Comments on: Eight Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Photographer

By: artist

artist — Sun, 08 May 2011 07:56:51 +0000

hey, i would like to add, that i have just finished a 4 year art degree, I started on 120 B&W film, i have been learning about photography for 6 years all up, and have been offering my work for free to get the experience, i have taken photos of people for years, and was recently rejected for a shoot because my work was too "artistic" and the client later listed the job and was offering $400 to pay the photographer even though i said i would like to come along for free and she doesn't even have to use my photos that i would just like to give it a go seeing as my work is not very commercial. this article seems so unfair to me, i am poor, i can not afford three camera's i could hardly afford the DSLR i do have. i have pink hair, tattoos, and piercings, but have been told by all my models (i have shoot over 20 different people in my short time) and everyone (people i know and people i don't know, this includes nude photographs) has said i made them feel really comfortable and made it really fun. i handle all clients with great respect and professionally, there are many famous people these days that look as i do, and they do amazing commercial work. it sounds to me, that if everyone thought like you do then i would never get to do what i love, and i would do anything for a client, as long as they were happy with what i gave them in the end. i have been to weddings and i am often not noticed, you would have to be very close minded to be so judgmental. If i can provide what their after in the end isn't that all that matters?i have been rejected for a shoot just because i haven't had much work, not because of any of these tips... so please do tell, how am i meant to get a job and still be who i am?

By: mel romara

mel romara — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:53:53 +0000

I am female and i am sick of this PC, gender-aware, vag-power writing style. Most pro photographers, as a matter of fact, are male. Use "he" or "they" or for god's sake "s/he". I'd be fine with it, and so is everyone in his (or HER) right mind.

By: Corporate Photographer

Corporate Photographer — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:53:10 +0000

I think point 2 is the really important one when you are commissioning any type of photography. This is where the difference will show in the finished images as the little details that make a shoot run smoothly are gained by trail and error. This knowledge and expertise are what you are paying for. Grant

By: Scott Webb | Nuwomb

Scott Webb | Nuwomb — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 11:59:16 +0000

This is absolutely fantastic! I've been looking for something like this to be able to share with people inquiring about getting a photography.

In part of an email responder, I'll need to mention this article and link to it.

All points are perfect. Love the additional feedback throughout the comments here too.

Thanks

By: Toni Axelrod

Toni Axelrod — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:43:31 +0000

Thanks I feel good that we always cover these points in our meetings!

By: Bryan Grant

Bryan Grant — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:40:43 +0000

Response: Put your time in, work for others. get a degree. be an assistant... then call yourself a professional
or you can go to walmart buy a digital camera and a computer and rip off clients and screw up their wedding pics. your choice

"Ron Tele said:
February 20th, 2010 at 9:33 pm

Yup, screw the new guy! You should only hire someone if they have years and years of experience, are jaded, have inexplicably high prices, dozens of "assistants" no imaginatio left, and write articles like this.

Forget about the young, hungry photographers who will bend over backwards to please you!

Everyone has a first job, except apparently if you work for BlackStar!"

By: Gene

Gene — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:38:26 +0000

Ron Tele said:
February 20th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Yup, screw the new guy! You should only hire someone if they have years and years of experience, are jaded, have inexplicably high prices, dozens of "assistants" no imaginatio left, and write articles like this.

Why not simply advise the clients to ask if the photographer has been in business for 20 years and be done with it. If you didn't shoot before digital, then clearly you are not a photographer worth hiring as per the attitude of a number of articles on this website.

By: Di

Di — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:27:57 +0000

Thanks, appreciated the checklist. Reassuring

By: Bob Pardue

Bob Pardue — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:36:21 +0000

Harrison, you hit the photographic nail on the head! I wish more models would take time to research before hiring photographers. They'd find there is much more to creating a killer portfolio than just price.

What's the saying? "Sometimes something that is worth less is actually 'worthless'."

Keep the good coming!

Bob

By: Harvey V. Chua

Harvey V. Chua — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 07:58:06 +0000

Will you allow us to post this on our blog, with full credits to you, of course, and link to your website?

By: John

John — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:26:05 +0000

Laura has it right, then go one step beyond and practice on your friends, and on your friends' parents if you have to. If CEO portraits are your interest, make Uncle Bill look like a CEO, etc. And keep tech notes so you can build on what works and learn from what doesn't. And you will build a portfolio. As O. Winston Link told me a few years back, "Theres's the light!" If you are still reading this you are missing photos. Go and get 'em!

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:12:35 +0000

I have to reiterate also on new photographers and experience... There are potential clients who would accept someone who's just starting out with little to no experience based on cost and the photographer would be able to build the portfolio at the same time. What I DO suggest to my fellow photographers is to attend weddings with friends and or faamily if you are able and take your own photographs as well while you're there. There's no rule against someone taking their own photos. ...and afterwards you can give them to the Newlyweds as a gift and build your portfoili. Attend fashion shows that will allow the public or attendees to photograph. Forget the no experience stuff!! Take the chance and be confident about you , your work and your professionalism! Do your 1 Thing!! Let's go!!

By: Melissa Charing

Melissa Charing — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:36:26 +0000

I'm glad I read this. I have been speaking to a photographer who has no online portfolio to show me, just telling me he will show me on a digital photoframe when he sees me! Then he told me he doesn't even have an slr camera, just uses a normal 10 mp digital camera and does all the work post shoot on photoshop!!
I think he must think I am a dumb model that will fall for it!
Not that I needed to check out this site to know he wasn't for real. But is excellent advice for me to check out new photographers.
thankyou.

By: Harvey V. Chua

Harvey V. Chua — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:31:01 +0000

My husband and I started an advertising photography without the benefit of school, apprenticeship or even working with another photographer - so our first jobs sometimes entailed some re-shoots, or we didn't charge if the shots were not acceptable. (We went into advertising because, when he was still learning photography, he tried to be the photographer at his friend's wedding and that was a disaster - he set his camera on M instead of X, and nothing came out. There was no other photographer to save the situation. They're not friends anymore).

We're now on our 37th year of doing advertising photography, and through the years have introduced many young photographers to our clients. We trained them first as assistants, allowed them to shoot for their portfolios, and when we finally got real jobs for them, we supervised as well as guaranteed their work. We would let them rehearse and practice until they were confident that they could do the job, and assigned the best assistants to assist them at the actual shoots.

Sometimes, clients would only agree if my husband would be at the other studio, and if he could walk in and out of the young photographer's set up. I would tell our clients that if they're not happy with the young photographer who was on his first job, then my husband would re-shoot at no extra charge. Then I would talk to the newbie photographer and express my confidence in his or her ability to rise to the challenge. Of course, I also would warn them that if my husband would have to reshoot, then there is no way I could convince that client to trust them again. My husband never had to reshoot our young photographers' works, and many of them have risen to have their own studios.

One of these photographers was actually a former client. She worked as an assistant for about a year, worked her way up to becoming the best female advertising photographer in the country (Philippines). She stayed with us 18 years and only recently left to try working abroad. Before she left, she won awards in Cannes, Singapore and the Philippines for a series of ads for Boysen Paint. We're proud of her.

I say - give a chance to young photographers but do give them all the support they need to do a good job.

By: Scott Baradell

Scott Baradell — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:10:54 +0000

Ron Tele, Laguna or S.Gerath ... Black Star Rising would love to publish a post entitled, "How a New Photographer Can Win a Prospect's Trust and Earn Their Business." Email me at scott@blackstar.com if you have an interest in writing it.

By: Ron Tele

Ron Tele — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:33:07 +0000

Forget about the young, hungry photographers who will bend over backwards to please you!

Everyone has a first job, except apparently if you work for BlackStar!

By: John Armstrong-Millar

John Armstrong-Millar — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:29:23 +0000

Some good point here. A few I would add are "How long will you stay at the wedding" which someone else mentioned. "How do you license your images?" If I want to use them on social networking sites. Any good professional should both, have a clear idea on why and how they would licence their images in our connected world. lastly Professional Liability insurance "Do you have it" Any good photographer will have this in place.Finally Harrison is not being tough on newcomers. As experienced photographers, we have all seen the heartache and damage done by unprofessionalism in the wedding industry

By: S. Gerath

S. Gerath — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:56:44 +0000

Thank you Harrison for your response that is all I was trying to get across in my "Negative" response. It is all about Problem Solving and being trained properly to execute what the client wants. In your number 2, it sounded as if you were against Newbie’s. In your new Response, I now truly understand what you were really trying to put across. Just remember that people who are trying to pick a Photographer and are looking to you for help read all of this as fact. They are not reading that you are saying, it's good to have knowledge and the ability to shoot in area's which you have not shot before. What they are reading is "Has she done a shoot like this before" and "You don’t want to be a photographer’s first wedding, first CEO portrait, or first fashion shoot” or even "No matter how talented the photographer, there is no substitute for experience." I just wanted to make sure, that when others read this they are informed that it is ok to be a first wedding for a photographer. If you like their work and understand the risks …why not go with them?I am sorry Harrison, if you believed me rude or negative. I was just trying to encourage people not to pass by the new comers just because they have not done that particular event. That’s it. Apologies, S.G.

By: Paul Adams

Paul Adams — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:43:27 +0000

This is a really useful piece of info. Retweeted it so hopefully clients and possible future clients will read and use the advice. Cheers

By: Harrison McClary

Harrison McClary — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:26:03 +0000

All of the questions listed above are from my many years of experience dealing with clients and are part of almost every conversation before a shoot. I am not trying to “keep new people out of the field”.

If, as a new photographer, you can not answer the questions. Or do not understand them them then you should take this as a learning point and find out what the answers are and how to address the situation properly.

One response said that my advice about not having done a particular shoot before is far to negative. Well, if a client is looking for someone to do an industrial shoot and the person they are interviewing for the shoot has never done a shoot of this nature before then the client has a right to be leery of the photographer. However; if the photographer is able to demonstrate a firm grasp of the craft of photography. If he can answer questions as to how to approach the shoot. If he can detail how to over come obstacles, then the client can have more confidence in the photographer, even though they have not been in that exact type of situation before. For example say client X calls Sam the photographer. Sam has done only weddings and nice location environmental portraits. Sam has a complete grasp of light, creating it and matching color with his strobes and does this in his wedding and portraits. It is one thing that sets him apart from the others in his town. The client is detailing how they need a photo of a particular piece of machinery in a plant. The piece of machinery needs to stand out, but the plant must look color correct. Sam admits he has never done this kind of job before, but he details how he will approach the shoot. How he will check the light color and match his strobes to produce the desired effect. Sam just got the job, not because he had done industrial photography before, but because he demonstrated he is a capable photographer who knows how to problem solve.

I am in no way against new talent in the field, however I do feel if one is going to call them-self a professional then they need to have a firm grasp on the craft of photography. If they don’t have this then they are a student, nothing wrong with being a student. We all were at one point. Get yourself on with a pro as his assistant, take classes and learn how to approach situations and that way you can be confident when you sell your talent that you can deliver the goods each and every time.

By: Michelle Black

Michelle Black — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:32:36 +0000

YES YES YES.

By: S. Gerath

S. Gerath — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:40:09 +0000

I like the article a little bit, but I am a little disappointed in #2 "Has She done a shoot like this Before?". How in the world are photographers supposed to gain the experience needed to shoot weddings, CEO portraits, or fashion shoots, if older photographers advise people to pass over “non experienced” photographers? You have just told people that it is not ok to give fresh talent a try. At some point Harrison you had to have your first Wedding or Fashion shoot. What if you were passed over because you had no experience and no one wanted to give you a try, then you would not be the Photographer that you are today. Shoot, you would not be a Photographer at all. How would you feel if someone advised people to not go with you, just because you have yet to accomplish a specific shoot or event? I think that it is not right....not right at all. Instead you should put “Do they have the correct training in order to produce accurate images in the Situation and elements involved in that particular shoot.” Portfolios are great, but don't shoot new photographers down just because they are new to the business. Give them a Chance. Judge them by there work, not by how many shoots they have had in the past. I am not saying this because I am new to the business. I have shot Many events including my fair share of weddings. But everyone has to start somewhere, so why are older Photographers interfering with this? Let people make their own decisions. As long as the customer likes your work, and they understand it’s your first event, then… No worries.

By: Andrew areoff

Andrew areoff — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:36:04 +0000

Great article which highlights the fact that anybody can call themselves a photographer but being able to use a DSLR is a long way from being a pro photographer and all that entails.

By: John T.

John T. — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:07:29 +0000

Very good points. Appreciate the article. As for the gender, stick with "he" or "she". It doesn't matter to me which one; just be consistent. That's all the unsolicited grammar advice I'll give.

John

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:28:29 +0000

Thanks for sharing this post; as a photographer starting out, I know a few things that I should strive towards.

By: Beth Nguyen

Beth Nguyen — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:37:01 +0000

Thank you for the post, Harrison. Is it a coincidence that the people who don't like the "PC" use of "she" are both male?

By: IanW

IanW — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:11:13 +0000

@Alan: +1

Annoying and PC obsessive. What's wrong with "do they..."?

@BSR: eg "2. Have they written an article like this before"

By: Laguna Lenoire

Laguna Lenoire — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:52:32 +0000

That's the problem with you old pro photographers, you don't let new photographers to rise and develop themselves, always cricticizing and trowing mud to their work. let them be, maybe they'll become much better photographers than you do, you are not the only ones in the scene.

By: twee

twee — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:26:21 +0000

How much time will the photographer spend at my wedding?

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:46:38 +0000

Excellent information! My biggest problem is back up equipment. This is something I'm working on improving. It's costly, especially for people just breaking in. Thank you, Harrison!