So, today I wanted to share things to look for when selecting a professional photographer. These are things that for me I look for when hiring out myself. Especially when looking for a Boudoir photographer. Some of these can be questions you ask before booking or like me and some of my clients you find out the hard way. Either way always do your homework. If you are like me I want the best experience for the best price.
Find a photographer you like their style, meaning you like their brand, the images on their website, (if they don’t have a website), and you like their editing style as well, all the professionals I know don’t give out raw files, there are reasons for this I will cover in another blog.
Ask them their why, why photography? You find out so much about someone else’s motives with this question, most pros have a mission statement or reason why they got started. This evolves over time as well.
Are they legit? Meaning do they have a business license, pay taxes, use all the right contracts, and how long have they been in business?
Are they always improving their craft? Me, I like a pro who knows they don’t know everything, but they strive to learn as much as they can. This means investing in their business as well with mentors, and classes.
Then I go into how they run a session, give me the deets, how long, what I need, do I need to know to pose (pros this one will be a hard no you don’t need to know anything, most have a list of things to bring, some cover hair and makeup some don’t, they will have you and should coach and direct you the whole time, etc.
Then, I ask about pricing, pros have a price list and usually have firm boundaries and policies in place that work for them and their business, no 2 will be the same, so stop comparing. I have collections, that work for me, others will be different, though pros will have something for you to see, hold, or download so you can see a full price list. Some sell inclusively, meaning everything for one low price, and others charge according to their cost of doing business, some sell by the image.
Then how do I get to see my images? I do in-person viewing right after your session, others may do a zoom viewing a week or so later. If it takes longer than that, the pro maybe has too high volume and can’t keep up, or they maybe aren’t as pro as they think.
Then how long is the turnaround, meaning how long till I get my images/collections? At, my studio I have a fast turnaround, as soon as the final payment I edit and send out the digitals maybe 2 days after your session( usually that same day as the final payment). Albums and wall art take maybe a week to get back from the lab for me. The rule of thumb for most pros is 1-4 weeks for all products to be delivered after final payment.
How do I receive my digital images? This one really sets the pros apart from the beginners. Pros DO NOT share your images on social media without a signed model release!!!! They DO NOT deliver images over FaceBook!!!! I email my clients images over, some pros use online galleries., and some use USB drives.
This one is more of something that sets those apart who have one the work from those who haven’t, pros have systems in place, we write blogs, we have websites, make content, we have emails and auto-responses to FAQ because we value not only your time and energy but our own. Let me be clear this all takes time to set up, I have been working for 3 years to get and hone most of my systems and they still need work every now and again., so a beginner may not have all this setup.
