and cheap photographers aren’t necessarily good” is a maxim I heard the other day and it rings true.
How to spot a good photographer
There are obviously exceptions to this rule and just because someone puts “Professional” in front of the word photographer is no absolute guarantee of quality.
That said though, those of us who do this for a profession live or die by the quality of our work. If we aren’t any good then pretty soon we don’t have any clients and we have to find another job
Professional photographers will more than likely be more expensive than amateurs as we have to make a living at this plus we will most likely be bringing lots of spare and very expensive kit to a shoot. (see below)
Those with a full time job can afford to discount their prices as they perhaps only want some extra money for holidays and the like because they have a full time job
If I make a hash of a commercial photography assignment or a wedding then my reputation is damaged. An amateur who makes a hash of things can reinvent themselves, start a new facebook page and become johnnyphotographer2@hotmail rather than last week’s johnnyphotographer1
How to spot a good website
A good website that is regularly maintained and updated with new photographs is a good indication of a stable photographer. A proper email address is another hint of someone who photographs for a living
Other things to consider
Another good indication is the amount of kit and spare kit that a photographer has. A professional should have back up cameras, lenses, flash guns, batteries etc etc in case anything goes wrong.
Imagine the disaster in the making if I was to turn up at your place of business or even your wedding with one camera, one lens, one flash gun, one card and one set of batteries.
If anything was to go wrong with my camera in this scenario then I’m scuppered and your photography stops there apart from your guests with smart phones or cameras
If you could feel the weight of my camera bag you would know it is packed full of spare everything!
Before contracting a photographer to work for you ask to see examples of their work so that you know the scope and quality of what they do
Examples of my work
Putting my money where my mouth is, this is a link to a large gallery of my commercial photography Commercial Gallery and this is a link to my wedding photography Wedding Gallery
If I can help you with any photography from products, to headshots, weddings and even up in the air with my drones I would be pleased to hear from you
Please contact me here
I can be contacted at studio@footprintphoto.biz (did you notice how I sneaked in the proper email address there) and my phone numbers are 07964 10 9 8 7 6 or 0114 205 5466 / 01909 519874.
Alternatively there is a contact page here on the website