How to Choose a Photographer

Choosing a photographer can seem overwhelming. Did you know that the field of photography is unregulated? Even wedding and portrait photographers have no licensing or required degrees. Anyone can pick up a camera and call themselves a professional. You can find wedding, child and family photographers that can range anywhere from free to several thousand dollars or more, and you generally get what you pay for. So how do you know who to choose?

Style
It's important to find a photographer who's style matches your own. Do you prefer your images to be more traditional with formal posing and backgrounds? Or do you prefer more candid/lifestyle shots where your children are not posed but shot naturally as they are? Take a good look through the photographer's web site or portfolio to make sure you really love their work.

Experience
Since anyone can call themselves a photographer, it's important to find someone who is experienced and really knows what they are doing. Are they a member of any particular organizations such as the PPA (Professional Photographers of America)? How long have they been in business?

Quality
It's important to know what you will be getting from your photographer. Are they going to shoot you a bunch of images, plop them onto a CD and send you on your way? That might sound really nice, but not if the images you get back are blurry, over or under exposed, or unflattering images. Does your photographer know how to shoot in manual or automatic mode only? Are there any guarantees? Do they do any retouching or editing of the images after? Do they use a professional photo lab or the local chain store down the street? Make sure you know specifically what you are getting.

Chain Studios Verses Custom Photographers
Let's examine some of the differences between popular chain studios verses a custom photographer. Chain studios will usually hire anyone off the street to take their pictures. The images are pretty straight forward with basic poses and a "say cheese" mentality. You have a limited, handful of images to pick from and because they shoot in bulk and do minimal to no editing, they can afford to be charge less. Custom photography on the other hand can be more expensive. But a custom photographer will spend a lot more time with you making sure images are just right. A professional and experienced custom photographer will get to know your child and be able to capture who they really are. A chain studio will spend about 15 minutes with you, get the "cheese" shot and send you on your way with straight unedited images, a custom photographer puts a lot more into it and takes pride in creating art. You can expect a custom photography session to last up to a couple hours with you and then another 10 or more behind the scene.

Why Do Custom Photographers Charge So Much?

Let's break down what we a custom portrait photographer, spends in time with you.

30 minutes-1 hour Of phone conversations and answering questions
30 minutes-1 hour Driving time to and from the session
2 hours Photo session and spending time with the children
6-7 hours Photoshop time, retouching, and perfecting every image
30 minutes Uploading proofs to the web for you to view
1-2 hours Ordering session and helping you choose images
1 hour Uploading and ordering images from a pro lab
30 minutes-1hour Preparing images for delivery and checking over everything
30 minutes-1 hour Driving time to and from delivering pictures
1 hour+ Foowing up, keeping in contact, sending emails, etc.

You can see how a custom photographer can easily spend over 10 hours and more per client. So when you see a photographer who charges $150+ for a session and then $40 for an 8x10, you aren't just paying for a 2 hour shoot, you are paying for their time, the total experience, and everything tailored and customized just for you.

Photographers who charge $50-100 and send you on your way with a CD are generally people who are just starting out. There is a lot less time involved and you get what you pay for. That might not be a bad thing if you are looking for something quick and you are not too concerned about quality. But if you are looking for art to place on your wall or to capture your child's personality or something special, be sure to research the photographer's work and ask questions. Weddings, maternity, first birthday, newborn shots...those moments come only once, and you don't want to trust them to anyone but a true professional.