Right Photographer for Special Occasion

This is post is the second and concluding part of the series" Finding the Right Photographer"
 

There was a time when photography was very special and an artist drawn portrait was more affordable. I was reading one day about a trying photographer taking speculative photographs of people in the late nineteenth century in the book “Three men in a boat” by Jerome K Jerome. The photographer was standing by the riverside and took a photograph of the passing boat commuters with the intention to sell them later to those who could afford to buy them. But that was another time when wealthy owned and roared their personal boats and motorcars were futuristic dream.

But today everyone takes photographs and probably their claim to photographer is as strong as our claim to be writers. How to select the photographers for our special occasions? What makes a good photographer? How many of these traits do they possess?

Passion & Obsession for perfection

The single most important criteria is that the photographer should be passionate about his work and be obsessed with getting each shot as a perfect one.

At one of the ATP tournaments and I was observing the activities of the photographers and the video-graphers. They were seated in the most prime position of the stadium and it was a tough contest going on. They were glued to their cameras alibi those giant ones but focusing only to one side of the court. The irony is that one has to love tennis to be able to stay focused and for anyone who loves this game it’s a pity not to be allowed to watch it. But it’s their passion for photography (and job off course) that reigns supreme!

 Story Teller

A picture is worth a thousand words. Story telling is at the heart of a good photographer and each of the pictures should be part of the story. He should be a natural story teller.

Patience

He should be patient with his clients and hid photography. He should have the patience to wait for the perfect shot. 

Pleasing personality

A good photograph is only possible when the subject is comfortable and relaxed. His persona should be able to generate confidence in the subject and keep them relaxed, comfortable and natural.

Technicalities

He should have a sense of wonder and imagination to bring freshness to his work. Another important aspect is to have the ability to use software to correct and touch up images. Post production is as important as taking the picture itself.

Style

Preferably he should have a signature style of his own and even if he is not a master he should thrive to be one.

But how does one finds out what inherent characteristics a photographer possess. This is the most difficult part for any contract. The easiest way is to approach through reference from a friend or an acquaintance based on their personal good experience.

Alternatively one has to test his professionalism and passion by “trial & error” method. But adequate precaution should be taken as not to leave too much to chance as some event happens once in the entire lifetime.

As a starting point once should visit his studio and take an interview.

Review his earlier works to judge if some of the listed qualities are visible in his works.

Find out how many shots he is going to take and at what theme and positions. This is to find out how thorough he is with this task.

Know if he is going to print those and also what will happen to the soft file and the copyright.

Request for a detailed quotation but note that neither a low price signify the photographer is not creative nor does high price guarantees an ACE photographer.