What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
There are many different listings by photographers offering their services, including Thumbtack, to name a few. How do you make sense of everything they are saying?
There are a lot of photographers out there that think they are talented and are worthy of charging for their services when they are neither qualified nor skilled to do so. Being a professional photographer entails much more than being able to point the camera in the right direction.
Here is how we differentiate ourselves from the crowd:
We have state-of-the-art professional lighting equipment, specifically designed for still photography. We have a studio equipped with all the requisite modifiers and reflectors to properly shoot any kind of photos where additional lighting is required. In reality, even outdoor, natural light photos are done using some form of fill-flash or added lighting (light modifiers) to bring out the eyes, flatten shadows, equalize uneven lighting, etc.
We not only shoot the photos, but digitally process them using state-of-the art, professional photoediting software. We can also provide you with high-quality prints processed by a nationally renowned photo-processing lab. You also get a CD of the photo files with limited reproduction rights, so that you can print them pretty much wherever and whenever you want.
We make quality photographs, period. Anyone with a digital camera can shoot dozens and dozens of meaningless photos that are poorly composed, poorly exposed, poorly processed, etc. You're paying for someone who knows what makes a good photo and what doesn't. That's what you should expect when you hire the right professional photographer like us.
Although we wholeheartedly embrace the "candid", or "photo-journalistic" style of photography, we think that there are occasions, where formal training, understanding of the basics of composure and framing, control over lighting, and many other factors beyond just capturing the photo, make a world of difference. Frankly, anyone can capture candid photos; you just have to be at the right place at the right time. But it takes a trained and experienced professional to capture a beautiful, elegant image that will last a lifetime and beyond.
If you're doing a wedding, would you hire someone who has never done catering before to do it for you, pay them good money, and cross your fingers hoping that it all tastes good and no one gets sick? Would you hire a student seamstress/designer to create your wedding dress and pay them nearly as much as a professional with experience? Not likely. So why would you do this in hiring a photographer? Experience and professionalism counts.
We use professional-grade, high-end digital equipment. If you happen to be familiar with photographic equipment, you can rest assured that our Canon 5D Mark II cameras, equipped with professional-grade (red-stripe) lenses will be up to the task.
Be informed. . . Ask questions. . . Make sure your expectations are met.
