Choosing the right commercial photographer for your business’s image can be challenging. The fact that posts with images produce 650% higher engagement as compared to text-only posts proves that visual content is amongst the most valuable assets a brand can have. Due to the popularity of social media as well as the rise in smartphones, the sales and marketing industry has completely transformed.
Since visual content having photographs is an effective strategy to gain the attention of customers, hiring a commercial photographer has become imperative. Excellent photography would grab the customer’s attention and keep them engaged. Moreover, it makes your brand appear more professional and reliable. If you want to hire for commercial photography In Toronto, Canada, there are several factors that you have to consider, which are mentioned below.
#1 Know Your Needs
The first thing to know before hiring a commercial photographer is to evaluate your needs. Whether you would the images for your website, a print campaign, social media handles, or extensive advertising plays an important role. This is because you may want to obtain emotionally compelling pictures for your social media campaign but highly professional ones for advertisement purposes.
You may even want creative images for your campaign that stand out and capture the customer’s attention within no time. This will increase the chances of the customers investing in your products or services. When you are clear with what you want, you can discuss that with the photographer who would quote the price accordingly.
A photographer is not a wizard who would automatically understand your needs. You have to provide them with details about your brand like styling, theme, typography, color schemes, your target audience, your competitors, etc.
#2 Photography Pricing
You might have hired photographers for portrait, family, or wedding photography. In these cases, the photographer would take the pictures and give you a copy of them in print and digital form. But business photography is a lot different because there are different needs and expectations.
If you want to obtain pictures of your new real estate project, a lot of labor and time would go into them. Thus, the charges may be higher. In the case of headshots, the pricing could be lesser. How much would the photographer charge depend on travel, editing, wardrobe planning, studio work, time, and other services? Unlike wedding photography where the rates are fixed, commercial photographers can ask for any rate depending on the project.
If you want to save money, you can consider arranging the models, décor, makeup artists, hairstylists, etc. from within your circle. When you ask the photographer to make all these arrangements, they would charge extra for these services.
#3 Photographer’s Knowledge
You may not have sufficient knowledge about photography and if you are hiring someone you have not worked with, it can be a risk. Maybe the photographer does not have ample experience and knowledge about the kind of photography you wish them to do. Before hiring the photographer, ask the following questions to see their confidence, expertise, and comfort while answering them.
- How do you edit pictures? Do you have a specific editing style/filter?
- How many photoshoots have you done?
- Do you have experience in the type of photography I am looking for?
- How do you manage the lighting situation in outdoor and indoor situations?
- How do you plan to proceed with this project?
- Would you mind sharing some ideas?
If the photographer answers these questions with ease, they have the required knowledge and expertise. You may consider hiring them. Asking them the above-mentioned questions is important because many people are calling themselves photographers who use Photoshop more than they use their camera.
#4 Favorable Reviews
Check online for ratings and reviews if you are going topho work with the photographer for the first time. Stalk their social media handles to understand whether their clients are happy with their services or not. You should also stalk the clients’ websites and social media pages to find more pictures. A photographer will include only selected images in their pages, which would be the best ones from their work. But if you dig more, you can look at more photographs clicked by them and make sure your investment does not go waste.
#5 Post-Production Details
You should know about how many pictures (raw and edited) you would get from the shoot. You must also know about the resolution of those photos as well as about the photo rights. Then, ask the photographer when they would deliver the pictures after editing them. You can also ask if you can use the pictures for other projects as well.
Conclusion
In the current times, a business is driven by how it advertises offline and online. Commercial photography plays a crucial role in that and this is why you should know you are working with the right photographer.
