What to expect when hiring a photographer

 

Hiring any consultant, freelancer – or tradie for that matter – for the first time is a leap of faith. Engaging a photographer is no exception.

But, how do you gauge his or her performance? How do you judge if he/she is worth hiring again?

Here are some tips based on my experience as a photographer/videographer for non-profits.

Before the shoot

Communication

I’m often amazed when I hire someone for a job and it takes them a week to reply to a question via an email. These days there are very few reasons why you, as the client, shouldn’t get some sort of reply the next day. Good – and prompt – communication is a must.

Asking questions

As a photographer, I’m sometimes given assignments with vague briefs. This is tricky – it means I don’t know what the client wants or expects. It is therefore up to me to ask questions. If a client hasn’t worked with a photographer before he/she may not really know what he/she needs. It’s the job of the photographer to help them out.

Questions a photographer might ask include:

  • How will the images be used? Who are the intended viewers?
  • When is the deadline for the images?
  • Do you need any quick highlight shots for social media?
  • Is consent an issue?
  • Who is the contact person at the shoot? Will they be able to help direct me towards the shots I need on the day?

The shoot

Planning and preparation

A photographer must be well prepared in terms of equipment, travel arrangements and a clear understanding of the brief. For me it’s at least 50% of the success of a shoot. Of course, most of the prep should go on behind the scenes. For the client, the proof will be in the pudding: hopefully, a smooth shoot and some great images.

People skills

It’s a no brainer, but a people photographer must be able to get on with people. That means a genuine smile, nice manners, patience, being a good listener; the ability to put people at ease and bring out their character in the images. It doesn’t necessarily mean being an entertainer. A comedian or raconteur might spend too much time talking and not enough taking photos.

Operate quickly without hurrying

It’s a fine balance but a good photographer will be thorough, capturing all the angles and exploiting the best light, without dragging it out. When photographing people, subjects need to remain fresh. And they don’t appreciate being kept from their lunch.

Dealing with problems

Photographers make mistakes. Not long ago I turned up for a shoot, which required a number of indoor architectural shots, having left my tripod behind. When I greeted the client I was in a state of internal panic. But to reveal that to the client would have been unprofessional and unconstructive. Chances are she didn’t have a spare tripod lying around and even if she did, it wasn’t her job to find me one. So I improvised using a light stand. My client was none the wiser and the images turned out well – she loved them. Moral of the story: solving photographic problems is the job of the photographer – not the client. Excuses (“Sorry I’m late, the traffic was terrible!”) are usually an admission of poor preparation.

The images

Scorching pics

Let’s face it, not every image needs to be worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. But when sorting through the final images you should be able to identify a handful of humdingers – photos that could potentially sit in an annual report cover or on a website homepage. Capturing these dazzling shots – and then seeing them prominently displayed – is what gets a photographer out of bed in the morning. If you don’t find at least a couple of these, you probably have the right to feel disappointed.

Not too many!

In the digital era, most photographers take A LOT of shots. I generally deliver less than a quarter of what I shoot. The remaining three quarters plus are repetitions, odd expressions, poor exposures, shots of feet etc. Obviously the client should NOT receive these images. In making tight selections a photographer must ensure the client has plenty of options, while not overburdening their digital storage or their time in short listing shots for use.

Landscape + portrait

Part of a photographer’s brain should work like a graphic designer’s. When shooting he/she should think of all the possible uses for the various images. That means providing a range of landscape and format images – often a few of each for the key shots. Also shots with space where text can be placed are invaluable.

Retouched but natural

When images come straight out of the camera, they tend to look a bit flat. Some basic image adjustments to colour and contrast are required to bring them to life. I tend to think of it as more of a polish than a retouch. Too much post-production can lead to garish, unnatural images.

Uniform dimensions

It’s fine for a photographer to crop an image in post-production but it should maintain its aspect ratio (that’s 3/2 for most shots coming out of a digital SLR camera). Providing images of varying shapes is messy and amateurish.

Jpegs – big and small

Generally jpeg images are the best format for delivery – they are compressed, so not too huge, and easy to work with. TIFF are enormous files and RAW are useful in the hands of someone who knows their way around photo software, but otherwise best avoided. It’s good to have two sets of files: high-res jpegs for printing and low-res jpegs for viewing and online use.

Re-named pics

An image named ‘IMG_0946’ clearly hasn’t been renamed since it emerged from the camera. If that image, for whatever reason, goes missing it will be tricky to find. Images should be named with keywords that can be searched for and easily recovered in databases. 

Conclusion

In weighing up the worth of a photographer, there’s a fair amount to digest. But, for the client, it may ultimately boil down to one simple question:

Has the photographer made my job easier or more difficult? 

If the photographer has been a pleasure to work with and the resulting images tell the story you want told, then you’ve probably got a keeper.

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