Why Hire A Professional?

The finished product.

Why Should I Hire A Professional Photographer? First, let’s be sure we’re on the same page- a professional is not everyone that trades money for photographs. A professional photographer is someone who is trained, experienced and certified, pays state and local taxes and is properly licensed to do business in a given hamlet. Not someone who just got a cool camera for Christmas! Yes, just like Planet Fitness advertising to get your New Year’s resolution money to get in shape, expect a flock of new “Photographers” in the new year as well.

Remember, it’s a camera, not a business.

A professional will be able to control light in many situations, unlike a “natural light photographer” who is at the whims of Mother Nature and her clouds, shade, weather and eclipses. Case in point below:

Lighting under inconvenient circumstances

Shooting at Full Moon Bridge in Garvan Woodland Gardens (Hot Springs, AR) our adorable couple is facing north. The sun is to the south, but the area on the sunny side is inaccessible. The path circles around the north side of the bridge (Where I am standing for this picture), and to set up a strobe on the footpath would place the light 45 feet away from the couple. So I have my Voice Activated Light stand (Michelle, my wife) hold the strobe with a diffusion modifier on an extension pole out in front of the couple to light them properly. One problem however, my V.A.L is in the shot. So, a second picture is taken with her backed out of the shot, and then the two images are blended in Photoshop, resulting in the photo on the right. Magic? No, experience. Duh.

There are some great photographers in town, but we are outnumbered 20 to 1 by amateurs with a Go Daddy or SmugMug website trying to pass themselves off as “Professional”. If you are shopping for a wedding photographer, hire a real pro because there are no “do overs” on wedding day. For an listing of pros in your area, go to https://www.findaphotographer.com/. Or click on my “Contact” page. Yeah, do that instead. :)

Always, more tk.