Stricker Family - Scottsdale, AZ Family Photographer

How to Select a Photographer - Phoenix AZ Family Photographer

In this day and age where everyone seems to own a DSLR and calls themselves a photographer how can you pick someone that knows what they are doing? A professional. I thought I would write a series on tips for those who value photography and want to know how to pick the right photographer. Why do some photographers charge more than others? Well, why does a Lexus cost more than a Kia? Quality, luxury, reliability, performance, and comfort are just some of the reasons. Just like with cars there is a wide array of photographers, from amateur to professional photographer, but just because someone calls themselves a professional photographer does not mean they are a professional.

So tip number ONE is to look at their work! Many photographers have websites, Facebook Pages and blogs. These are great places to look through their previous work. Photographers like to display their best work on these sites and it will also give you a feel for their style as a photographer. Make sure the style of their work matches your style and vision for your photographs.

Tip number TWO, and maybe it should be number one, make sure their images are sharp! It amazes me how many people pay "professional photographers" and they don't get sharp images. This comes with skill. Sure we all get blurred images at times, but I would never sell them to my clients. Here's an example from one of my recent shoots. Sometimes focusing on newborn's eyes is tricky because there's not a lot of contrast. Both pictures have gone through my sharpening process. The top picture is soft, the bottom picture is sharp and the eyes are in focus.






Tip number THREE. Although being able to take great pictures is a must you also want a photographer that is dependable. I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me other photographers have cancelled on them multiple times or they are hard to get a hold of. Service is important. Getting your pictures in a timely manner is important. We usually take our official family pictures at least once or twice a year. I'm just as excited as my clients to see how they turned out, share with family and friends, and hang them in our home. Most photographers will have your pictures done within 2-3 weeks (not including weddings). So don't undermine dependability and great service or you might get stuck with a bad experience.

I hope this is helpful, I'd loooove to hear your feedback. Let me know what you think. If you have an opinion on what you look for in a photographer I'd like to hear that as well. I'll write some more tips over the next couple of weeks.

Smith Family - Tempe, AZ Family Photographer

Had so much at this family photo session. Besides Laura being a friend of mind and knowing her children they were so awesome and didn't make me run around after them. Which I usually do with little kids. :) Here are some of my favorite pictures of their family...

Tempe AZ Family Photographer

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about how I had gone to downtown Tempe scouting locations. Before I showed up at the session I had a vision on what we were going to do. But as we started walking I spotted a location that I hadn't seen. So half of what I had planned for our session went out the window. But sometimes you just have to go where the inspiration takes you. Here are some of the pictures...







I normally prefer photos as they are and not overly processed. I think this is a timeless look and won't ever go out of style. But as I processed this image and I felt like it called for a vintage look. Something sweet and I'm loving how it turned out.

Tempe Town Lake - Tempe AZ Family Photographer

Today I went scouting in downtown Tempe for ideas on future photo sessions. I did this last year, but it's always nice to look at things from a different perspective. My friend Amy and I both have sessions scheduled there soon so we loaded up the gang and headed to downtown Tempe. We spent most of the afternoon chasing after our kids, laughing and brainstorming.

Here are the boys burning up some energy...
Spencer said "Mom, mom look at me, take a picture"


Spencer is about to lose his front bottom tooth, so this will probably be one of his last pictures with his baby smile! The tooth is even to the side... that's how loose it is! Makes me sooo sad.
More running around...

"Mom look at me, see what I can do? Take a picture"
Scary face... Ok, I'm starting to see this quickly becoming a Spencer photo session. ha!
We ended up at the beach, yes there's a beach in downtown Tempe. Not big, probably about 100 feet long, but a beach nonetheless. Here's Amy taking a pic of her little girl.
I should post some pictures from our last adventure scouting out places. It seems that we always end up by a body of water with my boys soaked, naked, and cold! This was just the beginning. I reminded them how cold they were last time, but of course they didn't listen. Thankfully, I found extra clothes in our car to have them change in to.
Ashley wanted to get in so bad, she even took off her diaper because she saw her brothers' getting undressed.
"Not too bad..."
"Maybe if we raise our pants this time we won't be cold..."
About 20 minutes after they started playing in the water we noticed a dead fish. Yuck! It must have been there for a while because brave Amy tried to move it and she was grossed out that it felt hollow. I was just grossed out to see it. lol
Until our next adventure!