Do I Really Need to Hire a Professional Photographer?

People often seem reluctant to hire creative professionals, whether photographers or otherwise. So, sometimes I’m asked things like “is it really worth the money?”. Well, if you’re reading this article, you’re not likely to be surprised by my answer, but what may surprise you is my reasons for “why”.

People frequently seem shocked by the cost of photography, and it’s the primary reason why they don’t want to hire a photographer for their event (or whatever they need pictures of). So, let’s first address this oft-asked question: why is photography so expensive?

It’s expensive for the same reason any contract-based work is expensive. Someone who is self-employed and doesn’t have the assurance of steady wages from a traditional job needs to ensure that their expenses are covered during slower months. Furthermore, for every hour you see them with a camera snapping photos, there are a dozen or more spent editing photos, keeping track of budget and finances, advertising their services, and just doing other minutiae required to keep a business running. You also aren’t just paying them for their time spent behind the camera, but also for the years of expertise they’ve acquired through years of practice and honing their craft.

Ok, so now you know why it’s expensive, but why should you be bothered to pay it?

Well, would you buy a cheap car that’s covered in rust and unlikely to pass inspection? Would you buy a mysteriously low-priced item from a shady Chinese website and just assume you’re getting a great deal? (I’m actually not being hyperbolic here; this is a real thing that happens)

No?

Well, then why would you just have a random intern snap photos on their smartphone if you need to use those photos for promotional materials or something else that will be highly visible to your audience/ customers? It really is as simple as the “you get what you pay for” principle. That’s not to say that there aren’t overpriced photographers out there, but most of them just want to make an honest living and aren’t looking to scam you out of your hard-earned money.

If you’ll allow me to be vulnerable for a moment, I’d like to share with you a bit of my own journey with photography. You see, I’ve been intrigued by the art of photography for a long time, and as a kid, I used to marvel at the gorgeous photos I saw from professionals. I often wondered how it was possible for them to look as clean yet also epic as they did. My few, brief experiments with my parents’ camera had not turned out especially well.

So, when I was a teenager, my parents bought me a digital camera for Christmas. It was nothing spectacular, but this was back in the day when cell phone cameras were atrocious by comparison, so I was still pretty excited about it. Below is an example of one of the photos I snapped while hanging out with some high-school friends:

I took this shot YEARS ago on a digital camera I got for Christmas as a teenager.

So… there’s plenty that could be said about this picture. It’s blurry. It’s backlit so the subjects are much too dark. It’s poorly composed. One of the guys who’s supposed to be the “subject” isn’t even looking at the camera, etc. And, yes, some of the poor qualities of this picture can certainly be attributed to the low-quality camera I was using, but many of these issues are just rookie mistakes for which an experienced photographer would know how to compensate.

Now, by contrast, here’s a picture I shot of my wife and daughter using a much higher-quality camera (though still pretty affordable by camera standards) that I took after a few years of practice and more seriously studying the art of photography:

My Wife and Daughter

I took this one many years later, with much more practice and experience under my belt.

I don’t think anyone could argue the difference in quality between the two. The quality of the second picture cannot be attributed solely to the camera; it took me lots of practice, and screwing up a bunch of times before I learned how to get it right.

On top of all this, I’m not a “photographer” by profession, strictly speaking. Yes, I do photography for clients from time to time, but it’s not what I consider my specialty. Now, imagine someone who has dedicated their life to this profession, has shelves lined with specialized equipment, and has the experience to know how to get the perect shot every time. These are the kinds of photographers that make even me look like an amatuer by comparison, and I’m comfortable admitting that, because I’m a video creator first, and a photgrapher second.

So, what chance do you stand with your mediocre smartphone camera?

“But my iPhone takes really good photos!”

Ok, maybe it does a decent job when snapping a selfie or posting a picture of your dessert to Instagram, but what if you need to shoot from farther away? What if you need to adjust the white balance when shooting under fluorescent light? What if you need to manually control the depth-of-field so that a particular part of the frame is in focus but not another? Most newer smartphones actually do have some degree of control over these settings, but do you even know how to access them? Even if you do, chances are you’re not going to get comparable results to a professional photographer because you haven’t practiced this very much.

At this point, you’re probably wondering where to draw the line. What sorts of things are worth spending the money for a professional photographer?

Here’s a rule I would go by: if customers or someone outside your organization is going to see it, it would be better to have it done by a professional. There’s a time and a place for images shot on a cell phone, particularly if you intend to post the image on social media with a more casual feel to it. But if it’s going out in print or will appear in an ad somewhere, just spend the money and hire a professional.

Bear in mind, that you’ll have those photos basically forever. The content of the pictures might go out of date, but digital pictures don’t expire or require maintenance like most physical assets would. If you plan carefully, you should be able to get multiple uses out of a good session from a professional.

So, do you really need to hire a professional photographer? Probably, yes.

“Ok, but what if the money just isn’t there?”

A fair question.

Well, we plan to cover “How to Take Photos That Don’t Suck” in our next post, so stay tuned if you’re looking for pointers! There are more economical options available, though they might require a little more effort and intentionality on your part. Using something like a smartphone is going to limit what you’ll be able to do, but it’s certainly better than nothing. If you can’t get your own photos easily, there’s always the option of going on a stock photo website and purchasing a few from there instead. We’ll get into this much deeper next week, but you get the point.

So, you don’t have to hire a professional, but much like trying to fix your own plumbing, things can go pretty wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing. We all have to swallow our pride and call the plumber now and then, so perhaps we could save ourselves a little headache if we apply that same logic to photography!

Cover Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash