WHY YOU HIRE A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER

ISN’T IT MUCH CHEAPER AND EASIER TO USE YOUR PHONE AND SOME OF THAT AI STUFF?

So here’s the cruel irony. Even though I know I possess the kind of staggering youthful good looks that make people catch their breath and drop their falafel when they meet me in real life, on camera I look like a laboratory experiment where the mad scientist has injected the DNA of Brendan Gleason and Charles Manson into a old potato 

And being self-conscious - oh my crooked smile, oh my seventy-eight chins - means I forget that my delicious eyes are like limpid emerald pools you could drown in,  and I project discomfort - In short, I don’t  pose well. Maybe you do.  Millions of others dont.  And some of them work for you. 

This then is just part of what you invest in when you hire a photographer.  Because despite the indigestible white bread of millions of pouting, gurning selfies constipating the engorged colon that is social media , guess what? Millions of us absolutely hate having our photos taken and either play the fool or call in sick . 

Personally I’m not fanatical in my discomfort . I just don’t like how I look. But there are more people than you can imagine who suffer appalling anxiety when faced with the prospect of having to submit to the mandatory company  photo. I’ve listened to hearbreaking tales of employees who have literally not slept the night before the company headshot session.

It’s easy to be dismissive or insensitive about this, but the truth is, discomfort shines through. And seriously what would you do if you were trying to get a happy shot of your Head of IT to promote your company, only to find your best DIY effort had her scowling at your phone camera like a serial killer just informed that her victim will not be giving her the lotion.

Imagine; Good photographers, like good anything, are not cheap.  

Picture this (pun intended) :  you’ve decided to save money on headshots and get a beginner in, or maybe shoot it on your phone and send off to an “AI studio” 

Not only do you discover your newbie affordable photographer only has the kind of kit lens you’d expect to see falling out of a Christmas cracker,  but you also find your phone doesn’t actually come bundled with a three-point lighting kit.  

Cos here’s the thing, the big thing - some people need careful direction in front of the camera

When you hire a professional photographer, they dont just set up lights and press a button and pray everything is in focus.  It is part of their job to make the most uncomfortable anxious person in the company look at ease, relaxed and smiling, through converstion, gentle direction, reassurance, people skills honed over years of experience. 

Of course you may well want your company profile photos to have the “terrorist caught eating a sandwich while on the toilet” look of a passport photo 

Or the “yes I am his father and no I’m not pregnant, it’s this shirt and yes it does look a bit like the 90s but it was actually this year” look of graduation photos 

Then fill your boots and hire a newbie. You might think heavily pixilated and angry is the totally on brand way to present your staff to the public - knock yourself out with that i-phone and Jennifer from accounts’ photoshop skilz 

Otherwise, save yourself the pain and expense of having to go through the process twice, and hire a professional.