If you need photos taken, whether for marketing, selling a home, capturing an event or more, your first thought was probably to look up professional photographers in your area. After you did that, there’s a decent chance you thought, “Wonder if I could just save money and do it myself.”

Listen, we get it - the price tag for professional photography can cause some sticker shock. It’s easy to look at your phone or think of your hobby-photographer cousin and start considering finding a lower-cost route. However, photography is an art form that takes a ton of practice to get right.

Here at Petersen Photography, I take a lot of pride in making sure my clients wind up with an attractive, effective product that makes them look great while sending a message. Here’s a look at some of the work and training that goes into that process, and why you can’t replace the professional eye.

We Value Setting

Photography isn’t just about the subject - it’s also about where the subject exists in space. For some forms of photography, such as newborn photos, the photographer will usually create a neutral or ethereal background so as not to distract from the subject of the photo. For marketing pictures, however, the setting is as much the photo as the subject is. If you’re having photos taken of your gym, you need the model to look great and you need viewers to be able to imagine themselves in the setting.

In some types of photography, this ability to imagine oneself in the setting is everything. Take real estate photos, for example.  The way your home is staged is one of the core components of the impression you send to viewers. A photographer can help you catch little details in your staging that don’t look right on camera, as well as find the angles and lighting that make your space shine. They’ll also have the experience to give you advice beforehand to declutter and to make the space more neutral. It’s not just a matter of making the setting look good in person - a photographer can make sure it captures viewers’ imaginations as well.

We Can Make Bad Lighting Good

One of the core features that distinguishes an amateur from a pro in photography is the ability to understand and control the lighting. If all your cousin has is a DSLR and maybe a single flash, they’re beholden to whatever the lighting conditions are on the day of shooting. Unless they know how to work with less-favorable lighting, your pictures aren’t going to have the right look.

Photographers have a world of tools and knowledge at their disposal, however, that allow them to work with any lighting condition. They know how to work with shutter speed and aperture to take advantage of the existing light. They have auxiliary lighting sources or reflectors that can make the light hit the subject from multiple angles at once, highlighting and lowlighting the right details. Light is one of those subtle, fiddly details that will make or break a photo, so you need an artist who can control it and use it properly.

We Make You Feel Comfortable

People think photogenic-ness is some secret gift handed out to some and not others, but in reality, anyone can be photogenic. It all comes down to light, angles, pose, and comfort on camera - the latter, arguably, being the most important. If you feel like you’re doing something wrong, or like you won’t look good, that’s going to come through. A great photographer can make you feel comfortable and confident in your best features, meaning your final product makes you feel great, too.

When it comes to photography, you truly get what you pay for. If you like a professional photographer’s work, then they’re going to be worth the price tag. When you get your pictures back, you’ll be glad you went with a pro.

Milestones Need To Be Remembered

If you have an important time in your life that needs to be remembered, trust a professional photographer to capture that for you.  At Petersen Photography, we pride ourselves in customer service, and working with our clients to capture and create the memories and professional portraits they love and cherish.  Whether you are looking for family photography, a photographer to capture your high school senior, the perfect wedding photographer or a professional real estate photographer so you can sell your home and move on to your dream home, contact us today to see how we can help you.