5 Things Real Photographers Want Customers To Know
1. There are many things to look for when choosing a photographer. Professionalism, just look at site choices. If they care about you, they will have a site like Smug Mug Pro for viewing. They will use proper grammar on said sites, they will study their craft continually... and it shows! These things are more important than one thinks! If you have selected a professional they won't come at you with a pop up flash, they own more back up equipment than a cell phone, and they won't put your child on a wrinkled sheet as a "backdrop" ....They study safety in posing... knowing what is a composite and what needs to be done.
2. Photographers know that a newborn is only so small once, or a baby has certain needs during a session . To capture this age is priceless, you can't get it back to do over if you choose incorrectly. Real photographers train for moments, plan, have these needs in mind. My studio has even recently started the switch to laundry soaps , cleaners, and more that are safer for the environment, and baby, kids, clients... I am stressing , things need to be cleaned in a studio, to a great degree! Your children of any age are important!
3. Sessions should be fun and original in some way. A lot of Non professional "photographers" use about 2 or 3 set ups for months or longer over and over and the clients lose out in the end. Customers go to freelancers so they don't get cookie cutter images.
4 This is a big one, just because you get a CD does not mean your getting a deal! Real professionals use labs for their work. They know there is a difference in archival quality vs Wal-Mart kiosks. Images will last longer, look better for the professional color space saved in, and labs will leave the image untweeked, where as kiosks will auto correct which isn't always good. Also a portion of print profits, go right back into new props for your next session, and proper cleaning of props. I do know for a fact, that some photographers whom really do care about their company's future, will sell discs for hundreds of dollars or include them in a larger package. They generally stress print choice importance. { They care more about quality, it is their name linked to the images}
5. Look for quality in all work. If the images a "photographer" posts are grainy, blurry, or oddly colored... chances are yours will be too. There should be no shadows all over eyes, you can clearly see eye color, subject should be looking awesome. I myself make sure my screen colors and my print colors look the same. It may not look the same if you view on older computers, or schools, libraries, etc. It will look better! With that being said, Facebook does not look 100 percent as good as on Smug Mug, but it doesn't discolor, add blur, tons of grain etc. Be wary of people whom use this as an excuse... Your babies images should not look grey, blue, red, or yellow. You should be able to see the photographers printed work if requested.
Notice Cost was never really brought up.... well although I have awesome rates I want to stress... a well done job, correctly photographed images and a good experience... priceless. When choosing a photographer, I know we all have budgets, but what is the cost of a moment with no do overs, what does it cost when we choose badly and have to go get images done elsewhere? What is the cost of images we can't replace when the disk is obsolete, or broken... and there are no professional online backups to order from?
As, I say whether your local and choose MTM or if you are just reading this to aid in making a choice in your home city or state.... choose wisely... make an informed choice.
