Upon meeting new people, I frequently end up in conversations that pan out something like this……..
“Why would you bother hiring a Professional Photographer any more? Everybody has a SLR, so they take good photographs, right” Whilst I do keep my mouth shut, I often feel like proposing a challenge to them….
Recently, I was doing a Newborn session, and Nanna asked if she could take some photos after I had set some poses up. Under normal circumstances, I make Nanna nice and busy pulling funny faces, and carrying on like a pork chop to make the kids crack up.
This time, however, I thought this could be an interesting exercise. The deal was, I would allow her to take some shots if she agreed to send them to me so that I could write this blog. When she sent them through to me, I thought ‘Wow, these are not too bad’
The reality is that lots of people can take good and even great snaps……….
On another note, people frequently admire my equipment and tell me that it must take brilliant photographs. But let’s put it into another perspective here, another field of talent, if you will. Imagine you are invited to a dinner party by a local chef. The food is wonderfully prepared and presented and tastes amazing. Do you think that an expensive, great stove must be how he prepared such a wonderful meal? Probably not; because you would realize that it is the chef’s experience and skill that helped to make the meal so delicious.
The same goes with photography. Yes, a better camera in knowledgeable hands can usually produce better images than a basic beginner camera in knowledgeable hands. But. Overall, you will find that the quality of the image is directly related to the experience and skill of the person creating the image.
So, here goes – Why a Professional Photographer?
1. Know-how
A nice camera isn’t enough to take good pictures. If you haven’t mastered the exposure triangle, if you aren’t shooting in a mode other than “auto”, if you don’t know how to create sharp images…the camera won’t magically know how to do it for you. Taking pictures in auto modes and relying on the camera to choose the right settings will give you randomly good shots….and a lot of randomly bad ones, too. Hiring a professional photographer is hiring technical expertise, knowledge, know-how and experience.
2. Professional Retouching
In the digital era, photographs need a bit of editing to get a “wow” factor. It doesn’t mean they have to be heavily edited. Having a photographer who understands how to add the right amount of contrast, the ideal amount of brightness/darkness in the right places, remove color casts from skin, correcting skin tones, or make a perfect black and white conversion can change an image into an beautiful piece of art.
3. The Artist’s Eye
Ask 3 different people to photograph the same subject and you will get 3 different photos. Photography is an art, a vision, if you will and it’s highly subjective. Hiring a professional photographer is trusting his or her vision and trusting that he or she will help you to create images you will love.
4. Finally Be in the Photo!!
That’s an obvious one: hiring a professional photographer is the best way to finally be in the photo with your loved ones….thus documenting the love and interaction/emotions between you and them…which is priceless gift for the whole family!
So next time you have a significant life event, keep this in mind:)
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