Why Hire A Professional Photographer?

Let's be real...with the advent of the smartphone, everyone is a photographer.  And the cameras on these phones are good--real good in fact.  The ability to snap that selfie or grab a pic of a birthday surprise on a moment's notice cannot be replaced. But it's led us to believe that the difference between anyone with a smartphone and a pro photographer has gotten shorter, which simply isn't true.  To see what I mean, search Google for pro photographers using smartphones, and you'll see absolutely stunning results.  But even those results are limited by the hardware of the smartphone, so combining a professional camera with a professional photographer is where real magic ensues.

Our phones have become our day to day chronicles.  They capture the micro events as we move through our lives.  But looking back on major turning points in my life, I regret those moments that I didn't invest in the significance of those events.  Oh I have pictures--but rarely did the person taking the photo have sufficient understanding of the technology in their hand to control for exposure, resolution, focus, angle, depth of field, lighting, background or composition.  And now I'm a photographer who looks back at 20 years and 20,000 smartphone photos, with little to truly account for the magnitude of my personal journey.

So why should you hire me, or any other professional photographer for that matter?

Photography is art.  Your photographer doesn't just shoot pictures, they bring ideas and vision to your event.  They've studied art, sculpture, architecture, color...and they've studied other photographers.  And they bring all this combined with personal experience to create something special with you.

Photography is technical.  Assessing the environment, the light, the contrast of a location--and configuring a high-end camera to function optimally for that specific combination of elements is a special talent.  Photographers will often bring additional lighting, reflectors and other gear to better take advantage of an environment, while filling in where the natural environment might be lacking.  And your photographer will likely be skilled in the necessary post-processing of images to enrich colors, enhance lighting, and even remove unwanted elements or blemishes from the photo if that's necessary.

Photography is something to experience.  It's more than lifting your smartphone and touching a screen.  It's a time to reflect on you, on who you are, who you've become, and where you're going.  You deserve it.