Photographers are interesting creatures. We consider ourselves artists. We are very proud of our craft and are particular about our work. But we also consider ourselves business men/women. We work very closely with clients and our business often depends on client satisfaction. Sometimes those two sides clash....sometimes clients don’t understand why the contract says what it says….and sometimes photographers get frustrated with clients. So why do we photographers care so much about our editing style or the number of photos we deliver? What goes through our mind when we suggest the things we suggest? Why do we charge so much money? I will give you the answers to all of these awkward questions you are too shy to ask your photographer and more in this post!
-Would you ever deliver the RAW unedited photos? You’re a good photographer, right? So why do you need to edit at all?
Most likely, no. I can’t even think of a situation where I have ever delivered RAW photos to a client....and most photographers I have talked to have said the same thing. My photography is my art, and editing is a huge part of that. It’s part of what makes my photos stand out from other photographer’s photos….and their photos from the next photographer’s photos….and so on and so forth. Yes, my photos are good straight out of camera. But they are GREAT once I have edited them and made them look as wonderful a possible for you. It's a big part of what you're paying me for! Wedding photographers love to deliver their work.
-Will we receive every photo you took?
No, I don’t deliver every photo I took at the session/wedding. Believe me, you don’t want to! To be honest, they are not all good! Some are blurry, some are over exposed, some are under exposed, some have eyes that are closed, some have goofy faces, and a lot of them are multiple photos of the same thing! We photographers like taking a lot of photos…..thank you digital cameras! It takes us a long time to go through the photos we took at your photo session. And you don’t even want to know how many photos we take at weddings! You don’t want to go through that many photos! That’s why you hired a professional photographer! You can count on us to pick out all of the best photos from your session/wedding. We only want you to have the best….and look your best.
-Will you Photoshop me? I want to look 20lbs thinner.
Probably not. I know I just said I want you to look your best….but I also want you to look like YOU! Yes, we all want to look 20lbs thinner in photos….but the whole point of photographs is to capture a moment. With Photoshop, you can manipulate a photo to do anything you want it to do! It’s difficult to know what is even real anymore! I don’t want my photography to be that way. I want you to look your best and feel confident in front of the lens…..and I will do everything in my power to help you do that. But I also want you to be able to look back at those photos and remember! Yes, you may have been a little chubby at that time in your life, but you remember why. Was it happy weight from being engaged to the man of your dreams? Was it leftover weight from birthing your baby boy? It’s about capturing the memories….not about looking like models.
-Why does it take so long to get my photos back? It’s been almost six weeks!
First off, this is an important thing to talk to your photographer about before your photo session or wedding! Every photographer has a different delivery schedule.
Anywas....one thing most people don’t realize about us photographers is that our job is only 15% shooting. The rest consists of business stuff, editing, and more editing. Editing a session (especially a wedding) takes a lot more time and work than people think. After we come home from a shoot, we will go through all of the photos from the session, pick out the best ones, edit them, and then send them to you. And to be fair, we have to edit sessions in the order that we shoot them….so if your session or wedding is during our busy season…getting your photos back may take a bit longer. But just know that most photographers always try to get them to you as soon as possible!
-Why do photographers charge so much? It seems like way too much to me.
Hiring a photographer is expensive, I know! Especially for weddings! I have hired photographers before too, so I’ve been there and done that. But believe me when I say that we charge what we charge for a reason! Owning and running a photography business is expensive. I found these two pics below that break it down pretty nicely.
Some of those numbers are a little high in my book, but it helps give a pretty good idea of what we are spending our income on and why we charge what we charge.
-Why do you suggest to do the photoshoot in the morning or evening? What’s wrong with the afternoon? What difference does it make?
Great question! A photographer’s life revolves around light. We are always looking at the weather and at the position of the sun. We usually want the sun to be lower and behind you, to create back lighting. If the sun is directly above you, it causes really harsh shadows and is just very unflattering. And if it’s cloudy outside, that’s even better! Cloudy days are great for photo sessions and creates very flattering and even light.
-I have a whole board on Pinterest of all the poses I want to do at the session/wedding. Is that Okay?
Yeah, you can send your Pinterest board to your photographer. But…be prepared to trust your photographer and the poses they suggest. Sometimes the pics and poses you see on Pinterest might not work for everybody. Sometimes they take a lot of time and effort to recreate. And sometimes they are just a little cheesy (sorry!!). But please know that we always want the client to be happy, but we will also be honest if something doesn’t look the best or if something isn’t quite working. You can totally offer suggestions (in fact, I encourage it!) but please always trust us to make the final call and to make you look good!
Well, hopefully this post answers some of your awkward questions you’ve been wanting to ask your photographer….but didn’t know how! If you have any other questions, message me! I can always make a part two!
