FAQ: Photography Questions & Answers
Why should I hire a professional?
A professional photographer will always be punctual and determined. They will arrive before shooting is required and stay until their job is completely finished.
How do I choose the right photographer?
Do a search on Google and create a list of websites/portfolios to look through. Look for work that you admire, so you'll know what type of style you commit to. Narrow your choices down to a few photographers and contact them.
Should I be concerned about price from the start?
Absolutely. But remember, typical photography sessions range in the high hundreds and into the thousands. Just think, when purchasing a home or a vehicle, you look for quality and style first – then you begin to look at price. Your photographer will be held responsible for recording and capturing your most important memories. That's a huge responsibility. Think of hiring your photographer in the same spirit. Look for work that moves you, then begin negotiating price from that point forward.
Will you ask me what my budget is?
Yes. This is not to maximize my profits – far from it, actually. This is to see how much quality work we can offer you. I pride myself on being totally up front about what we can do for your specific budget.
We're finding most wedding/event Photographer's prices starting in the thousands – how does it get so expensive?
Many quality photographer's day rates start at $1,500 while seasoned pros will charge upwards of $5,000 for their services. Photography is a skilled service and professionals will spend many hours working diligently on your shoot. There's preparation, the shooting, editing, retouching and delivery involved.
How can David Martinez Photography offer the quality of a $5,000 dollar shoot (and up) for less then $2,000 dollars?
Here are the reasons why I can give you such great service at much more affordable rates for photography:
- I worked for a company servicing the top 10% of Wedding & Event Photographers (and got a bootcamp education doing so)
- I shoot everything digitally
- I work from a home studio
- I have optimized post production processes
- I don't capitalize on print sales
- I can host amazing online galleries easily and affordably
What are proofs?
Proofs are hard copies that a photographer would give of all shots taken during a session or event. This can be more easily done online with today's technologies (*my preferred and only method).
Do you sell albums?
Though I don't specialize in albums, I can help you get a wonderful coffee table style book which you will enjoy. You get three rounds of revisions and I can keep the cost under a thousand dollars (for under 50 pages). Turn around time is under 2 weeks after final approval and production design. Book production time varies 4-6 weeks.
Do I get all the high resolution images on disc?
You sure do. You get them all retouched on a DVD disc & I also create an online proofing and print purchasing gallery at no additional cost. The gallery is up for 6 months after your event/session/wedding and it's a great way to share images.
Can I upload the images to my online gallery of choice?
Sure! But I can't be responsible for print quality at that point. One tip is to turn "auto correction" features off before you get your prints. The photos I give you are already color balanced, and have been through my rigorous post production process.