It’s a daunting proposition. You have been put in charge of a project that requires you to look at hiring a commercial photographer. Perhaps it’s to generate images for a company website or for a myriad of other reasons. It sounds simple enough, but there are a lot of things to consider when you begin your search. Moreover, you need to ensure that the person or company you hire has a few things in place before you get started.
Perhaps you have never worked in marketing or communications or perhaps you are in a new role. Maybe you’ve been given this ‘extra’ task to complete on top of your usual workload. But before you get started, there’s a list of things you need to consider before you get started.
Commercial photographer websites
It’s only natural when you commence a search, that many people will go straight to Google and type in a number of search terms to see if they can find someone. If you simply typed in ‘photographer’, that’s going to generate a whole lot of results from weddings to baby, family photos, sports, and a whole bunch of other things. Perhaps a better strategy is to be more specific. Searching for ‘commercial photography services’ could get you closer to what you’re after. Furthermore, including the name of your city or town will almost certainly get you more specific results. So, I personally live in Perth, Western Australia so I would search for ‘commercial photography Perth’ or perhaps ‘commercial photographer Perth’. That should generate some specific results and weeds out the companies offering other services.
What does a commercial photographer do?
So, what does the term ‘commercial’ cover? And how is it different from other types of pro photography? Well, in general terms commercial operators usually work for businesses, marketing companies and in sales. So, product photography, corporate photography, headshots and environmental portraits and anything that requires hi-end images would generally come under this term. It really is an umbrella term that covers other areas too. But, generally it’s hi-quality photography undertaken by qualified, professional photographers using hi-end camera equipment and editing workflows.
What to look for when hiring a photographer
Before you start your search for a photographer. It pays to do some research. I always advise clients to find examples of the types of photographs they like. A mood board always helps communicate ideas and provides a visual tool to help establish a style or aesthetic. Often, it’s as simple as creating a word document and populating it with some examples you can show to a photographer to see if they can replicate a style or a mood. After trawling through some online portfolios, it’s a good idea to formulate a list of questions. You can then compare each of the candidates to see how they stack up against each other. Some things you might want to consider are:
- Cost: Does the photographer charge per image, per hour, half day, full day? Get some indication about how that works in with your requirements. If you need a lot of images and the company you like charges per image. That’s going to add up real quick.
- Qualifications: Does the photographer have any training, hold a degree or any photography certifications? This is important as it often sets the professionals and amateurs apart. Commercial drone operators should hold a CASA certification and insurances as a minimum.
- Style: Commercial photographers often generate images that have a certain look. Make sure you are happy with this as they may not want to deviate from that style.
- Personality: Just because they have some nice pictures in their portfolio doesn’t mean they are easy to work with. If possible, have a look at their client testimonials. Even better, try and discuss your project with them. That will give you the clearest indication of their personality and customer service.
Delivery of photographs
Finally, one thing you want to have clear when choosing a company or photographer is completion and delivery times. You should always agree on the turnaround time and know when you can expect to see all of the digital images. For most photoshoots that involve a half or full day of shooting, 24-48 hours after completion of principle photography is often a reasonable timeframe. However, this really depends on exactly what is involved with processing and editing of images. Product photography may involve more time intensive workflows, compared with documentary style corporate images. Always agree on know what to expect with turnaround times.
Commercial photography Perth
If you are looking at hiring a commercial photographer in Perth WA, please consider Imagepro. We’re an established commercial photography company with experienced and qualified photographers. We’re also a friendly and approachable and would love to hear from you. Contact us today!
