My article on how to pose couples for wedding portraits has been generating heated online discussion, among groups of professional wedding photographers. The discussion centered around the fact that brides and grooms don’t realize the importance of hiring a professional photographer on their wedding day, and end up regretting it afterwards.
“Many just look for the best price, until they get the photos, then they want the best. It is a sad state of affairs”, said Craig, a photographer from New Mexico.
“We seem to live in the age of good enough & quantity over quality. Also it seems these days we as Professional Photographers have to spend more & more time trying to educate the client as to why they need or should have Professional quality photography done for their once in a lifetime event”, said Gary, an owner of a photographic company.
It is a valid concern that advanced digital technology has put many professional photographers out of jobs, including those who worked for a big newspaper such as the Chicago Sun Times. Everyone has a smart phone in hand and is snapping photos constantly. Does this mean professional photographic service is redundant? No, on the contrary, we need professionally taken photos more than ever, to set a standard in quality; it is hard to imagine the rest of our time and civilization will be documented by smart phones and cheap digital point and shoot cameras. Professional photographers now have another ongoing task, to educate the public about quality and standard.
So when is a good time to hire a photographer and when is your friends’ handheld good enough? Let’s take a look at times to hire a professional photographer.
For your business
With businesses large or small, professionally taken photos of your products, services, and employees will make a huge difference in gaining the trust and popularity among your clients. Your business cards, marketing brochures, booklets, and postcards will need to have great graphic design elements and high quality photos to compete in the market. Businesses deal directly with customers, such as real estate agencies, interior design firms, architectural firms, builders, clinics, and will benefit even more from professional photo services.
Take interior design firms as an example: There is a correlation between bookings and outstanding design portfolios. If a designer is trying to cut his own corner, saving money on hiring a professional photographer for the interior architectural photos, he may end up with mediocre photos taken by amateurs, done with poor lighting, wrong equipment, and overall under par results. A potential client will be more likely to pass on your services because your photos did not have the “wow factor” that prompt them to pursue further. Outstanding interior photos can not be achieved without professional lighting setup, special equipment, and years of experience. Therefore, you may be saving money not hiring a professional photographer, but you are also loosing opportunities. Consider the cost of hiring a professional photographer as an investment, if you are serious about your business.
Professional beadshots are essential in building your business image, it is recommended to hire a photographer for this purpose every time you have a major update on your business website, or have personnel changes. Read more about this topic in “Tips on Taking Business Headshots for Print Marketing”.
Life changing events
When you hire a professional photographer to document your wedding day, a new born child, senior photos, graduation, or a family reunion, not only are you doing the right thing for yourself, but you also are doing a favor for generations to come. Your grandchildren will be fascinated looking through your photo albums and can you imagine the great joy telling them stories of your life? Notice I used the word ‘photo albums’, I am talking about actual prints in a physical album, or a customized photo book, I am not talking about a web gallery that could potentially disappear in the future. You should always have professionally printed images in your possession instead of digital images alone.
Many brides and grooms evaluate wedding photographers based on the number of photos they take. They don’t realize that anyone with a digital camera can snap shots non-stop and come up with hundreds of photos on one pose or one scene, without much thinking and planning at all. They get bored looking at thousands of snapshots after the wedding and trying to find the few to keep. A professional wedding photographer prepares for the wedding day with careful planning, location scouting, sophisticated lighting set up, all to ensure you get the best images out of your wedding day. If the wedding photographer you are considering can not tell the full story of your wedding day with 150 photos or less, you should re-evaluate him.
Photography gifts
Photography gifts are good choices for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. This will be the chance to show your family and friends snippets of your life. Try to imagine a professionally taken family portrait printed on a quality photo paper or even photo canvas, compared to a phone image of your dog printed on standard paper stock, which one you think will be kept longer? Children grow up quickly, many families are so busy with their lives and forget about family portraits, only to find out years later they didn’t even have any nice family portrait when the kids were young. It’s never too late to ‘make up’ for that missed family portrait taken by a professional. So act now.
I did my part to educate you why and when you should hire a professional photographer, now it’s your turn to seriously consider your next occasion to hire one. You will be pleased with the outcome, trust me.
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