What to Look for When Selecting a Headshot Photographer
What qualities are most important when searching for and selecting which corporate headshot photographer you should work with? If you said “ability to take good pictures”, yes, you’re right, but that’s only ONE out of FIVE areas you should be looking at, and it’s not even the first one!
Read my post below to find out exactly what you should be looking for and how to evaluate a potential headshot photographer on those qualities…
1. Reliability
When you’re trying to choose from several photographers, reliability is going to be one of the most important factors, even before quality of images. And that’s because you definitely want the photographer to show up on the day of the shoot. Especially when it comes to office headshots. If you’re dedicating a day to the process and are making sure all the necessary employees are on-site that day, you can’t have a photographer that shows up late, doesn’t communicate well, or cannot be relied upon to run things smoothly.
How can you tell if a photographer is reliable? Do they answer emails or calls in a timely manner? Are they proactive in giving you information? If you have to hunt them down, are waiting too long for an answer, or it feels like pulling teeth any time you need an answer from them.. then you should probably go with someone else, no matter how good the work is.
2. Professionalism
If you’re an executive or work in a professional office setting, the photographer you hire should seamlessly fit into the surroundings. Even though setting up an on-site Studio is a labor intensive process which involves carrying equipment and installing lights on heavy stands, the photographer you hire should dress neatly, carry themselves in a professional manner, and most of all, be polite to everyone they work with. And this is important! The experience is what sets the professional apart from the amateur.. and if you’re paying money for a service, you should get service that’s actually good.
How do you know if a photographer is a true professional? You can get a really good sense of this through the language they use in their emails, how they sound on the phone, or better yet, during an in-person meeting. This is one of the reasons why I love doing the office walkthrough with a client before the session. It gives us a chance to get to know each other and they can be sure that I will show up professionally dressed (aka, not in yoga pants) and will perform my assignment in an efficient and competent manner.
3. Skill
The quality of photographs is really the third concern.. and that’s because if the first two qualities aren’t there, it’s simply not worth the stress and headache to work with that particular photographer, period. But once you’re sure that the person you’re thinking of hiring is both reliable and professional, you should always make sure you’re getting a high-quality skillset to go along with it.
Some of the things to consider in terms of skill are…
Does the photographer have all the necessary equipment?
Does the photographer know how to USE Studio lights in order to produce a consistent quality result in any setting?
What other skills does the photographer bring to the table that are really useful? This can be things like posing knowledge, retouching, and organization.
Does the photographer have a portfolio of work that demonstrates their skill? And how many images are in that portfolio? It’s not too difficult to select a handful of great shots out of thousands not-so-good ones, so it’s important to make sure you’re seeing enough variety to verify the skill level.
Are there any professional certifications or awards listed on the photographer’s website? Having another source verify the professional quality of the images always helps.
4. Turnaround Time
Organization and timeliness are the next consideration. It’s way too common for the photographer to do the job and then not deliver the images for weeks or months afterwards. If you can’t get a clear answer on when your headshots will be delivered, don’t hire that photographer! I have very clearly stated turnaround times on my website and in all my materials, and that’s because communication and clear expectations are important to me.
5. A Work Guarantee
What happens if you decide on the headshot photographer to hire, they do the work, and in the end, you’re not quite happy with the result? I’ve heard from clients of previous experiences of paying money for headshots and not actually using any of the images because the quality wasn’t on par with their expectations. This doesn’t mean that the photographer they hired was bad, it simply means that things didn’t work out, and that happens! Which is why it’s important to hire a photographer who will stand behind their work. And a guarantee is always good to have. Personally I will either do a complimentary re-shoot or refund all money paid if a client isn’t satisfied with their headshots - and that’s not a problem at all!
Photography has a very low barrier to entry. It really doesn’t take much to buy a camera, build a website, and proclaim yourself a professional photographer for others to hire. And there’s nothing wrong with that! But for some reason many photographers treat their photography business as a hobby and not as a serious job. And when it comes to headshots, professionalism is paramount.
I hope you enjoyed this post with tips on what to look for when hiring a headshot photographer! You can read more about my headshot process here: https://nlalorphotography.com/headshots and please let me know if you have any questions or comments in the box below!
