Quality vs. Price | Senior Pictures in Redmond, Woodinville & Sammamish
When you purchase items does quality outweight price for you? Or do you make decisions almost solely on price? From the brand of yogurt and cereal we purchase to our cars and household items, to services such as housecleaning, repairs and photography, we all have our trends.
Knowing an Amateur vs. a Professional: How to Know What to Look For
There’s 100 amateur ‘photographers’ (also know as ‘camera owners or beginners’) for every 2 or 3 professionals in our area and it’s difficult to know the difference at first until you take a really close look at quality, posing, angles, lighting, reviews and customer service. When I’m looking through portfolios and other photography websites I can quickly see who I would trust to take my portrait and who I can tell needs to learn more.
Imagine using a highly experienced attorney or doctor who’s seen hundreds or thousands of cases versus a new doctor or attorney who barely has experienced anything. If your goal was to win the case or diagnose and properly treat your child’s condition you’d be a little concerned. In photography you should approach your next session with this sort of mentality. It takes years of doing quality work, experience working with top photographers and art directors or editors to possess expert level knowledge of the industry. Add in the variable of being great with high schoolers and we’re talking some serious knowledge to capture a variety of amazing portraits you’ll be proud of.
Compare the following:
1) Does the ‘photographer’ sound knowledgeable? When speaking with any professional you should feel like the person is knowledgeable about any question you would or could ask them. Think about if their answers to your questions sound flaky or made up, or are based on a foundation and experience…I know I can tell.
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2) Does their website have a variety of examples? And I’m not talking about just a couple good portraits or 1000 so-so images claiming to have been around forever. Some people can get lucky with a few good portraits, but a true pro can repeat any style of portrait on demand and create looks with ease. Whenever I’m looking through other photographers work I’m looking for several elements, many times related to the variety I see overall in terms of the style of portrait, light, composition, framing, etc…which is more rare to find quality than you may know! And don’t be fooled by cool looking websites with fancy slideshows when the work doesn’t back that up.
3) Are they upfront about pricing for sessions and how their packaging works? Basically, are they willing to share with you how their structure works, or does it sound shady? Working professionals have very set rates that work well for their clientele and there’s a good reason they’ve chosen those packages and pricing after years of trial and effort. An amateur will have no idea how to price his/herself and many times will sound unknowledgeable about rates. How ever nice this might sound for your pocketbook it will likely overflow into many aspects of their work. Most notably is their ability to create variety, to create amazing products and their skill level in Photoshop. And let’s not forget they’ve just recently (within 2yrs) purchased their first awesome camera, they’re ‘learning’ new techniques and Photoshop, and they have no process they’ve established to make it easy for clients and their self following the shoot.
4) Are they willing to accept any price offer you make them, or are they confident in their rates? A true sign of an amateur is that they are not doing photography as a ‘living’ or for their ‘work’, it’s merely a hobby and they don’t mind making a few bucks for it. However, when it comes to top customer service, knowledge of working with students, posing the right angles and creating lasting memories they’re likely not a good choice unless your budget is peanuts.
Anyone can beat a price and you’ll always find a bigger deal, but at what point are you sacrificing quality for your son or daughter’s senior pictures in Redmond. With photography, and especially senior pictures photography you’re likely sacrificing a great deal of quality right away when you steer away from trained professionals into amateurville.
