Does your photographer really care about you, or is he just making a quick buck?

Hello everybody! It’s Rachael here and today I’m taking over the Divers Photography blog to write another guest post. I recently wrote a piece on my own blog about how to check if your makeup artist is actually legit, and the response was so great that I thought I’d also add a version for the business of photography for this blog!

Entrusting somebody to take your photographs, whether it be for your wedding day or a special occasion, is a pretty big deal and it’s imperative to find a photographer that you can trust and who really cares about you. In today’s society, anybody with an iPhone or modern DSLR labels themselves as a photographer, some say they are professionals too! Whilst we all know that photography is a form of art, and a craft that takes years to perfect, it makes a real mockery of the business when someone who has very little experience dives in with slashed pricing offering a disc full of un-retouched images, kidding the client that they are doing them a favour, where in fact they are doing the opposite (more on this in tip 4). We’ve seen it way too often, and frequently get asked to work on images to rectify or salvage the poor images from precious occasions that someone without the correct photography and editing skills has ruined. So, how do you stop yourself from becoming a victim of shoddy photography and choose the right photographer for you? Growing up surrounded by photography I’ve had a pretty good insight, so here are my top five tips…

1. As always, check your photographers credentials!
Any photographer working with expensive equipment and taking on any kind of photography job should be fully insured. This insurance should cover their kit and public liability. It is absolutely, 100% a must. If your photographer cannot produce an insurance certificate, then please do walk away and reconsider your options. Client welfare should be at the forefront of any businesses mind along with protecting their own staff and reputation too. If they don’t care enough to hold proper insurance to protect both parties, then why would they care enough to ensure to turn up on your wedding day or produce excellent results? Don’t risk it. We’ve witnessed the fallout from others who have gone with uninsured photographers and it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

2. Check that your photographer is a member of a professional body
I’m talking the MPA (Master Photographers Association). If your photographer is a member of the MPA, you can rest assured that they will be paying for the privilege to be a part of a professional body that continually pushes further training and education, industry standards and expert guidance from professionals of over 60 years. Although the MPA do allow students to join their Association, only fully qualified professionals will be allocated the MPA logo and a profile on the website. Checking out your photographer on the MPA’s profile pages is a great way to instantly check whether they are qualified without asking for them to actually produce their certificates. There are plenty of other professional bodies out there too, so do your research and choose very wisely.

3. Check their past work
Just as some makeup artists are using stock images to promote their own work (crazy, right?!) some photographers are also following suit. Check up on the work that your photographer produces and ask to meet with them at their studio for a consultation first. Most photographers won’t mind this at all and will be more than happy to share their passion with you and discuss your requirements. Another quick tip is to approach their past clients who might have left an online review, and ask them to share their experience with you. Perhaps they’ll even be happy to show you a few images too.

If you aren’t sure your photographer is showing off his own work online, the best way to check on whether it’s a stock image or not is to right click on the image and select ‘search Google/TinEye for this image’ – google will then bring up any matches for that particular image that it finds across the world wide web.

4. Check their pricing and the products and services that they offer 
If a photographer’s prices seem too good to be true, they usually are! If you’re paying peanuts, don’t expect exceptional work and a high class service. Plenty of photographers these days are opting to give clients their images on disc only, and for a pittance too. There’s a reason for this and to put it plainly, most of these photographers operate a ‘bums on seats’ service, which basically means they have a quick turnover of clients who are in and out of the door quicker than you can say cheese. Remember what we said about images on discs in the intro? What you also may not realise as a client is that these images are not actually safe and can be lost to data rot. Re-backing them up won’t save them either. The only way to guarantee your images will stand the test of time is to print them. You can read our ‘Print your images or risk losing them forever to data rot’ article here.

5. Check their website and social media accounts
In this digital age that we’re living in, businesses are expected to be online. They’re expected to have fully functioning, professional websites, social media accounts that are active, and also be listed with places like Factual, FreeIndex, Yell and the like. A great place to check a listing is Google Places as everything has to be verified before it shows up on the results. Facebook will also help you to check the authenticity of a business page by displaying a tick next to the business name at the head of the listed page. This shows that the page is verified. If the photographer you’re planning on booking doesn’t have a proper website or any social media channels, you should really question why. Websites used to be a luxury for companies, but now it’s expected and almost mandatory if you want to be taken seriously and be ahead of the game.

Although this list is not extensive, it should help you in some way to judge whether or not you’ve found the right photographer for you, and whether you want to spend your money with that particular business. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this post and that it’s helped to give you a little insight. We fully support budding photographers who work hard to learn their craft and provide amazing photography, but as with every industry, you will always get a select few that don’t have the best intentions at heart.