If you have just stumbled on my blog, be sure to read the first three parts of this series.  You can find the Part One HERE and go from there.  If you've been following along, this is the final part of the series on how to choose a photographer.

Looking for lighting issues, such as harsh light and shadows, is a key to determining if you have the right photographer for your situation.  This is especially important if you live in the South, where the sun gets high fast and stays high all day!

If there are spots of bright white and dark shadows on the faces of the subjects, we have a problem.  This is the epitome of the worst light and shadows.  Pictures are made up of light and shadows and they are necessary to a strong image.  But controlling where the light and shadows fall is the job of the photographer.  You can actually help your photographer out on this one… do morning or evening shoots and avoid the midday sun.  Here in South Texas, the sun gets high in the sky VERY early in the summer, then stays up until very late.  In this case, 7AM and 7PM are the prime time for photo sessions to begin. Already sent out those wedding invites?  Wedding at high noon?  That’s okay… no, really.  We’ll forgive you.  It just means a LOT of extra work!  It IS possible to shoot at any time of day.  We look for shade.  We keep the sun behind you.  We avoid mottled shade so there isn’t a spotted pattern on your face.  We use a bit of fill flash to eliminate those dark shadows that would have been your eyes.  But if you see a bunch of images of people squinting into the sun or images where patches of faces are bright white or where the eye sockets look super dark, then the photographer does not know how to work with the light, but in opposition of it, instead.  If you’re in love with the photographer and just really want that person, skilled or unskilled, then choose your time of day wisely.  

If you haven't been following the series, you can always start here.  But if you'd like to start at the beginning of this series, click HERE for part 1 and HERE for part 2.

Now on to Composition!

Oh, this is a big one and a VERY basic photography skill.  There is the “rule of thirds” that is the first thing a photographer learns in class (or via the internet, if they’re self-taught).  Picture a tic-tac-toe grid over your image.  Those places where the lines cross… those are focal points.  Our eyes are drawn to thirds.  If a couple ist looking out over the ocean, they should be in a third line (unless it’s a close up, center crop).  So if the subject of an image isn’t centered, then it should be in thirds.  Too far to one side and the image is unbalanced.  The same goes for slightly off center.  So, thirds.  Centering is fine, too.  And there is a triangle that photographers should be looking for, as well, in group photos. The faces should form a triangle.  Or several triangles.  It is more visually appealing.  A straight line of people lacks interest.  Yes, I’m simplifying this to a laughable degree, but once you start really looking at images, you’ll start to see it and will have that “Ah-ha!” moment that will forever change the way you see portraits.  No, I’m not kidding.  Speaking of thirds, though… if a subject is in thirds, that leaves two thirds of the space unfilled by the subject, right?  Yeah, that’s called “negative space” and it’s a good thing.  Unless the subject is facing away from that space. Then it looks like your subject is leaving the image (see above). And unless that’s the message (depressing, right???), then you’ll want to always see a subject looking toward (or walking toward or angled toward, etc) the negative space.  Okay, that’s a lot of compositional information to wrap your head around.  There is SO much more to consider, but this will at least give you an idea of what strong composition should look like (and weak composition… run, don’t walk, if you see major compositional errors).

Let's talk color tones...

If you have not yet read the first blog post in this series on “How to Choose a Photographer,” click here and start at the first post (or not – you COULD just learn a little something about color tones). 

If your session is in a green field or a green forest, all of that green acts as a light reflector and bounces the light onto your skin.  This gives your skin a green cast.  Unless the photographer is using white or gold reflectors to bounce the light, the “natural reflector” that is the grass, trees, or other surrounding elements will be what the light is bouncing off of and onto you.  All a photographer has to do is add a bit of pink to the skin in post and it balances the green.

I am saddened when I see what would be a beautiful image completely corrupted by green, yellow, orange, blue, or pink skin tones.  This is SUCH an easy thing to correct in post processing, but you have to SEE it to want to correct it.  A skilled photographer has the ability to truly see all aspects of an image, from the way it is composed to the color of the skin.  And honestly, some things MUST be corrected in post processing.  SO easy! 

Okay, okay – I get it.  You don’t need to know what needs to be done, you just want amazing skin in the pictures, right?  Good.  Now look at the photographer’s portfolio and check those skin tones.  Shrek isn’t a real person, so if you see him in the images... That goes for Oompa Loompas, too.  And Smurfs.  And… well, you get my point.  If you see these things, find a different photographer who understands color correction.

Now, if you’re one of the unlucky ones who is looking at a CD of off-color images you bought from a photographer, as long as you have the copyright release, you can pay to have those images edited properly for about $5 an image.  Hopefully that’s not why you’re reading this… Hopefully you’re reading this because you’re doing your due diligence and choosing a pro!