I am a client and have a question regarding professionalism of a photographer

[e.rose]

Well, I do agree that to us her portfolio says all we need to know, but imagine for a second you knew nothing about portraiture. Basically, be me for a second. If you have no idea what you're really looking at in fine detail as you do (E.Rose, you being a pretty impressive portrait artist yourself), then her work might look just fine. Like I said, take it as someone who has no idea what they're looking at.

There was a time that I had no idea what I was looking at. I wasn't *always* a photographer.

And I have friends who don't anything fancier than an iPhone camera and they can tell the difference between a shoot and burner and a seasoned pro.

Sure, there's a certain level where it gets harder to distinguish, unless you really know what you're looking at, but really... you can tell when it's someone bad vs. someone good.

Although... you're not wrong... there ARE some people who are just SIMPLY amazing and LITERALLY CANNOT TELL the difference between an "You Are Not A Photographer .Com" worthy entry or a Vogue submission.

I call them "photo blind".

Their like tone deaf people who don't know when they or someone else is off key... but for visual art.

 

[photoguy99]

The only relevant indicator is the lack of a contract.

Who cares about white balance and lighting? If you like someone's work, the fact that they make it all yellow and put the lights in non-TPF-approved locations is irrelevant. Pricing is also pretty much irrelevant, being wildly variable depending on an endless array of factors, not all of them knowable.

The lack of a contract is a bit of a red flag, though. There's no way around that.

 

[minicoop1985]

Well, I do agree that to us her portfolio says all we need to know, but imagine for a second you knew nothing about portraiture. Basically, be me for a second. If you have no idea what you're really looking at in fine detail as you do (E.Rose, you being a pretty impressive portrait artist yourself), then her work might look just fine. Like I said, take it as someone who has no idea what they're looking at.

There was a time that I had no idea what I was looking at. I wasn't *always* a photographer.

And I have friends who don't anything fancier than an iPhone camera and they can tell the difference between a shoot and burner and a seasoned pro.

Sure, there's a certain level where it gets harder to distinguish, unless you really know what you're looking at, but really... you can tell when it's someone bad vs. someone good.

Although... you're not wrong... there ARE some people who are just SIMPLY amazing and LITERALLY CANNOT TELL the difference between an "You Are Not A Photographer .Com" worthy entry or a Vogue submission.

I call them "photo blind".

Their like tone deaf people who don't know when they or someone else is off key... but for visual art.

It's a lot easier to be wrong about it when you're not directly comparing it to other work. If you put her profile directly next to, say, my future boss (I hope...), in separate tabs, it's blatantly obvious who the real seasoned pro is, but looking at just one or two profiles here and there, it's a bit more difficult. Unless you're like us, then we know what a decent looking portrait is. Like @binga63 's work.

 

[Red1012]

I obviously have a lot to learn in the photography world!

I love how willing everyone here was to give me an outsiders view and give me some tips on what to look for in the future. I also know I will not ever do any sort of business without a contract and will most definitely doing much needed digging in to a portfolio before making any decisions in the future.

 

[minicoop1985]

And there must be a ton of those photo blind people, because YouAreNotAPhotographer . com exists.

 

[astroNikon]

FWIW, the OP's first indicators were she didn't get pics of the child with the "ireland" booties and full body shots that she said were important to her. OP didn't mention Out Of Focus or lighting issues, etc. which would have required some experience to identify.

Of course her child falling off of the suitcase ?? would aggravate anyone!! and the other parent not being allowed in .. etc etc etc

OP did the best thing for the situation.

Real photographers are somewhat expensive but provide astonishing results with a full studio, or portable studio. But there are also bad expensive photographers too and good cheap photographers.

Thus why you have to carefully look at one's portfolio.
Or just come here and ask for recommendations.

 

[e.rose]

It's a lot easier to be wrong about it when you're not directly comparing it to other work. If you put her profile directly next to, say, my future boss (I hope...), in separate tabs, it's blatantly obvious who the real seasoned pro is, but looking at just one or two profiles here and there, it's a bit more difficult. Unless you're like us, then we know what a decent looking portrait is. Like @binga63 's work.

Eh, I'd refute that. Again, I wasn't always a photographer... photography wasn't even always on my radar... I was a recording engineer... but I didn't have to put images side by side to know what was good and what was bad.

Again, once you hit, "that photographer is decent" stage... it can start to get difficult for people to distinguish between a decent photographer, a good photographer, a great photographer and an "OH MY GOD TAKE MY MONEY NOW, MY HOUSE, MY CAR, AND MY FIRST BORN SON, JUST TAKE MY PHOTO NOW PLEAAAAAASE!" photographer... but it's usually fairly obvious who the *bad* ones are.

And there must be a ton of those photo blind people, because YouAreNotAPhotographer . com exists.

There are also a lot of tone deaf people, because America Idol starts off with hundreds of terrible, terrible singers every season, just for the sake of entertainment during the audition rounds.

But they're not the majority. Not everyone is a great singer, but most people care carry a tune and match pitch for the most part.

 

[e.rose]

Or just come here and ask for recommendations.

And even THEN you have to be careful.

 

[e.rose]

SIDE NOTE: MY KEYBOARD WON'T STOP AUTO CORRECTING THE "" SHORTCUT INTO THE WORDS "SEXY WINK" AND IT MAKES ME SEEM CREEPY.

 

[tirediron]

SIDE NOTE: MY KEYBOARD WON'T STOP AUTO CORRECTING THE "" SHORTCUT INTO THE WORDS "SEXY WINK" AND IT MAKES ME SEEM CREEPY.

You are creepy!

(But in a good way)

 

[e.rose]

SIDE NOTE: MY KEYBOARD WON'T STOP AUTO CORRECTING THE "" SHORTCUT INTO THE WORDS "SEXY WINK" AND IT MAKES ME SEEM CREEPY.

You are creepy!

(But in a good way)

 

[astroNikon]

SIDE NOTE: MY KEYBOARD WON'T STOP AUTO CORRECTING THE "" SHORTCUT INTO THE WORDS "SEXY WINK" AND IT MAKES ME SEEM CREEPY.

You are creepy!

(But in a good way)

but we still love her .. creepily love her though ...

 

[e.rose]

SIDE NOTE: MY KEYBOARD WON'T STOP AUTO CORRECTING THE "" SHORTCUT INTO THE WORDS "SEXY WINK" AND IT MAKES ME SEEM CREEPY.

You are creepy!

(But in a good way)

but we still love her .. creepily love her though ...

I mean, that's the only kind of love I can comprehend, sooooooo...

 

[gsgary]

If 2 sessions cost you $150 I think you got what you paid for

 

[gsgary]

Shannon Deweerd Photography - wdm - Photographer, Wedding Planning | Facebook

Did you look at these before booking her ? Because it looks like she has had a camera 15 minutes not 15 years