The key to finding the right photographer is to do your homework. This is especially true when you’re looking for a photographer to capture that very special moment in your life. This could mean your wedding, graduation, a birthday, maternity photos … the list goes on and on. My point is that you want to be able to trust the person capturing your once in a life time moment. Fortunately enough, I’ve gone ahead and put together a list of 5 things to look for when choosing your photographer!

1. Their Creative Style

The first thing you should look for in a photographer is their creative style. Each photographer has their own “style”, their own signature look that they’ve perfected over years of experience. If you like the way their photos look, and you think it’s something you’d be interested in, BAM done move on to the next step. If you don’t like how their photos look, move on to the next photographer. Simple as that.

Mistake: A mistake I see a lot of people do is that when looking for a photographer, they’re often on a tight budget, and that means making sacrifices. There have been times where you’ll be stuck between a photographer whose style you really like, but is not within your price range, and a photographer whose style is alright but their prices fit your budget. My personal advice: wouldn’t you rather pay a little more to have something you love then underpay and end up with something you don’t?

2. Social Proof

Now that you’ve made it past step 1, step 2 is to look at your photographer’s social proof. This most likely comes in the form of testimonials however, there are other things you can look at as well:

- The number of years they’ve been in business
- Past experiences from friends of yours
- Behind the scenes of them working

These are great ways to look at your photographer’s social proof. Like I said before, testimonials are your number one thing to look at. They often tell a lot about the photographer. Many testimonials talk about how the booking and shooting process went, their experience working with the photographer, etc.

Keep in mind that testimonials in their nature are biased and so you’ll only be hearing the best about that photographer. It’s a good idea to do lots of research about their history.

3. Background Check

After looking at a photographer’s social proof, you’ll want to do a background check. In this section, you’ll want to get in contact with the photographer and ask him/her a few questions. In this example I’ll be using a family session of eight people:

"How long have you been shooting family portraits? How many have you shot this year?
“Do you often shoot families that have the same number of people as mine?”
“Can we see any galleries from recent family sessions you’ve had?”
“Have you shot a family session at (insert location) before?

These are very simple and straightforward questions to ask but they provide a lot of information that’ll either help you feel more confident in your photographer choice, or make you reevaluate who you decide to go with.

Pro Tip: Your photographer should have already been to the location you’re looking at before and be familiarized with all the best spots, lighting, etc. If not, consider going with a different location or ask your photographer to arrive early to scout the location.

4. Pricing & Packages

Every photographer runs their business differently. There is no set standard for what prices and deliverables you can expect at certain price points. There are some photographers who charge hundreds of dollars for only a few images while often times, there are photographers who charge very little but provide a lot of images (be wary of this type of person).

Both have their pros and cons but from my experience, you should look at the photographer’s work, look at their packages and their pricing, and ask yourself, “do I think this person’s work is worth this amount of money?”

If the answer is yes, then congratulations you can move on to the final step. if not, it’s a good idea to thoroughly ask yourself why they charge what they charge. If you think a photographer is undercharging you, this might be because they lack experience or they’re not confident in their work. If you think they are overcharging you, go back and look at their work, their social proof, how many years they’ve been doing business, and after doing all of that, determine if their pricing seems reasonable to you.

If not, that’s completely fine! There’s nothing wrong at looking for a photographer in your price range. Photography is subjective in nature and so what one person deems good quality, might look like something totally different to you.

Moral of the story is, if you think their deliverables and their pricing is fair for what you’re going to receive, then move on to the last step. And if their pricing doesn’t work for you, don’t try and negotiate with the photographer, just move on to the next one.

5. Personality

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the last step: PERSONALITY! You want to work with someone who you thoroughly enjoy working with. Sure their work might be great and all, but if they have a fowl personality, move on to the next photographer honey.

Don’t get me wrong, most photographers in this industry are extremely nice and understanding! You just have to make sure that you like their professionalism, the way they carry themselves, how they do business, how they speak with you, etc. The easiest way to figure out all this information, is through a phone call!

Most photographers will set up some type of meeting to chat with you and this is where you’ll be able to really decide if this photographer is the right fit for you. If you don’t like how they’re treating you, don’t be afraid to back away and find another person. For my introverted people out there, you can simply say:

“I’m just speaking with a few photographers at the moment to see whose the right fit for me! I’ll go ahead and let you know once I talk with a few other photographers.”

If they’re a good photographer who’s not money-hungry, they’ll go ahead and let you do your due-diligence. I’ve learned this a long time ago while working with clients, service is king. And often times, the quality of your service is an indirect reflection of the quality of your personality.

Conclusion

Choosing a photographer can be difficult, but I know you’ll be able to make the right decision! A lot of the information in this post has come from my personal experience working as a photographer for almost five years. I’ve seen other photographers who treat their clients with the upmost respect and are very understanding. At the same time, I’ve seen some of the worst service that you’d never want to receive. Every person is different with different needs but if you follow these 5 steps, you’ll be that much closer to choosing the right photographer for you!

5 Things to Look For When Choosing The Right Photographer