Thought Studio Portrait Photography Was As Safe As A House? Think Again

By Author: Sally Jones
Total Articles: 2
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Studio portrait photography is good, great in fact if you found the right photographer. But the catch is – there are tons of crap out there and very few good photographers who understand studio portrait photography well enough to actually do something great behind their lenses. It is no longer safe to walk into any photography studio to get your portrait made because you might be walking into a money guzzling bog! So how do you know whether the photographer of your choice is truly worth your money and time, after all you are not an expert at portrait photography and there are many things about the trade that you can hardly understand in a day or even a week’s time! Not to despair when we are here. OK, that might have sounded corny, but guess what, we believe what we are about to say will definitely help you. So, let’s begin.

Crap, Crap and More Crap: Pardon my French, but the bulk of studio portrait photography is full of low quality crap that you need to keep away from. If the professional photographer does not have enough good things to show then probably they do not have anything to show, which is a bad thing. ...
... The usual lot will throw open albums at your knees and show what they have accomplished so far, while others will start slideshows and zoom in to the umpteenth pixel to impress you with the details. But, if it does not look good at first sight, it’s probably not good. Now there are big challenges of clicking outstanding images inside a studio, so you must be patient because photographers are human and you cannot expect them to be consistently perfect all the time. Give him a few chances, if everything seems similar; say ‘thank you’ and walk away.

Full of Imagination But Little on Film

Great photographs come from lenses of people who can imagine scenes through their viewfinders. That is a rare skill or perhaps we can call it an endowment given the exceptional rarity of it. But on the flipside, too much imagination shoves the thinker into darkness of inaction. They tend to live in their utopian cocoons of perfection and do very little to test out their fantasies, and when they do, they encounter real life challenges.

It’s not personal, but I cannot see why the great abstract painters labour so much only to create something so cryptic that one cannot decipher the intent unless the painter takes the pain of explaining his canvas! May be I am dumb or perhaps my professional wedding photographer requires me to be more realistic, but I think a good photographer is one who takes his theories to the field and tests them out. If the results are too complicated, like bordering-on-abstract complicated, then the photographer must simplify it down for simpletons like me! This applies strictly to professionals of studio portrait photography.

‘Stuck to The Mould’ Techniques

Just when you were beginning to think of me as a stereotypical old-fashioned portraits photographer, let me tell you that I love experimenting with my techniques. Extensive day dreaming with little action appals me as much as getting stuck to the mould.

Speaking about moulded techniques, you will notice some when sift through dozens of images on the sample album and get bored despite cheery faces and bright colours. Change is necessary in everything and photography is no exception. Every image should be unique in itself and intriguing to keep you riveted to your seat. Your fingers should flip the pages of the album on its own without you having to think about it, if you find yourself pushing to flip though pages, you are wasting your time and giving the poor photographer false hopes.

Now that we know how unsafe studio portrait photography has become, we hope you will proceed with care in the future while dealing with photographers.