By Sue Gerard
The digital revolution has taken over photography. Now it seems everyone has a digital camera and even more people own digital SLR’s. So the number of amateurs with great cameras is growing and people are attempting to be their own professional photographer. And why not? You get instant gratification. You know right away whether you captured the image you wanted or not. But being a photographer means more than owning a good camera. You must have skill in assessing the light, the environment and the dynamics of your subjects. You need to have an innate ability to connect with those you are photographing coupled with technical know-how of your camera and equipment. Here are some reasons why you should hire a professional photographer.
First of all if you want a family portrait, you need someone to take the photograph, right? But I know many of you are camera shy and therefore only want to capture your children.
However, I think it’s important to have a full family portrait. As a professional photographer, I pay attention to details. Through my years of experience I have learned how to pose families in ways that flatter everyone. I can provide session tips and offer advice on clothing to wear. These are reasons why you should hire a professional photographer.
Now that it’s July, many families want to get portraits taken at the beach. This is my favorite thing to do! The beach provides such a beautiful setting for a family portrait. It has a perfect blend of natural colors from the sand, to the green dunes, to the blue water, and the white caps of crashing waves against the shoreline. Dress yourselves in coordinating shirts in pastel shades or white with khaki pants and you have yourself a professionally designed portrait waiting to get hung on your walls! Can’t you just “picture” it?? I like to take some posed portraits as well as candid shots. Let me show you how to sit with your family in a posed manner, yet relaxed and natural enough to look as though you aren’t posed. Let me capture your kids looking for shells, splashing at water’s edge, or running with the waves. I can illustrate how your family interacts with each other and show your true essence and your personalities. These are reasons why you should hire a professional photographer.
Love some of the pictures you take, but wish you could make them better? Professionals have the talent and the tools to enhance your photographs from touching up skin, hiding wrinkles, making colors more vibrant, optimizing lighting, removing distractions in the background, etc, Wish those fly away hairs were gone? Consider it done. Wish your teenager’s acne wasn’t so distracting? Consider those blemishes gone. Wish you could open someone’s eyes since everyone else in the photo looks great? No problem. Wish you could take a head from one picture and place it in another? Yep, I can do that too! (actually way too often than I care to mention!). These are reasons why you should hire a professional photographer.
Do you want to present your portraits as works of art in your home or showcase a wall-sized portrait over your couch or fireplace? I have an
assortment of ways to do so. Custom framing is a common option. You want to have someone qualified to help you choose a frame and matting that will fit your home décor while simultaneously complimenting the style of your wall portrait. Canvas gallery wraps are very popular. Your photograph is bonded through an emulsion process to a textured canvas fabric and stretched over a wooden frame. This provides a nice contemporary finished look, ready to hang on your wall. Preparing any portrait for display in your home is best handled by an expert. These are reasons why you should hire a professional photographer.
One of my most popular products is called a composite. It is a digital collage where multiple photos are arranged and displayed on one printed surface. These arrangements require design time and skill to create them in Photoshop. Creativity and artistry can make an ordinary collage into a work of art. I can also provide other ways to show off a collection of your favorite images such as brag books, press printed coffee-table style photo books, digitally designed lay-flat albums and DVD slide shows set to music. These are all professional presentations that aren’t readily available to the general public. These are reasons why you should hire a professional photographer.
Some may wonder why anyone would pay such high prices for a 5X7, 8X10 or an 11X14 if you can get one at a fraction of the cost at your local pharmacy, Costco or even online? The true cost really lies in the amount of time it takes to produce a professional portrait. The cost to print may be minimal, but other factors must be considered when determining the value of your portrait. There are consultations, travel time, the session itself, uploading and backing up images, editing, printing proofs, client meetings, editing and enhancing prints for final order, creating any digital products, reviewing order from lab, prepping for delivery, etc. Studies show that a photographer will spend an average of 13-19 hours on each client! So please know that we are putting our passion, our heart and our soul into the process of building relationships with you, providing personal customer service, caring for your memories and producing photographic works of art for you. These are reasons why you should hire a professional photographer.
Have you ever tried to do your own photo session with your children? I know many moms who try to get a great shot of their kids every year so they can use it for holiday greeting cards. Isn’t it stressful? Why do you do that to yourselves? I know my patience is tested when taking pictures of my own kids; I’d rather do someone else’s. Ha! Let a professional take care of it for you and make your life easier. Don’t we all try to make our lives easier in various ways? We hire people to paint our nails, cut our hair, prepare our meals, and clean our houses. But all those things are temporary. Why not pay a professional photographer to take your precious pictures for you and alleviate the stress factor? You are guaranteed to get a great portrait that you can enjoy over and over and over again. Your nail polish has chipped, your house is messy again and you consumed the meal you paid someone to prepare. But portraits are a moment in time that live on forever. These are reasons why you should hire a professional photographer.
As demonstrated, there is a great deal of time involved in creating a custom photograph and offering a personal experience for the client. When working with a studio, you are provided with great service, better choices and a high quality end product. Professional photographers are dedicated to their craft and are constantly educating themselves so they 
can be better… for you! Photography is an emotional business that offers an emotional experience and produces an emotional product. Your resulting images are heirloom portraits to be treasured for a lifetime. Do you need any more reasons why you should hire a professional photographer? I think not.
