Donna Shoots

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Four Things Your Photographer Wants You to Know

Trust us

There is a reason you hired us. You’ve liked our work, or a friend recommended you.

If we are good enough for you to hire, then please trust us to tell your story.

While Instagram screenshots, and Pinterest are great for inspiration they aren’t YOUR story.  Trust us enough to see, hear, and feel the magic you bring to tell your unique story. We don’t want to duplicate someone else’s magic. We want to showcase yours.

We also need time to tell your story. Typically a photographer will give you a time frame based on how long it will take to capture your story. If we tell you your session can take up to an hour you need to plan for that. Some stories cannot simply be told in four clicks and five minutes. Trust the process.

 

Lighting is everythannnnng

 

If you decided to do an outdoor location that is fine. If we tell you well during this time of the year shooting at this time isn’t ideal, then trust us. We know. As photographers it's our business to study light, and how it moves throughout the day.  So if we tell you that high noon on a hilltop isn’t the ideal situation, trust us.

 

Photoshop is not a miracle worker!

 

Yes, it can be a great tool to edit, and add different effects. I really don’t like heavy editing as it's not my style. We all have things we are less than thrilled about with ourselves. Even me. Click here to read about my journey of fear and photography.

“Can you just photoshop that out?” It is not always that simple. Photoshop can be a powerful tool for combining and manipulating images. Only in certain situations with a TON of setup before hand.

 

Exposure doesn’t pay the bills

 

In the past I’ve had some friends ask me to “bring my camera” along because they want me to be their photographer. “It will be really good exposure and you can put it on your website!”

Many of us work out butts off taking classes, and workshops. We spend countless hours honing our craft.

We spend money on equipment, business licenses, etc.

So when you ask for something for free because it will give us “good exposure” you are literally taking food out of our mouths.

You wouldn’t walk into a brick and mortar store and ask for something for free. You shouldn’t do the same with a photographer. You are hiring a person with a certain skill set, training, and experience.