Deena Riley Photography :: The Blog

I don’t usually do this because I’m still considered fairly new to the industry myself, but I wanted to share a learning experience I recently had with fellow photographers.  I know that I have photographers that read my blog (at least I think I do based on who follows me on Twitter), so I thought I would just put this out there.  If you’re normally here for the pictures – never fear!  The adorable Isabella’s 3 month session is tomorrow, so I will definitely have new things to share over the weekend!

OK, so here’s my story, dear photographers of the interwebs…

Recently, a colleague at my “day job” asked for my assistance.  She’s getting married out of state this summer, and wanted my opinion of about 10-15 photographers from the area where she will be getting married.  She was overwhelmed by the number of choices, working with a limited budget, and wanting to get the most bang for her buck.    So, she asked me to step in and review each of the photog’s portfolios based on their website.  I was more than happy to oblige (besides, I think it’s fun to see what other photogs are doing – especially in another area!).

I found myself seriously critiquing the portfolios on several things – technical ability (under / over exposed, soft focus that was just soft not “artsy”, etc.), editing techniques (are they keeping up with the current trends?  can I tell you the exact TRA action mix that was used to get that effect?  etc.), does it seem like the low price advertised on their website was a lure and that they were going to try to massively upsell their clients… the list goes on and on.

After reviewing most of the 10-15 websites (2 of the links she sent never got past the flash “loading” graphic… hmm…), I really found only 3 photographers that *I* would have trusted with my wedding photography.  They had technically sound images, beautiful editing with a splash of trend, but mostly would stand the test of time, and seemed sincere in the pricing that they were featuring on their website.  Man, if I had only known what I know now when I was planning my wedding… but that’s another story!

The point of me telling this story is that it’s now making me re-evaluate how I present myself on the web.  I’ll be going over my website in the next few weeks,  making sure that my website tells the authentic story of who I am and what my business is all about.  I don’t want to be one of those photogs whose website gets glossed over in a list of 15 when another photog is helping out a friend.  I know that I don’t have 15 years in the biz under my belt yet and that I still have plenty more to learn about running a business and photography itself, but I think it’s valuable to do something like this.

So my recommendation to you:  This weekend, next week (if you’re not going to WPPI), whenever – pick a different metropolitan area than your own (after all, you probably are keeping an eye on your own market as it is – right?), but make sure it’s similar to your area.  If you live in Tennessee, it’s probably not beneficial for you to look at New York or LA.  The city I was looking at is in the same region, but a different state.  It’s a metro area that has a similar demographic to my own.  Google “Portrait (or wedding) photographer city-name-here” and pretend you are shopping for a friend.  Make sure the hypothetical friend’s budget is similar to what you are currently charging. 

What would you tell the friend about the websites?  What is your gut reaction?  (I literally wrote next to a photog I was reviewing for my friend “Oh, heck no!”).  But more importantly, what can you learn about yourself?  After you go through several websites, pull up your own.  Your brain is already in critique mode, so let it do its job.  Critique your website as one of the “contenders” on the list.  Have paper and pen handy because if you’re anything like me, you’ll come up with about 50 projects / changes / tweaks that you want to make.

This isn’t about tearing down others (I’m definitely not recommending e-mailing them your thoughts or anything like that) - it’s about learning what you value most and what you want to present to the world.  I was surprised about how critical I was of others and how not critical I was being of myself – or at least of how my web presence represents me.

So there you go – my manifesto.  Ha!  I hope it’s helpful.  If you’d like to hear random thoughts from me as time goes by, let me know… leave me a comment or send me a tweet.  Like I said, I’m not planning on making this a “regular” feature of the blog – I definitely do NOT feel qualified to be handing out advice to others in the business just yet.  I’d just be sharing my own learning experiences occassionally.