5 Best Traits to Look for in a Photographer

With so many photographers to choose from, it’s important to know what you’re looking for and why. So, what are the five best traits to look for in a photographer?

1. Location
2. Shooting style
3. Editing style
4. Testimonials
5. Personality

These are just a few things you can look at to find the right photographer for you. We will look at each of them in detail below.

1. Location

Location consists of two things: the area the photographer operates in and the type of lighting they shoot in.

First, you should easily be able to find where the photographer works, whether that’s in a specific city or area.

Second, photographers tend to lean towards either studio lighting (indoor pictures) or natural lighting (outdoor pictures). Some will do both, but many tend to lean towards just one.

Here are a few questions to ask when applying location:

• Where do you want your pictures taken?
• Do you prefer the look of outdoor, natural lighting, or the indoor, studio look?
• How far do you want to drive for your session?

2. Shooting style

Shooting style essentially means how the photographer takes pictures. Poses and prompts meet camera angles and lens choice.

Some photographers lean more towards posing and classical pictures where you look at the camera. Others lean more towards candid prompting, where they will give an activity for you to do. Many tend to be a mix of both.

Lens choice heavily impacts this. To capture more movement or landscape, a wide angle lens is often used. To capture more close-up pictures and to compress the background more (where the background will look closer to the subject), a portrait lens tends to be used.

Different lenses are used for many different things, but a photographer’s shooting style will be consistent in their portfolio. Photographers will also vary in the light they shoot in (whether that is direct or indirect sunlight, studio lighting, etc.) and they tend to lean more towards one style.

Also, it’s very important to note what your photographer specializes in shooting: portraits, weddings, events, etc.

Some photographers have more than one niche, but if you find one that is exclusively a portrait photographer, they will most likely not shoot an event. The same goes for shooting in certain lighting scenarios.

Here are a few questions to ask when thinking about shooting styles:

• Do you like the overall look of the photographer’s portfolio?
• Is it professional and high quality?
• Are the angles and perspective of their images something you would like for your own pictures?
• Do you want your location background to be mostly blurred or in-focus?
• Does this photographer follow a lot of shooting trends?
• Do you like pictures with more haze/sun flares or more contrast?

3. Editing style

Editing style might sound similar to shooting style, but while it ties in with shooting style, this deals more with the post-processing.

Editing involves the color grading, cropping, and any retouching done.

The shades, lightness, and saturation of the colors are a big part of a photographer’s editing style (along with the colors clients wear and the shooting location).

Photographers also adjust lighting, sharpness, crop, and many other things to reflect their style.

Retouching consists of removing acne, bruises/scratches, whitening teeth, fixing crazy flyaway hairs, and even removing distractions from the background. Some photographers do lots of retouching, while others don’t.

All these things work together to define the photographer’s editing style and creates the overall feel of the photographer’s portfolio.

Here are a few questions to ask when looking at editing styles:

• Do you like the brightness, colors, and overall feel of the images in their portfolio?
• Are their pictures light and airy or dark and moody?
• Do the colors pop or are they muted?
• Do you like how warm or cool their pictures are?
• Is their cropping intentional and pleasing to your eye?
• How much retouching would you like done on your pictures?

4. Testimonials

Testimonials give credibility to the photographer.

They also let you know how clients felt about the photographer and their experience during their time with them (during the session and outside of it).

5. Personality

Personality is often overlooked when searching for a photographer, but it’s significant for many reasons. You are going to be spending a lot of time with your photographer and communicating with them.

From emails and texts to the session itself, finding a photographer who will feel like a friend is one of the best things you can do because you will want to be yourself around them.

Whether you are comfortable or uncomfortable around your photographer will reflect in your pictures. This is especially important for families, as you will want to find someone your kids will feel comfortable and safe around.

Here are a few questions to ask when looking at testimonials and personality:

• Did their other clients love their session and booking process?
• Did they meet or exceed past client expectations?
• What is their personality like?
• Will they respect my time and be professional?
• Is this someone I could be friends with?
• Do I want them influencing me or my children?
• Would I feel comfortable bringing my kids around them?

And that is it! There are so many other characteristics and details to look for in a photographer, but these five are some of the most important. I hope you found this blog helpful!