Ensuring Your Photographer is the Right Fit
Custom photography is a big investment. Not only do you pay your photographer, but you spend time research locations, talking with them about time and place, and finding outfits. You may buy new clothes or shoes or accessories for your family. You may choose to get your hair and makeup done. It's all an investment, and you want to make sure you get the most out of that investment. You want to make sure you not only love your pictures, but that you love your experience as well.
You can all but guarantee that experience and result by doing a few things.
First, vet your photographer. They have a website with lots of information, including price. So many people see one picture as the header and go directly to price. I urge you to stop and look at all of their galleries. Every single picture they deliver is not going to be that hero image that they have on the front of their website. Go through their portfolio to see the other kinds of images they may deliver. I would also recommend checking their instagram. Many photographers only update their websites once or twice a year, but most are updating their instagram every week. Those things will help you understand what kind of work they will produce for you.
Once you hire the photographer, another thing you need to do is listen to their recommendations. If you had your heart set on the beach, but your child is the happiest at 11 am, your photographer will probably suggest another location. We know light and what looks good at certain time, so make sure you heed our advice to ensure images that are in line with our portfolios.
To ensure the experience you are looking for, you are going to want to go two places, their social media and their 'about me' page. Their 'about me' page will give you good insight as to the vibe they are going to bring to shoots. You'll probably learn a few things about them, but you'll also learn if they are a more laid-back person, or work a little more professionally. You'll further learn this by their social media. So many people put pieces of themselves in their captions, and many do stories, myself included. You'll quickly be able to tell if you like their personality and vibe that way. If you vibe with them on social media, I can almost guarantee you will in real life, too.
This family found me on social media and within minutes we were fast friends. They love their pictures because they loved my portfolio and reviewed it. They also loved their experience because they know exactly how I would be because the mom has watched my stories day in and day out. As a bonus, I knew I would love them and we would click because if you like me online, we are pretty much guaranteed to be besties.
You can check out my portfolios here, and my social media here if you are considering a session with me!
