Choosing a Professional Photographer for your Spokane Senior Portraits

Choosing a professional photographer for your Spokane senior portraits doesn’t need to be difficult.  My goal for this blog is not self-promotion. The goal is to help you to find the right senior photographer for your best experience and final images possible.

Here are 4 steps to choosing a professional photographer for your Spokane senior portraits:

1. WHAT STYLE OF SPOKANE SENIOR PORTRAITS DO YOU LIKE

The first thing to do to figure out what style of senior portraits you like is to check out photographers with a general web search. For example, search Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest and pay attention to what types of photos you are drawn to. Knowing specifically what you like about particular photos will allow you to narrow down the options to better select a potential photographer.

For example, here are things to look for in discovering what style of photography you like:

• Are the images dark and moody, light and airy, or balanced in their lighting (natural)?
• Are the colors vibrant, muted or creative? 
• Do the images look posed or candid?
• Are the pictures outside in nature, outside in an urban setting or in a studio?
• Is the person in the pictures often laughing and smiling or calm and relaxed?
• Are most photos framed tightly with the person filling most of the frame or framed wide with the background playing an important role in the image?
• Are the images heavily themed with lots of props or simple with maybe a few props?

2. TALK TO SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

I know it’s not always fun to actually talk to someone new or hit that send button to start a conversation but this is a crucial starting point. By talking to potential senior photographers through emails, in person or on the phone, you will be able to judge how professionally they run their business. Will they deliver your photos in a timely manner? Will they misplace your payments or photographs? Are they a licensed business? These are all headaches you want to avoid!

3. BUDGET

Photographer’s rates are across the board from working for free to $8,000 or more! You will find a photographer in your budget.

Keep in mind, finding the lowest price photographer is not a good goal, the old saying, “You get what you pay for” is DEPFINITELY true of photographers. A low priced photographer is most likely a less experienced photographer with varied image and experience results.

I will say that a less experienced photographer is not a bad thing – I am quite thankful for those who hired me when I was a fresh entrepreneur. The important thing is to decide your comfort level with a photographer’s experience. If the photographer you like is over your budget, keep saving! Your professional senior portraits will be around for a long time. Showing those old photo albums to your children and grandchildren will be a lasting joy.

4. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM YOUR SENIOR PORTRAIT SESSION?

You may not yet know what you want from your senior portrait session, but getting an idea of what you want from products to service will also help you select your photographer. I strongly encourage every client gets physical photographs. Physical images could be such as albums, wall art, cards and gift prints. Get something that will make you happy every time you see it. But I also realize the value and importance of having digital images as well. For instance, digital images are great for sharing on social media, your job applications and as a backup to your printed images.

Types of photographers and what they offer:

• Basic: Photographer places all session photos on a USB or an online gallery. However, photos may be edited or might not be as these tend to be the inexperienced photographers.
• Photographer selects the best images to edit and deliver to you in digital form only. However, you are in charge of your own printing.
• Photographer selects the best images to edit and deliver to you in physical form only. However, you may or may not have access to the digital images
• Photographer selects the best images to edit and deliver to you in both physical and digital form. This saves you a great deal of time and often results in a wonderful overall experience. This is what most people are looking for in a professional photographer.
• Full service photographer: This photographer is with you from planning to the final deliverables. Locations will be pre planned specifically for your outfits, you’ll have a MUA and hair session followed by your photo session and then a ‘reveal’ session where you get to pick out your pictures and products. For those who want to invest a lot of time and money in an amazing photo experience – this is it!

FINAL WORDS ABOUT YOUR SPOKANE SENIOR PORTRAITS

When choosing the best professional photographer for your Spokane senior portraits, find someone with a style you like. After that, choose a photographer that offers the services and products you desire and be willing to adjust your budget to get the photographer you really want. Keep in mind that when people get digital images only, they will likely share the photos on social media and promptly forget the images in a folder on their computer, never to be seen again. In my opinion getting digital images only is a missed opportunity for a good standard photography service. In other words, get the best service and value out of your session by ordering physical prints from your senior portrait session.

Interested in Nate Robinson Photography for your Spokane Senior Portraits?