After nearly a decade in the business, i think it's about time I personally share the top five things you should stop doing to your photographer STAT.
1. MODIFYING OUR IMAGES
Photographers are artists, so we dedicate a lot of time meticulously developing our images to reflect our personal style and ever-evolving expertise. Please STOP modifying our images, especially with those cheap and heavy-handed social media filters/presets. Doing any kind of unlicensed modification to our work is illegal and voids the authenticity of the artist.
2. NOT GIVING US CREDIT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Tagging your photographer when you share their work on social media is an act of love and respect. By giving us credit - tagging our Facebook or Instagram profile, hyperlinking our website, or listing us as a contributing vendor in your post - you do more than just post a new photo. You’re also sharing your wonderful experience with your friends, family, and other businesses, and giving us the opportunity to connect and even create with them too. Please share the love and tag us every time!
3. ASKING US TO OMIT PARTS OF OUR SERVICE
Every photographer employs various degrees of quality control that ensure their images are consistent and successful. At BPP, Pro Hair and Makeup Artist Renee Green is included in my session fee because her expertise plays a significant role in my success as a beauty and portrait photographer. Please don’t ask me to cut out Renee’s services in order for my services to fit your budgetary restrictions. Renee is not a superfluous expense; her specialization maximizes confidence in the studio, makes the post-processing phase clean and efficient, and adds a great deal of value to my studio portrait experience overall. We're a package deal and we're worth it!
4. ASKING US TO WORK FOR FREE
We photographers invest a huge portion of our earnings back into our businesses every year, on top of covering the costs of doing business, paying the mortgage, bills, gas, insurance, etc. So please don’t assume that because we’re a friend or a family member that we’re automatically willing to work for free. Please don’t invite me to your X, Y, or Z and then ask me to bring my camera. Please don’t call me up once a year to remind me your birthday’s around the corner and then ask me for a photoshoot that's “just for fun.” This makes me feel crushingly undervalued as a friend and as an artist, and makes you look like a shameless user. Sorry not sorry.
5. ASKING US TO "JUST PHOTOSHOP IT"
While digital photography and photoshop do go hand-in-hand, my goal is to give my clients a fun and empowering studio portrait experience that celebrates and captures who they are. Photoshop is a tool that only comes into play after the fact, and is a last-resort solution for anything that couldn’t be addressed directly with my clients during the consultation, in hair and makeup, or with styling, lighting, and guided posing during the session. By asking me to "just photoshop it" undermines the time, talent, and skill my team and I devote to delivering a meaningful experience.
