Most businesses want to look good online, tell their brand story efficiently, maybe they make and sell products or they design buildings and need to show their work.
Every day more and more individuals and brands are spending the money needed to hire a professional photographer.

It comes down to doing your homework. Be clear and be honest with yourself before you spend a cent or a minute with a photographer. This internal but much needed conversation will save you endless frustration later.

Here are four ideas to consider in working with a good photographer:

1. I know what I want. Bring your vision. Bring in your concept, tightly curated images, light and styling preferences. Be specific. Very specific. The more you define it and sketch it out, the more likely you’ll get exactly what you were hoping for.
2. I’m not sure exactly, but I know what it agrees with. Put together a pinterest moodboard. Find examples from other shoots or campaigns, even from other industries. Do you want your images to look like an Apple ad or like a 90s Prada campaign? Don’t tell the photographer what to do, but be really clear what you want to remind people of. Originality isn’t the primary goal of commercial photography, effectiveness is.
3. I’m not a photographer, but I understand state change. Do you want this work to increase trust? Desire? Confidence? Urgency? Most importantly, who’s it for? What’s it for? If you can be really clear about what the work is for, then hire someone you trust and give them the freedom to find a way to cause that change to happen.
4. I’ll know it when I see it. Yeah. Don’t do that. Unless you have a lot of money, a lot of time and an insanely patient photographer. This demand for mind reading is for amateurs.
   

George Kroustallis // Minorstep