When looking for a photographer. You look at the photos to see what their photographic skills are like. Perhaps you are missing the biggest thing from the photos. What is the personality of the photographer like.
As a former newspaper photographer, I can tell a lot about the photographer from their photos. An enviromental portrait can sometimes tell me about a subject. It will also sometimes tell me a lot more about the photographer. The portrait often tells me what kind of relationship was going on between the subject and the photographer. It was have been a warm relationship, or was there a tension going on.
When you look at a photo do you feel close to that person, or do you feel distant and disconnected. Do you feel the closeness to the moment of the actions, without being intrusive to the moment. A photographer needs to be able to invade that personal space that each of us have, without being intrusive.
When I worked at a newspaper, I had to look at a lot of portfolios of potential photographers. I looked to see what images I liked, and also what images I felt good about. Something that I learned over time it that some of the best photographers have the worst personalities.
At the paper I have hired photographers who not the greatest photographers when they were hired. But they had good attitudes, and they learned to be good photographers. But you can’t teach someone to have a good personality. One time there was the choice to hire a really talented photographer, or a guy who was good at shooting T-Ball games. I suggested that we hire the photographer that was good at photographing little kids playing baseball. He has become an excellent Major League Baseball photographer. This summer he has been contracted to photograph every major league baseball stadium.
The same thing goes for choosing a wedding photographer. Remember that you have to deal with them all day. You will remember your experience with your photographer for a long time.
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