is more of a hobby-based business rather than a proper professional studio.
A good way to know your photographer is over a coffee during a pre-consultation chat. If the photographer does not offer you a pre-consultation chat then this may also be a red flag.
If you are happy with the meeting, their portfolio and the photographer can successfully shoot your event, then hire them out any doubt.
Photographic style
Photography takes many different forms and styles. First you should decide the style which best suits your personality. While your chosen photographer may have a slightly different style to you, be weary of a photographer that has an inconsistent style as you may not get a consistent set of images back from your photography session.
If you notice a large variation in their images on their portfolio, it may be an indication that they are using stock images as an inspiration of the type of images that they may be able to capture or they may have taken the images at a workshop run by another photographer which sets up the poses and the lighting.
What you want to know when you appoint a professional photographer is that they can recreate the type of images that are contained on their website. This is all that you can ask from a professional photographer.
I hope that I have identified some simple ways to avoid a disaster photo session. I hope that your next photo session goes smoothly and you just adore your images. If you looking for a photographer, please reach out so I can discuss your photography needs.