Why A Professional Photographer?

Because you’re a professional in your field as well, you probably want to get the best images possible–which are almost never the cheapest images possible. As we all know, the advent of digital photography has led to a whole slew of folks thinking they’re photographers; more people are trying to do-it-yourself every day. And it’s true–the DELETE button on their digital cameras allows them to throw out out-of-focus, awkwardly framed, and miserably exposed images instantly.

The result is more people taking bad pictures than ever before!

When you hire a pro, you’re not just hiring a person with a more expensive camera than your Uncle Bob. You’re hiring someone who knows how to make you (or whatever the subject is) look awesome, using an artistic eye, an ability to put the subject at ease, and the technical skill to give you a riveting image that everyone will notice. You’re hiring someone who can take your vision of yourself (or of the subject you want shot), and mold it into something eye-catching, truthful, and new.

What am I paying a professional for?

When you pay a professional photographer to shoot for you, you are generally paying for the following things:

• a creation fee, which involves their creativity and expertise;
• an agreed upon number of hours or days to do your shoot and deliver a final product;
• expenses incurred in creating those images (film, processing, post-production time in digital work, etc.);
• a print of one or more select images;
• a repro rights fee on individual photos you wish to reproduce and use for professional purposes. This fee is variable and will depend on the use. Personal, editorial, and educational usages for example, are generally less expensive than commercial and advertising.