Choosing the ideal photographer for your senior portraits can be daunting. Many aspects exist to consider. This blog will provide some helpful tips to guide you in finding the photographer that is best for you!

1. Look at their past work and see if you find their style pleasing to you. If you don’t dig their images they have done, it is doubtful you’ll truly be happy with your images. Photographers should have consistency in their work. Be sure you like what they are good at.

2. Ask for pricing. Photographers are not obligated to share pricing on their websites. Be sure they are within your price range so that you are not surprised with the payment.

3. Assess what you value! If you value images that can be shared digitally, seek out a photographer that provides that. If you value timelessness, look for a photographer that offers tangible ways to archive your photographs with albums, prints, or memory boxes. Generally these photographers understand how to make images flow throughout an album seamlessly. Additionally, these photographers use professional printing labs that have extreme accuracy in colors and print perfectly.

4. Does the photographer offer some sort of consult or guide? If you value unique images that represent you, it is essential that the photographer understand your interests. Additionally, guiding you in outfit selection and general preparation for you photoshoot is helpful since they should have an understanding of how colors work together.

5. Be aware of pricing. While you do want to be within your own budget, photographers price their work based on what they believe their work to be worth (in addition to the cost of running a business). Understand that if you pay low prices, the quality and uniqueness of the final photographs may not be of top notch quality. Understand that if you pay the average prices for that photographer, your final result may be average.

Although this is not ALWAYS the case, it is generally very accurate. Sometimes, very talented photographers are just getting their business off the ground, so pricing may reflect that. Whatever the pricing, don’t be afraid to openly ask questions about it. If it seems oddly low, you probably want to know why. If it seems higher than you have seen, you probably want to know what services are provided and how their quality of work differs from those who are set lower.

6. The last point I want to make is that you want and need a photographer who is interested in you and providing the service you are looking for. You are a unique person, and the photographs you are paying for should reflect that. Traditional photographs are great, but so are photographs that capture REAL moments and REAL smiles authentically. Remember that a jack of all trades is a master of none.