How to Find a Quality Test Photographer

Finding a Quality Test Photographer


Cristina Dehart
ExploreModeling.com

Well, how do I find a photographer? How do I—do I just go to the internet or do I go to the yellow pages or finding a photographer is difficult especially finding a quality photographer. Even myself at this point in my career, you would think I know like all these photographers that I could just go and get testing done but it is really not like that. It is still, even in New York, hard to find a good quality photographer. So I said get a referral. Get a referral from an agency. Get a referral from someone that you know and that you trust and then even once you get a referral, call them, make an appointment with them, sit down with them, and ask. Not only see their book but ask to see the last couple of test that they have done. The entire test, like you just shot, right?

So if I went to a photographer, you know, if now Marissa goes behind you and says I want to possibly, let us say you referred her, the photographer. I want to shoot with that same photographer. You need to ask first, I want also a test. Well, they will just shot with Rachel. So say I want to see her whole test. Why do you think I asked for that? Right you want to look and see how those pictures work for Rachel because it is going back to the book where I just told you. You put the best pictures in your book. That is what the photographer does. They put the best pictures they have and they have ever taken in their book and some of those pictures spent years. I mean they maybe have been photographers for 10 years in the industry and you are seeing a compilation, a 12-page compilation of the best work they have done over 10 years and then all of a sudden, you shoot and it does not look that great.

So I want to know how many great shots another model got. I want to look at the whole test and I want to say, “Oh my gosh! I see 20 pictures here that she could use.” And that is what I am going to get. Because if you see the whole test and you see, maybe one or two that that model got to use, do not think you are going to be any different. Because let me tell you guys, it is not all, I mean, looking pretty or having that—you know having a look for modeling is important but what the photographer does is way more, I mean, I have been to a lot of photographers that have made me look really nasty. You know, make up and you know, the lighting, I mean it makes a big difference. I mean it makes a huge difference. So you do not want to get a bunch of pictures that you can not use. So you want to make sure that you go to somebody that is going to produce the kind of work that you need to market yourself.


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