Photographer

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Photography is very seasonal. During the fall I do mostly weddings and graduate portraits, changing to family portraits as the holidays approach. In the winter more time is spent on the business side designing marketing and web presence, as well a fine tuning packages and a lot of wedding consultations. In the spring new babies arrive, some graduates who waited until later in the year, and more real estate than the eye can see! Weekdays are filled with homes, and weeknights have spring family photos and corporate events. Weekends in early summer are booked with weddings, and later in summer family reunions and parties. Fall starts another school year, and the cycle resumes. It reminds me of the ongoing cycle of life with birth, weddings, parties, and relocating: it's a relentless march, and I deeply feel the honor of participating in helping so many capture those moments.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. A strong portfolio with many examples to demonstrate experience and above all, consistency. You need to know the photographer and designer can turn out high quality work on your job, not just a few of the best that show up on a small portfolio. Talk on the phone or meet in person to assure professionalism, punctuality, knowledge, and accommodating customer service. Finally, get the estimate in writing and ascertain all costs beforehand. Having done this, during the session you can relax, have fun, and feel confident your photographer will create great heirloom products!

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. Taking photos and delivering photo products are two different things. Make sure you ask specifically what prints, and especially digital negatives, are included in the package you are ordering. The digital negatives are a popular product, but you don't want to pay extra to get every photo, and you don't want to end up with none and have to pay more later to get them.
Make sure the photographer has back up equipment or personnel, and a wide variety of equipment, especially lighting and lenses, to customize the shoot to the location and subject.
Once you find several competent and affordable photographers, go on your gut reaction as those with whom you have a good chemistry will understand you better and deliver more custom photos.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. Find several providers in your price range and interview them all via phone or in-person consultation. Find a large portfolio which shows a long track record of experience. Remember, you get what you pay for, even within a budgeted price range you'll still find a wide variety of skill level and professionalism. Once you have interviewed several in your budget and found a few who are excellent for that price range, choose the one who you get along with and share a common philosophy, as they'll deliver a photography product consistent with you personality and lifestyle.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I am passionate about photography, always reading, learning, experimenting to improve my skills, but also taking time away from all of that to create independently and enhance my own unique photographic and design style. I am very frugal myself and enjoy providing high quality photos for a budget price because money doesn't decide who gets great photos to relive their most precious memories. I am also very flexible, making great effort to offer customizable packages and products because everyone values different things. You buy only what you love, and you don't pay extra for things that are not important to you.
I am a real person living a real life who understands all of my clients have a story that needs to be told, and I provide excellence at a great value.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I love creating art! But I also love running my own business as an entrepreneur. I respect my clients and enjoy networking and socializing with them. Everyone has such unique stories to tell, and learning them allows me to create more customized photos. Plus I get to go to a lot of parties and gorgeous homes for a living! But what I love most of all is delivering an outstanding photo product that captures their personalities and conveys what they want to say about themselves and their lifestyle, and then watching their expressions as they relive the moments in their memories, whether it's selling their first home, getting married, an award at work, or a new baby.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. I work with people, so every job has a unique background with stories that I love learning about. Every home I photograph has a story with where the owners are moving, their experience, good or bad, in that home, and dreaming of the next family to live there so as best to capture that home to fit the new owners. Every wedding I photograph has a couple with ups and downs who came together to share in marriage and love. Every new baby, family photo, or party is filled with people. Even corporate events have owners, managers, and employees who have poured their sweat and tears into their businesses to make them successful.
My favorite experience at work was helping my sister who lived thousands of miles away, prepare a portrait for my mother's funeral. While my sister was at a shoot of her own, my mother showed up unexpectedly, dressed in her best, and asked to sit for a portrait because she knew it would be her last. I was there a few days after she died the day those portraits were delivered, pulling the wrappers off the canvases with my sister, silently awe struck by the power and beauty of our own mother staring back at us, full of smiling health and happiness. The ability of photography to deeply impact our emotions and recall the most important memories in our lives cannot be underestimated, and I carry this mandate into every session I photograph.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. I often get asked about what camera equipment or software I use, but never about my approach, technique, or philosophy. I wish consumers understood that great photographers and designers are a combination of outstanding photographic equipment, lighting, and software coupled with years of experience and research into developing our talent, our craft, and our business. A great camera no more makes a great photographer than a great pen makes Shakespeare. Find a photographer passionate about art and business to get an exceptional customer experience.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I have always been artistic, mostly pencil or ink drawings. I tried other media such as painting and sculpture with moderate success, but when I began designing computer graphics as an adult I fell in love with art all over again! Not long after I realized great photos played a huge part in my graphics and began learning that craft. I quickly developed a passion for photography that surprised me as it allowed me to combine my love of creating art as well as my business degree into a fulfilling and flexible profession that suited both my customers and my family.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Photography is a scientific technological field always abuzz with the latest equipment improvements, as well an artistic endeavor full of trends, fads, and progress. A lot of time reading, especially online for the latest information, looking at portfolios of top innovative providers worldwide and in my local market, and attending workshops, networking events, and seminars are a great way to stay passionate and knowledgeable. There is also a business to run with books to keep, marketing, and creative customer service solutions to learn about. However, nothing can replace the daily practice of the craft as experience is king in this industry. Booking heavily enough to take advantage of that is a careful balance with allowing enough time for proper education on the craft and the business.