Choosing a portrait photographer

If you are reading this, you may be considering booking a photo portrait shoot with a professional photographer. If you have done this before then you already know what to expect, if not, then I will try to give you an idea of what to expect, and most importantly what it costs!

Firstly, what is a photo portrait? Rather that rambling in my own words Wikipedia defines it so :- “Portrait photography or portraiture is the capture by means of photography of the likeness of a person or a small group of people (a group portrait), in which the face and expression is predominant. The objective is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the subject. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is the person's face, although the entire body and the background may be included. A portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the camera. Storytelling photography conveys emotion, mood and ideas in which expressions are captured and the person will not need to be looking directly into camera.”  This pretty much sums it up from a photographer point of view but what about from the clients perspective? What do you need to know when considering booking a portrait shoot?

1. The Photographer. Let me just say one thing from the start, anyone, and I really do mean anyone, can buy a digital camera and take a photograph, and admittedly the results will, most of the time be acceptable, but to make a photograph that little bit special there are a myriad of things that the professional photographer must be competent in and master, lighting, composition, an in depth knowledge of his equipment and experience to name but a few. When choosing a photographer, before looking at costs, take some time to look at examples of their work, this can be found on their websites and cost you nothing but your time. Ask youself the following questions? Do the photos appeal to you? Do the subjects look natural? Do the subjects look at ease? Are the photos clean and tidy (nothing to distract from the subject). If you are comfortable with the answers to these questions then you can assume the photographer is fairly competent and you can move on to the next stage.
2. The Location. Here you should consider where the photographer is based, does the photographer have to be local to you or are you prepared to travel? Most professional photographers have portable studios so that the shoot could take place in your own home (depending on space of course).
   Please try not to base this decision on whether or not the photographer has his own studio or not, in todays difficult economic times many photographers hire studio time on an as and when basis, this keeps overheads down and enables them to compete on price.
3. Price. Set yourself a budget, a typical photo portrait shoot will cost anywhere between £25 and £100 and generally includes a couple of prints. But after this it can get expensive.
   Try to find out what the photographer charges for reprints? can you get access to the digital images? what does the photographer charge for framing or canvas prints? Call the photographer and ask! Any reputable photographer will be open and honest about these charges and it saves any nasty surprises later, but please remember, professional photographers are running a business and their prices for prints will cost a little more than the high street norm, but, and this is a big but, the prints you get from the photographer will be of a much better quality, being printed on high grade professional paper from a professional printing company, believe me, it’s worth the extra cost.
4. Finally, what to wear and expect. Once you have booked your shoot don’t panic! Wear something comfortable, something you like and not something you think the photographer wants to see, be colourful, it makes for an interesting photo, relax, this is important, many clients feel uncomfortable having their photo taken particularly in a strange environment, if the photographer is good he should put you at ease, most portrait sessions last about 45 minutes, which does not sound very long but believe me, is plenty, I generally take around 100 – 150 photos in this time. Depending on the type of shoot a good photographer will have you pose in many different position, some requests may initially sound strange but the photographer generally knows what looks good and what not.
   Finally, make sure you get any poses you want, after all you are the customer.

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it has gone some way to answering any questions you may have, if there is anything I have not covered please drop me a line or just give me a call, I’ll be only too happy to help and give some advice, contact details are on my website raymondredfernphotography.co.uk