Beyond weddings, senior portraits, and family portraits, there really are more reasons to hire a professional photographer.

Now everyone takes photos these days, and our phones have great freaking cameras, for sure. But there’s still nothing like an actual camera being held by an actual professional who takes all the worry away from you, lets you enjoy whatever is happening, and guarantees to capture those little moments that you would either miss with your phone or just miss… because of your phone. It’s hard to be fully involved and living your life in the moment and also be thinking about what shots you’d like to get to remember that moment later.

Why hire a pro?

When you hire a professional photographer, you get to forget about everything. And, of course, a professional photographer has a deeper understanding of lighting, angles, and composition. We also spend a ton of time with our butts in chairs, culling and editing the photos so the batch you get are truly representative of your special moment, day, or event.

A pro also can boss your people around in a way that’s effective and gets the job done. ((ha)) And we have a great eye for the moments to capture. Your cousin or friend of a friend probably has very little experience photographing groups or events where there are a lot of moving people/parts.

Besides being excellent bosses, I mean, managers, we also know how to blend into the background when needed. A lot of times, people forget we’re even there, giving us more opportunity for those great candids that an amateur is less likely to get.

So yeah… like we said at the top, you know you need to hire a professional photographer for things like weddings, senior portraits, and family portraits, but what else might you hire us for?

A new trend in hiring a pro

Unlike celebrities, your every move isn’t being catalogued by a buzzing hive of paparazzi. But did you know that a new trend is to kinda do just that? Yep, there are people hiring photographers to follow them around for a whole day. “A day in the life,” if you will. This makes sense in our current photo crazed culture of social media. No photo? Did it really happen? ((Gen X sarcasm alert))

This might seem like a more extreme reason to hire a professional photographer, but it also is pretty cool. Imagine doing this every once in a while and then when you’re older, you can look back. Or imagine the generations that come after you being able to look back. I don’t know about you, but I would consider this a treasure if I had anything similar of any of my grandparents.

To start, branding photography: what is it and who is it for?

We offer branding photography for entrepreneurs and small business owners, and people often confuse it with portrait photography. It’s different in a variety of ways, including the services we offer: you get to meet with us beforehand so we can get a clear idea of your brand identity and brand story. Sometimes the entrepreneur we’re meeting with is not clear on this themselves, so we are there to help. The photo shoot is laid out and completed, and then after editing, we teach you how to best use those photos across your socials, your website, and in all your marketing.

Good branding photography is vital these days for entrepreneurs and small businesses. If you want to stand out, your photos need to instantly tell your story and delineate what makes you unique.

Our list of more reasons to hire a professional photographer:

• There are the more obvious things like anniversaries and birthdays. You could consider hiring a pro especially on significant markers, like 20th anniversary or 60th birthday.
• You might consider a pro for your child’s graduation or party after. Those parties are often full of family and friends whom we don’t see very often so it’s quite the opportunity for memory making.
• You know how much we love our fur family and friends around here so why not get some professional photos of that new puppy or your older cat who is super chill and willing to wear costumes. (Okay… please someone hire me for that!)
• When you’re at your child’s sporting events, you mostly want to pay attention to what they’re up to, right? What if they make it to a big event, like some sort of state final? How cool would professional photos be of that?
• Make your holiday cards truly unique with unusual photos. I’ve gotten to do a photo shoot with a family all dressed like they were livin’ it up in the 80s. You get great and funny photos and the process of making this happen is full of memories.
• Speaking of, what about a photo shoot just for fun? What’s better for the old self esteem than seeing yourself in the best light, both metaphorically and literally?

A few, even less obvious reasons to hire a professional photographer:

• What about a friends photo shoot? Why not commemorate these relationships just like we do family? Friends are family, after all.
• If you’re moving, perhaps a photo shoot to remember the place you’re leaving? You could go to a few of your favorite spots, find that favorite barista, meet up with everyone who knows your name at your favorite bar or restaurant. This seems especially appropriate if you’re leaving your hometown for new adventures.
• Are you getting a major award? (Besides a leg lamp?) Don’t you want great photos to remember that moment?
• If your work includes curating events and experiences for groups of people, don’t forget a photographer! You have enough to do already.
• If you’re traveling somewhere that you’ve dreamed of, hire and take your photographer! Okay, I’m kinda kidding (though I would totally be up for that!), but you could hire a photographer for a few hours at your favorite location.
• Do you have artistic photo images in your head but you have no clue where to start? We’re game!
• And to be Lake Erie specific: how many of us had some of our most fond memories happen at the lake when we were kids but we have very little to show for it, very little in the photo albums to aid in our trips down memory lane? A day at the beach… what a great set of photos that would be.

The point here is that if you can dream it, we can help by photographing it. Don’t ever hesitate to ask. No event is too small or too big for us.