{"id":4801,"date":"2015-01-21T12:16:33","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T12:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/?p=4801"},"modified":"2025-11-27T12:54:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T12:54:15","slug":"6-essential-steps-to-hiring-the-right-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/6-essential-steps-to-hiring-the-right-photographer\/%20","title":{"rendered":"6 Essential Steps to Hiring the Right Photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Choosing the right Photographer For Your Project<\/h3>\n<p>Let&#8217;s help you with a few simple steps:-<\/p>\n<h3>1 &#8211; Think about what you NEED<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4818\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_0133.jpg\" alt=\"_MG_0133\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_0133.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_0133-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s worth having a think about the purpose of the photos before you start.<\/p>\n<p>Go online and check out your competition&#8217;s websites, see what they are doing &#8211; or people in California doing the same thing. Ideas can come from anywhere.<\/p>\n<p>So you just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/why-every-leeds-business-needs-professional-headshot-photography\/\" title=\"Why Every Leeds Business Needs Professional Headshot Photography\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">need headshots<\/a> of everyone, or how about some action shots of them working &#8211; or each doing a presentation, or all standing around a table looking at some designs or&#8230;.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Get the idea&#8230; have a little brainstorm to get the creative juices flowing, and collect photos in a folder if you can. Get a mental picture BEFORE you start, this will guide the process<\/p>\n<h3>2 &#8211; Check Photographers You Know First&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4819\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_9021.jpg\" alt=\"_MG_9021\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_9021.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_9021-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>See if they&#8217;ve done the kind of thing you need, and the quality and &#8220;style&#8221; is what you want. You&#8217;ll know the style if you&#8217;ve done step 1!<\/p>\n<p>If they have, meet for a coffee &#8211; have a catch-up &#8211; chat about the project, that&#8217;s probably all you need to do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>3 &#8211; Ask for Recommendations<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_9050.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4820\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_9050.jpg\" alt=\"_MG_9050\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_9050.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_9050-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<p>Asking on Linked IN&nbsp; is the usual route but <span style=\"color: #800000\"><strong>be specific on what you need or you will be flooded with hundreds of photographers, many of whom are not what you need!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Some things to clarify when you ask for a recommendation&#8230;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Is it a people shoot or products? <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Is it an event? &nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Is it for press or marketing?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Do you need some property shots? <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Are you photographing food or drinks? <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The more specific, the better the recommendations will be &#8211; no point getting a specialist studio photographer to shoot a building site!&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You can go the GOOGLE route too &#8211; just remember that the page rank is based on their SEO, not the quality of their work&#8230; dig deep AND get specific on your keyword search. For example &#8211; &#8220;Leeds Photographer&#8221; will get you hundreds of wedding photographers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>4 &#8211; Check Portfolios<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11523\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/portfolio.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2531\" height=\"1204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/portfolio.jpg 2531w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/portfolio-300x143.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/portfolio-1024x487.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/portfolio-1536x731.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/portfolio-2048x974.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2531px) 100vw, 2531px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We make it easy for you with our website &#8211; it&#8217;s a shop window which usually tells you what you need to know about what they shoot and how they make things look &#8211; their style.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So pick through the LINKED IN recommendations and check out their portfolios to make a shortlist.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t just go on recommendation alone. That obviously counts &#8211; a lot &#8211; but if their <strong>style<\/strong> is wrong for your needs, you&#8217;re not going to get the right images.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>5 &#8211; Ask for More Examples of Their Work<\/h3>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve found photographers with a &#8220;style&#8221; you like, and they&#8217;ve been recommended to you &#8211; you&#8217;re nearly there.&nbsp; Take the time to review their portfolios to ensure their aesthetic aligns with your vision. An initial consultation can help you discuss your ideas and get a better sense of their approach, ultimately reinforcing your decision to invest in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/hiring-a-photographer-7-things-youre-really-buying\/ \/\">hiring a professional photographer<\/a>. This investment can make a significant difference in capturing the essence of your moments beautifully. Additionally, it&#8217;s important to ask about their experience with the specific type of event or session you are planning. By understanding the nuances of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/hiring-a-photographer-7-things-youre-really-buying-3\/ \/\">hiring a photographer explained<\/a>, you can better appreciate what to expect in terms of creativity, timelines, and deliverables. This thorough approach will also help ensure that the photographer can truly capture your vision in a way that resonates with you.<\/p>\n<p>To choose between a few, maybe ask for some more examples&nbsp;of their work, things related to your project &#8211; a quick intro email asking if they&#8217;ve any similar&nbsp;examples is fine.<\/p>\n<p>This does 2 things:-<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Shows how keen they are &#8211; if they reply with a few shots, they&#8217;ve &#8220;bothered&#8221; to help you out.<\/li>\n<li>Shows depth in their work &#8211; this may be obvious from their website, but reassurance is gained from seeing that they&#8217;ve done many&nbsp;projects, rather than just that one-off on the website!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The exception to this is when they&#8217;ve got a large portfolio to show &#8211; sometimes they&#8217;ve got everything on their site you need to know.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000\">The Trainee Issue&#8230;<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Many people go on courses and workshops to learn about photography, especially wedding photography (or portraits, or whatever really). Here&#8217;s what happens&#8230;.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\">They get to photograph <strong>beautiful models<\/strong> who know how to pose perfectly. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\">They use lighting<strong> set up by the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/yorkshirephotocourses.co.uk\/\" title=\"course\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">course<\/a> trainer<\/strong> &#8211; so everything is balanced and looks perfect. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\">They then edit the photo under the <strong>guidance of the tutor<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\">The resultant photos are usually pretty amazing &#8211; and they should be in those circumstances.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\">They then create a <strong>website<\/strong> and fill it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/whalley-in-deep-water\/\" title=\"Whalley in Deep Water \u2013 Flood Photos in Full Force\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">full of photos<\/a><strong> from that day.<\/strong>&#8230;&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000\">The Issue&#8230;.<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The &#8220;<strong>issue<\/strong>&#8221; is that these are shot in perfect conditions with expert guidance.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">There was no time pressure, annoying guests, crying brides or&nbsp; vicars who don&#8217;t like photographers. The true test is to see their photos from real weddings&#8230; where there is no one to hold hands, set up lighting, organise the guests, photoshop the files etc.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So be aware of these types of photographer &#8211; everyone has to start somewhere of course, but maybe you don&#8217;t want them starting with your wedding!<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000\">How to spot sites like this&#8230;<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">It&#8217;s easy really &#8211; just go through all the pages and see how many different brides and grooms you can see. Also, these courses will not usually have &#8220;families&#8221; to photograph &#8211; so if all the photos are just the couple, it&#8217;s probably from a course.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Asking to see &#8220;more of their work&#8221; is, therefore, a great thing to do &#8211; you can then see how they perform in reality&#8230;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">It may be that they&#8217;ve not had time to update their website, so it looks like they&#8217;ve never shot a real wedding, when in reality they&#8217;ve done dozens and are fantastic!&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>6 &#8211; Meet Up for a Coffee<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_5988.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4821\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_5988.jpg\" alt=\"_MG_5988\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_5988.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_5988-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Finally, ask to meet for a coffee if possible. A face-to-face or ZOOM meeting is the best way to find out if you &#8220;hit it off&#8221; &#8211; rapport is hugely important in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/tips-for-capturing-authentic-headshots\/\">people photography<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>After an hour or so you can see how things develop and usually check out more photos with them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1>Phew!<\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4822\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_0514.jpg\" alt=\"_MG_0514\" width=\"469\" height=\"736\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_0514.jpg 469w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MG_0514-191x300.jpg 191w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 469px) 100vw, 469px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After all that, you&#8217;ve probably found&nbsp;a photographer who can do the job you want!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Choosing the right Photographer For Your Project Let&#8217;s help you with a few simple steps:- 1 &#8211; Think about what you NEED It&#8217;s worth having a think about the purpose of the photos before you start. Go online and check out your competition&#8217;s websites, see what they are doing &#8211; or people in California doing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_22977785_22977785":"","facebook_10157410341118549_123005067715685":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,21,17,264,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-commercial","category-musings","category-pr-shoot","category-tips"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/353-adam-croft-ukraine-it-management.jpg",1000,667,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/353-adam-croft-ukraine-it-management-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/353-adam-croft-ukraine-it-management-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/353-adam-croft-ukraine-it-management.jpg",1000,667,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/353-adam-croft-ukraine-it-management.jpg",1000,667,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/353-adam-croft-ukraine-it-management.jpg",1000,667,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/353-adam-croft-ukraine-it-management.jpg",1000,667,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"McFade","author_link":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/author\/admin"},"uagb_comment_info":2,"uagb_excerpt":"Choosing the right Photographer For Your Project Let&#8217;s help you with a few simple steps:- 1 &#8211; Think about what you NEED It&#8217;s worth having a think about the purpose of the photos before you start. Go online and check out your competition&#8217;s websites, see what they are doing &#8211; or people in California doing&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4801"}],"version-history":[{"count":57,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163917,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4801\/revisions\/163917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}