Your Atlanta business is growing. And now you want to hire a professional photographer for your advertising, search marketing, website content, annual reports or social media.
The good news: You’re in one of the best locations in America for finding experienced photographers.
Atlanta's bustling commercial photography industry offers local business owners access to some of the best talent in the world. You don’t have to settle for an amateur; hiring a top Atlanta photographer can take your marketing to the next level.
But if this is your first time hiring a photographer, chances are you have questions. You might be thinking:
- How can I choose a qualified photographer?
- What types of photographers are available?
- What are the costs of hiring a professional?
- How will a professional photographer add value to my marketing efforts?
Bottom line, your marketing investments deserve only the best. Beautiful, branded photographs can transform your advertisements and media, helping them to drive sales, boost credibility and maximize marketing ROI.
What a Commercial Photographer Will Help You Do
Commercial photographers produce images for a range of media. You might hire a photographer to create photos for:
- Print Advertising
- Online advertising
- Merchandising and branding
- Catalogs and brochures
- Social Media
- Annual reports
- Corporate Events
But a photographer’s job is about more than just producing photos that look good. They must deliver images that sell your products and services, convey branded messages and appeal to your intended audience.
In particular, an experienced commercial photographer can help you:
- Work with Models: People want to see how your products look in action. How? Use models in your product shots to bring them to life. The good news: Commercial photographers work with models every day and can use models to help you create scenes, differentiate products, and help position your brand with its intended audience.
- Reinforce Your Brand Concept with Images: You’ve worked hard to build a compelling brand identity. A commercial photographer will utilize visual cues, lighting and color to project and convey your desired brand message.
- Speak to Your Target Audience: Great advertising photographers appeal directly to a specific demographic. Commercial photographers know how to take your vision and create images that resonate with your core customers.
- Make Your Products Look Beautiful: Your product is the star – it should jump out of every image. The best photographers in New York City understand how to accentuate and sell your products visually.
- Grab Attention and Be Memorable: Successful advertisements capture attention and create memorable impressions. Hiring a professional will ensure your images are striking, tell stories, and that they are remembered.
Bottom line, an experienced photographer will maximize the impact of your advertisements and other media.
How to Find Qualified Atlanta Photographers?
With so many local photographers to choose, how can you narrow your options? Here are a few strategies that will help you choose the right photographer for your project:
Define Your Needs
Before you contact a photographer, determine the goals and parameters for the project. Providing prospective photographers with in-depth ideas, project requirements or creative briefs will help them better understand your needs and deliver tailored proposals.
A few questions to ask:
- What needs to be photographed? Products? People?
- Do the pictures need to be shot on location? In a studio?
- Will you require post-production, i.e. retouching?
- What ideas and concepts will you be conveying with your media?
- How will the images be used? Where will they be published?
- What’s your deadline, budget and preferred scheduling?
Create a List of Qualified Photographers
Next, you’ll want to start to narrow your list of potential photographers. Start by doing a Google search of “professional photographer atlanta” Also, consult with local marketing agencies, photo industry associations, local advertising associations and fellow business owners.
You don’t just want names. You’ll also want to browse through each candidate’s online portfolio. But don’t be discouraged if you don’t find an image that’s exactly like what you’re looking for. Instead, look for quality markers like composition, lighting, color and styling. Experienced commercial photographers will adapt their expertise to meet your goals.
Interview Candidates
During interviews, photographers will ask you a lot of questions. They want to determine exactly what you need and get to know your brand’s identity. Meeting candidates in person and at your desired location can help. This will provide them a chance to scout the location, determine what challenges might present themselves, and develop solutions for the day of the shoot.
What Does It Cost to Hire a Commercial Photographer?
Although every photographer structures their fees differently, most commonly advertising photo shoots are billed in three categories. They include:
- Creative Fee – The creative fee typically includes the photographer’s time day of shoot, as well as time spent on pre-production services, such as location scouting, pulling permits, planning and coordination of the photographer’s team.
- Production – These are costs associated with the shoot including equipment rental, hair and makeup, styling and craft services for example.
- Post-Production – Any costs associated with editing, retouching and refining the final images.
- Licensing – A fee paid to the photographer based on the intended use of the image.
What is a Licensing Fee?
As creators of intellectual property, photographers own the copyrights to the images they produce. This protects the photographer and client from infringement or misrepresentation of the work. In general, licensing fees are determined based on the intended use of the photograph, and these fees are typically calculated on a sliding scale. Here’s an example:
- Company A will spend $3,000 on a print advertising campaign using the image. A photographer might charge a licensing fee equal to 15% of the total ad spend.
- Company B will use the image in a large-scale national advertising campaign and spend $1.5 million. The license fee, in this case, would be reduced to, say, 1% of the total media spend.
Each project is different, but licensing fee structures are typically built around the media campaigns they will be used for. As campaign budgets increase, the licensing fees come down.
Transform Your Advertising with a Top-Quality Commercial Photographer
When it comes to advertising, businesses based in New York City are lucky. They have access to a pool of photographers who have created advertising images for some of the world’s largest companies.
Take your media campaigns to the next level: Hire a qualified professional. You’ll elevate your advertising and produce ads and marketing collateral that sell your products, position your brand, and look incredible.
Garrin Evan Studios is an Atlanta-based commercial and fashion photography business. Need an Atlanta photographer for your next advertising campaign? We can help. Contact us today to learn more.