Are you wondering how to choose a photographer? it’s a good idea to do your research to find someone who matches your photography style! Having the right photographer to capture family photos is an important decision. If you’re ready to make an informed decision, here are some great tips and important questions to ask.
I love family pictures. And I love Christmas cards! But, getting great family photos onto those Christmas cards can be a challenge if you don’t actually have print-worthy family pictures to include on it!
One of the first tips for good family photos is hiring a fantastic family photographer.
So, with Christmas coming up and family picture season upon us, I’d like to share some things to consider when choosing a family photographer, because I want you to get amazing family photos! A great photographer can make your family look amazing.
As an artist, I have a sense of what makes a great photograph, and what to look for in a family photographer.
Family Photos Costs
I’m going to go ahead and address cost first. Everyone loves a great deal, and you don’t want to spend a fortune for some family pictures. But, you also want to weary about those “too good to be true” prices, because, they probably are.
While you can always DIY family portraits with your point and shoot camera and a tripod and timer for no cost at all, it will likely not look so great, considering you are not a professional photographer, aren’t using a great camera and don’t know how to set up the shoot for optimal lighting and composition. Your camera will be limited in its size and quality abilities.
If you want your family picture to be printed on a Christmas card, the quality needs to be good enough to print, so, don’t try to use those camera phones to DIY. So, while you may get everyone in the shot, DIY may not be the best idea for a great family photo.
The next option you have is hiring a family friend as your photographer.
This is a route that many choose when trying to save money on portraits. Some friends will even do it for free in exchange for the opportunity to build their portfolio and experience (or will do it for a night of babysitting, or other exchange).
However, your friend is likely an untested, non-professional photographer, which means you may not be getting the best pictures.
While it may work out amazingly, you run the risk of things getting a bit awkward with your friend if you really don’t like the pictures (know your friend and their sensitivity to such things: will they be completely offended if you don’t like the shots and decide to get a different photographer or if you want to take photos again? You don’t want to damage a friendship over family pictures!).
If you don’t like the pictures, the good news is you spent little or nothing, and can always hit up someone else to try.
Another option, something I’ve done several times, is buying a deal from sites like Groupon or Livingsocial.
Target Studios, Picture People, Sears Portrait, JCPenney Portrait, and other national studios regularly offer package deals on these sites. There are also many local photographers who offer on-location shoots and deals through them as well. You can get a picture package for a killer deal.
You can also always try checking sites like craigslist.org for photography services and local photographers to save some money.
But, if you don’t care about saving money or getting a deal, ask your friends for photographer recommendations or do a google search for photographers in your area.
Are they a good photographer?
Isn’t that the question? While everyone has different opinions and style preferences, there are some basic things to look for in your photographer. I will try to explain them.
First, I would recommend never hiring someone, even a friend, without looking at their portfolio first. While a portfolio only showcases a photographer’s best work, if their best isn’t very good, you can safely bet they won’t be taking amazing photos of you and your family, and you should think about hiring someone else. Looking at their portfolio will also give you an inclination as to their creative vision and methods.
So, if you don’t like their style, their compositions, their backdrops, or whatever, then don’t choose them. Also, if they are mostly a landscape, animal, food, or still-life photographer, even if a great one, it won’t mean they’ll be great at family portraiture as well.
How to choose a photographer
If you are hiring a photographer for an outdoor photo shoot, I’d make sure they know how to take photos outdoors.
Looking at their outdoor portfolio pictures, check for the following warning signs of a poor photographer:
- weird shadows on clothing or faces (like from a tree’s leaf shadows)
- harsh shadows from being in direct sunlight
- dominating backgrounds
- bright backgrounds sunspots
- tree branches/trunks look like they are growing out of someone’s head
- squinty eyes
- contrasting colors
Next, look at how the people are composed. Indoor or outdoor, the composition of the photos makes a huge difference in how cute your family pictures turn out.
So, again, look for the following warning signs of a bad photographer:
- overly posed pictures
- hands or arms everywhere (think claw hands)
- awkward looking
- large spacing and gaps between family members
- one person sticking out more than another
- heads all at vastly different levels
- people’s arms/limbs cropped at the edges of the photo
- looks unnatural
- off-centered
- on a tilt
- too much negative space
And most importantly, if a photographer’s pictures are dark, poorly lighted, over-photoshopped, blurry, out of focus, and/or poorly composed, then think about going with someone else.
Even though someone has a very nice, very expensive camera, it does not mean they know how to use it, how to compose, how to light, or how to edit. A good camera does not a good photographer make! Don’t be fooled by the equipment.
I found this great post, with pictures, all about how to spot good photos from bad photos at Amy Ro Photography if you are still confused or unclear about what makes a good photo.
Friendliness and Customer Service
You are taking family pictures, do, friendliness can be a big deal. The best family photographers know how to cheer up that crabby child, get everyone’s eyes to the camera, and hopefully a smile from all, at the same time, too. So, if your photographer is not used to taking pictures of little kids, grandparents, or groups, be wary. If they are introverted, unprofessional, lazy, tired, or not fully invested in your family photography session, chances are they won’t capture your beautiful family perfectly.
And how is their customer service? If at all possible, try to find reviews (not from their website) on your potential photographer. Are they willing to make special arrangements? Are they good about handling unhappy clients? Do they do their best to make the costumer happy? Do they take their time with clients, make them feel comfortable, happy, and at ease, or do they treat photography strictly as a business and push you through. Are they pushy sales people? All things to consider, though it can be hard knowing these beforehand.
Prints or Digital Images?
Some photographers and studios only offer portrait packages consisting of a set number of prints, sometimes of only one pose (i.e. no individual shots of you or your child), and charge extra for anything above and beyond the package deal.
The advantage of having your photographer print your images is they are be printed on high-quality paper at a professional lab.
The print quality will be much better than your local Target or Wal-mart’s 1 Hour Photo (the correct colors at the correct saturation and detail levels). Plus, if you are unhappy with a print, good photographers and labs will definitely work to get it right.
Getting professionally printed photographs is important. Though we live in a digital age, it is still important to have printed photographs to hang on your walls, to add to baby books, to send to relatives, to be able to physically hold and look at in the future.
There’s also no need to worry about your hard drive crashing.
But, most prints cannot legally be scanned or otherwise shared digitally, because you are not given the artistic rights to do so. This can be frustrating since we are living in a digital over-sharing world.
Some photographers or studios provide you with digital images via an online viewing gallery (which you can download from), attached files in an email, or on a CD/DVD.
Usually, when images are given to you, they come with a release from the photographer, which essentially allows you to share the images with others without a watermark, and make unlimited prints. However, you need to know the quality of the digital images you will be receiving!
Some photographers/studios might only be giving you “web-only” images, or 72 dpi photos, instead of the standard high resolution 300 dpi. The low resolution is fine for Facebook, but not fine for printing pictures from. They will look pixelated if printed bigger than say a 4″x6.” Low-resolution photos simply cannot be “blown up” and look good.
Understand the sizes
Also, know what size the images will be – Will they be big enough and high resolution enough to print an 11″x13″ or only an 8″x10″?
I like getting digital images. We live in a digital age, and it is easy and fun to share pictures with others when you have the rights to the digital images from your photo shoot. I like having the digital images so I can use the photos on Christmas cards that I order and “print” myself (a portrait studio can print the cards with multiple images for you otherwise, but usually at a higher cost than can be found online).
I am a frugal bargain hunter and like personalized Christmas cards, so I like being able to select where I buy my Christmas cards and what they look like.
I think the best way to get family pictures is a little of both – print and digital – especially since photographers generally charge a lot for their rights to be released via digital images/CDs. If I am limited in the package deal to only 1 image on a CD (like when we’ve gone to Sears or JCPenney), then I generally choose the family group shot as my one image, and get prints of the individual shots.
Tips for Choosing a Photographer
While all the above tips are key, here are some other quick tips to think about!
- Read the reviews of previous clients
- Take a look at the full gallery of their pictures online to see how their pictures look in different lighting conditions and natural light
- Check out the little details in the photo session that you are hoping to have as an end result for your pictures
- Make a phone call and ask questions! This is a great way to talk about the type of images that you’re hoping for and to get a price range as well
It’s important to understand their photographic style so that you can be sure that they’re going to do a great job. If you’re going to spend a lot of money and spend the entire day in front of the camera, at least be sure that you’re going to do everything that you can to get beautiful photos!
Also, verify the turnaround time for your beautiful images. The last thing that you want to have happen is that you’re waiting forever for your pictures. This is a top tip that I think is super important to keep in mind.
With these tips, you’re sure to find the best photographers for your family photo shoot! You’ll be able to capture your different styles on your special day.
What things do you consider when choosing a family photographer? Did I miss something? What kind of photography packages do you like to buy?
Hezzi-D says
Great tips on finding a GOOD photographer!
Sophia says
Buying rights to digital images can be so confusing sometimes! I’m curious, since you use affiliate links to earn money, do you mind sharing how much you paid to have commercial rights for your images? I’m sometimes paid to write reviews on my blog so I haven’t been able to use any family photos since the rights my photographer grants are for personal use only and not to be used in conjunction with any revenue generating venture. I’ve never asked because I always assumed It would be out of my budget. I know you’re very frugal also, so maybe I was wrong. TIA!
Katelyn Fagan says
At JCPenney and Sears, the images we received on CD came with full copyright release. But, we usually only received one or two or three images from our sessions, and usually as discounted per a sale/deal going on. Hope that helps!
Giovanna says
I think the point the commenter above was trying to make is that you are using images that you have a personal release for and not a commercial release. Since the professional photo is being used on a blog site that may potentially earn revenue, you have in fact breached the professional photographers release. Just my guess.
Brook says
As a professional photographer myself, I do provide print releases to my clients who purchase digital images. A print release allows for only personal sharing such as through email, Facebook, etc. Use on a monetized blog would absolutely NOT be a permitted use of my images. I would hope Katelyn has permission for for-profit use of the images used here.
Nancy P.@thebittersideofsweet says
These are great tips especially now that it is time to start getting those Christmas cards made and sent out!! Thanks for linking to Less Laundry, More Linking party!
Stephanie says
Just a minor thing…I know that spell check gets used often, however; the word “customer” refers to a person who purchases something is different than “costumer” a person who designs clothing and such for a play. Just a minor item as I’m reading.
Katelyn Fagan says
Ugh. Thank you! I was having a hard time with that word! I changed it. Again, thank you! I know the difference, I just need more sleep probably. 🙂
Mrs.AOK says
Oh my goodness this is so helpful! Thank you for sharing via Mommy Monday.
To think so many of us use to pay for bad photos… wrinkled backdrops and shadows–boo!
I have to pin this!
XOXO
Katelyn Fagan says
Thanks for pinning! It’s hard to get great photographs and not break the bank, which I think is why we’re usually fine with wrinkled backdrops and shadows… you know as long as all the kids are at least looking at the camera and we only spend maybe $30 on some prints and the session. Hope my tips help in the future!
Brittnei says
We have yet to take a family photo! The main reason is because we haven’t had the extra money. I feel like it is definitely a luxury. It doesn’t stop me from taking pictures though of my two handsome gentleman! I think your tips are supurb. I could use these for sure! Thanks for sharing with us on Countdown in Style! Don’t forget to come back on Friday to see if you’ve been featured! xoxo
Katelyn Fagan says
The money is hard! We didn’t get a “professional” picture of our twins until they were 15 months old. It does seem like a luxury, but I think it’s also important. I think even if you have to go the groupon studio portrait packages to get professional ones, then that’s what you do to afford it, and then DON’T buy anything extra!
Rachel G says
We just took family photos this weekend! We went the DIY route with my little brother’s DSLR–the one benefit of taking them yourself is not having to wait and see how they turn out! But having a professional who knows how to interact well with both parents and kids can really help the experience to be a good one!
Kriss MacDonald says
Some very useful tips about photographers. I do my own photos of our children for Christmas cards because personally I like them to be a bit quirky and natural, but professional photographers have the studios and equipment to do proper family portraits. Found you featured on the Mommy Monday Blog Hop (which coincidentally includes my post on xmas cards)
Katelyn Fagan says
Oh yeah! I just wrote a new post about Christmas cards too! (To follow up, of sorts, with this one)! I’ll have to check yours out! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Chastity @ My Rays of Sunshine says
Thank you for sharing this at Wine’d Down Wednesday! It is my choice for feature pick this week.
I’m going to try to photograph my kids next week for our Christmas cards and really like the tips you shared here. I never would have thought of checking the background for shadows or wrinkles.
I hope you stop by again this week.
Cheers!
Katelyn Fagan says
Thank so much for choosing my post! I really appreciate it! I will continue to link up! And I hope your pictures turn out beautifully!
Shannon Schmid (@milkandcuddles) says
Thank you so much for linking this up to The Mommy Club – Wednesday Linky! We are so excited to get more eyeballs on your great stuff! This particular post is SO timely given all the people looking to do holiday photos!
Thanks again for linking – cant wait to see what else you link in the future!
Shannon (MilkandCuddles.com)
Julie says
Friendliness of the photographer is definitely a HUGE deal, especially when kids/babies are among those being photographed…it can be so hard to prod smiles out of them!
April says
Sadly, I never thought that much about the overall quality of the pictures, just if I looked good or I thought I looked good (oh, and everyone else too). Now I will be aware of all of this… Guess our Christmas photographer will have to step their game up!
Now, I’ll also have to look into cash back with Groupon since I use it frequently! More than any other shopping site.
Thanks for sharing with Countdown in Style. Come back on Friday to see if you were featured!
~~April~~
http://www.100lbcountdown.com
TaMara @ Implausibly Beautiful says
Thanks so much for sharing at the Blog Strut! I chose you as one of my special features and I’ll be featuring this post on my blog, FB, and Twitter tomorrow!
Katelyn Fagan says
Oh yeah! Thank you so much TaMara!!
Marilyn Clark says
Great ideas, Katelyn. I usually ask a lot of my friends what photographers they have used and get their feedback…I am a true word of mouth girl!
Sean Kelly says
I hope the top picture is meant to be an example of a bad family portrait! The faces and background are washed out, the pose is poor (standing straight on at camera, faces way too far apart, awkward and stiff, the baby’s face is half covered by his/her sweater, awkward hands, etc.) Poor composition, everyone is aligned vertically, there’s no flow from face to face, no diagonals, no composition at all, really. Very amateur quality.
Katelyn Fagan says
Sean – Yes! Unfortunately, that was the ONLY group family shot we got from that session, with a “professional” photographer. We were definitely disappointed. It’s why I decided to write this post! I’m glad we aren’t the only ones to see it. I feel like a lot of people really don’t know what make a good photo and a bad photo, so thanks for explaining it!
Ashia Ray says
What a fantastic, concise article to help families navigate finding a portrait! I found your site while doing my own research on client perspectives (I’m a family documentary photographer) and your information is so spot-on and helpful while also offering lots of options for families. Great article!
Jenna Hunter says
We did family portraits last summer but we couldn’t finish all of the pictures we wanted in time for our anniversary. It was awesome to know that one should make sure they know how to take photos outdoors. I will be sure to keep that in mind when we get our pictures taken again this year!
Tomas Killington says
My family is having a reunion next month. We want to have a professional photographer take a picture of us so we can remember the event. I didn’t realize how important it is to choose a photographer that is willing to make special arrangements to ensure they can take care of all of your needs. I’ll be sure to share this info with my family.
Afton Jackson says
I never knew how important it is to choose a family portrait photographer that offers your photos in both prints and digital images to ensure they look great. My sister will be in town next week. Hopefully, we can use this info to find a pro that can help us remember her trip for my parents anniversary.
Lucy Gibson says
My husband and I were just talking about how we haven’t done a family portrait since our youngest child was born; that was five years ago! I like your tip about how a good family photographer will know how to help cheer up the crabby child. We may need to look into getting this done soon. I’ve always enjoyed looking at people’s family pictures hanging on their walls.
Spencer Montgomery says
Thank you for the tips on choosing a family photographer! I’m planning to have a family portrait taken before the end of the year, and this will certainly be helpful. You stated choosing a photographer that can get everyone’s eyes to the camera, and hopefully also a smile from all. I have little kids, so this is certainly something I’d highly consider. I want to make sure everything can go as smoothly as possible.
Max Sayer says
Its that time of year where my family gets a photo together so I wanted to look up some tips for a photographer. One thing that stood out to me was that you recommended to never hire someone without looking at their portfolio first. I think that this is a really important part to make sure they are good at photography.
Joy Butler says
My family hasn’t had family photos taken in 5 years. Since then, I have had 2 children, my brother has gotten married, and my youngest brother has grown at least 4 inches. I think that we need an updated family picture. I would love to hire a great photographer to capture my beautiful family. I will keep my eyes peeled for a photographer that has all the qualities I desire so we can get a great photo.
Millie Hue says
I like that you pointed out how some photographers will be able to give digital copies of the photos by downloading it on a CD/DVD. I will look for a photographer who does that to ensure we have two copies of the images. We just need to have family pictures done starting now that we have kids, and we plan to do it every year on January to save memories of how we look together.
Jeff Wilcox says
I like that you mentioned that you should take the cost of a photographer into consideration before hiring them. My wife and I have been talking about finding a photographer to help us if we decide to get family pictures this fall, and we want to make sure that we could afford hiring one. If we decide to get family pictures, I will be sure to check the costs of a photographer before we hire them, so we could be confident that we could afford their services.