From “I hate getting my photo taken” to “I can just use my phone….”. I have heard it all as a Surrey family and branding photographer.
“I’m not photogenic”
This is the most common reason I’ve heard from people when they don’t want to book a photographer. I would say this is more common with women than men, but I have heard it from both men and women, and often. Until recently I have belonged to this club. It’s only in the past couple of years, since I started doing assignments for my professional dipolma that required me to get in front of a camera, that I began……liking some photos of myself? I know, it can be hard to comprehend at first! I am fully aware I’m not a supermodel, and now I know it doesn’t matter. Anyone can like a photo of themselves if they find the right photographer who knows what they’re doing with posing, styling and most of all, providing a relaxed atmosphere where your expressions and body language are natural. I really like the photos I’ve had taken by some professional photographers I trust, and I also like some of my self-portraits. Self-portrait is the hardest genre within portraiture as you have to guide yourself! The cover photo for this post is a recent self-portrait, holding one of my favourite books, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. I love the photo because it represents me. I’m not trying to be a fashion model. I’m being myself, my personality and interests show in the photo, and I look comfortable.
“My kids will act up”
I heard this last week from a local mum who says she will book a photoshoot, but only when her youngest is a bit older as she’s afraid they won’t behave. This is another common issue why people don’t want to book a family photographer session. I have a secret - I’m not expecting your children to behave, I have seen it all! I used to be a primary school teaching assistant - first in nursery and then in Reception. I’m a parent and also a Girlguiding leader. I have lead family photo sessions including children of all ages, and sometimes the best photo is when the child is being themselves and playing. Notice the photo of the boy in the tree on the bottom of my main home page. He was playing, and I caught him with his arms in the air, smiling. I love that photo. I wasn’t asking him to do anything. If the session isn’t going well at first, I will try my best to cheer up any child who isn’t having a good time. If that doesn’t work, I am patient and will wait….with snacks. Please don’t think I will think anything negatively of you or your children if one, or even all, of them decide to be grumpy. Again, I’m to not expecting them to behave. Them being grumpy is not the end of the world, it’s not even the end of the session.
“I can take a nice photo with my phone”
You definitely can, and that is always an option. I take photos with my phone on a regular basis, but once I post a photo taken with a phone next to a photo I took with my camera (see my Halloween post before this one, with a phone photo next to my camera photos), you can clearly see there’s a difference in quality. Yes, even with the newer phones. This also becomes really obvious when you make photobooks. I make photobooks every year as Christmas gifts to family members, and the photos I take with my phone are very obviously lower quality than the photos I take with my camera. Your phone photos look great on your phone, that’s the point, until you print or blow them up too big.
I also will state the obvious - when you hire a photographer you’re not hiring someone to press a button. You’re hiring all of their experience and knowledge which helps in creating a more flattering photo session.
“I don’t want to be pressured into buying photos”
I don’t pressure anyone into buying photos. The prices that you see on my website are all inclusive. There are no surprises. If it says it’s so much money for a session plus x amount of photos, that is exactly what you will receive for that amount of money. I will not be emailing you, or god forbid, calling you to pressure you into buying more from your session.
“It’s too expensive”
This is another financial reason, and until recent years I was also in this club. Now that I’ve spent a long time studying, being mentored by some of the best in the business and have launched a business as a Woking family and branding photographer where I travel around Surrey and into London, I have learned a lot and why it costs what it does!
When you book a session with me, you’re not paying only for the session time and then the few minutes it takes to make and send your gallery. What you are paying for is our chat before the session, co-planning the session with me or letting me plan it for you. I always location scout areas, so unless the session is in your home, or it’s a last-minute session, I will be scouting out the location for the best areas and backdrops. Then there’s the travel time. Obviously there’s the session time. Then it also takes a lot of time to edit. At times it can be close to 20 minutes to edit each photo! It takes awhile. I do provide a gallery within 5-7 working days after a session, because I get to work on it right away. I don’t like procrastinating. When you put all of these elements together, the prices on this site are not unreasonable.
Because I used to think professional family photographers were too expensive, I only hired one once when my kids were little. I hired my friend Evie, who had her own family photography business, to photograph my younger daughter as a newborn and have a family session in our then-London flat. I paid her hundreds of £££ and thought it was expensive. Guess what are now some of my most cherished photos? Yes, the photos that Evie took of us. Now looking back, it was worth every penny and I wish I would have hired her to capture more moments. Your kids are only their current ages for a short time, as are you!
