How to choose a photographer? 6 questions and answers for an interview with a photographer | Articles | Photo, video, optics

Are you look­ing for a pho­tog­ra­ph­er in your state, but do not know how to choose an employ­ee? We have pro­vid­ed 6 exam­ples of inter­view ques­tions and answers to give you an idea of ​​what you should pay atten­tion to.

1. What equipment do you need?

Although dif­fer­ent sit­u­a­tions may require dif­fer­ent equip­ment, there is a basic set of equip­ment that a pho­tog­ra­ph­er should bring along. Make sure he men­tions a tri­pod and light meter, espe­cial­ly if you’re shoot­ing out­doors. It is also impor­tant to check whether a poten­tial can­di­date can adapt to dif­fer­ent con­di­tions depend­ing on the spe­cif­ic projects they will be work­ing on.

What to look for in a can­di­date’s response:

• Clear­ly jus­ti­fies his choice;
• Able to adapt when using new equip­ment;
• Clear under­stand­ing of basic hard­ware require­ments.

Exam­ple: “I nev­er shoot with­out a tri­pod and a light meter. For the most part now, I enjoy work­ing with the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV.”

2. What professional photographers have influenced your work and how do you apply their methods to your photographs?

This ques­tion allows you to learn a lit­tle more about your can­di­date’s back­ground. While there could be many pho­tog­ra­phers who influ­enced your poten­tial employ­ee’s style, you can match the shots of the can­di­date and the pho­tog­ra­ph­er they men­tioned to see if there is a match in tech­nique. You can learn a lot about how a can­di­date is doing in the direc­tion they are inter­est­ed in by ana­lyz­ing the influ­ence of anoth­er expe­ri­enced pho­tog­ra­ph­er.

What to look for in a can­di­date’s response:

• A clear map of pro­fes­sion­al influ­ences;
• You can trace the bor­rowed tech­niques in the pic­tures in the port­fo­lio;
• Ver­sa­til­i­ty in the appli­ca­tion of these meth­ods.

Exam­ple: “Ansel Adams has been my biggest influ­ence. I like his method of work­ing with the hori­zon low­ered to focus on the low­er fore­ground.”

3. Do you have a degree in photography? Have you worked in a professional studio before?

The more expe­ri­ence and train­ing a poten­tial can­di­date has, the more like­ly they are to meet your require­ments. If you want to be sure of the qual­i­ty of the work, then check whether the can­di­date received any for­mal edu­ca­tion. Many col­leges and pro­fes­sion­al cen­ters offer pho­tog­ra­phy train­ing. Although, of course, the “crust” does not guar­an­tee high skills, so always check with the port­fo­lio.

What to look for in a can­di­date’s response:

• Avail­abil­i­ty of edu­ca­tion;
• Work expe­ri­ence;
• Stu­dio expe­ri­ence.

Exam­ple: “I grad­u­at­ed from the Fac­ul­ty of Pho­tog­ra­phy at IGUMO, and for the past few years I have been work­ing a lot in a pho­to stu­dio, shoot­ing and pro­cess­ing pho­tos.”

4. What photo editing software do you use and why do you like it?

Many soft­ware options are suit­able. The answers demon­strate the skill of the pho­tog­ra­ph­er and his abil­i­ty to work with basic set­tings, gra­di­ents and pre­sets. If your com­pa­ny uses a par­tic­u­lar pro­gram, make sure the can­di­date knows how to use it or is will­ing to under­stand it.

What to look for in a can­di­date’s response:

• Expe­ri­ence with pho­to edit­ing soft­ware;
• Knows the dif­fer­ences between pro­grams;
• Abil­i­ty to adapt to anoth­er pro­gram if nec­es­sary.

Exam­ple: “I use Adobe Light­room for pho­to edit­ing. I like the inter­face and how easy it is to use the brush tool and work with gra­di­ents and pro­fes­sion­al fil­ters.”

5. What details do you think are important for a successful shot?

Dif­fer­ent pho­tog­ra­phers here may have dif­fer­ent answers depend­ing on the specifics of the task itself, but any can­di­date def­i­nite­ly needs atten­tion to detail. Things like light­ing and posi­tion­ing are vital, but also pay atten­tion to answers that may sur­prise you as well.

What to look for in an answer:

• Empha­sis on light­ing and place­ment;
• Will­ing­ness to dis­cuss details with the client;
• The abil­i­ty to work with neg­a­tive (emp­ty) space.

Exam­ple: “I like to work with light­ing and ambi­ent neg­a­tive space to keep the sub­ject in focus as effec­tive­ly as pos­si­ble.”

6. How would you react if a client is completely dissatisfied with their photos and wants to return the money and repeat the photo shoot for free?

Pho­tog­ra­phers inter­act direct­ly with clients and may receive crit­i­cism on a reg­u­lar basis. They must be able to strike a bal­ance between respect for the wish­es of the client and their artis­tic vision and under­stand­ing of the val­ue of their pro­fes­sion­al point of view. Good pho­tog­ra­phers know how to com­mu­ni­cate with clients. This response helps the inter­view­er eval­u­ate the can­di­date’s cus­tomer ser­vice skills and abil­i­ty to com­pro­mise in a dif­fi­cult sit­u­a­tion.

Suc­cess­ful answers to this ques­tion should include:

• Set­ting real­is­tic expec­ta­tions;
• Abil­i­ty to find and pro­pose a solu­tion;
• The abil­i­ty to defend your cre­ative choice.

Exam­ple: “First, I would ask why the client didn’t like the pho­tos I took. If it’s about the qual­i­ty of the pho­tos, like blur­ry shots or bad light­ing, it’s real­ly my fault and I’ll be hap­py to sched­ule a re-shoot. If it’s a cre­ative dif­fer­ence, I would explain my style to them and con­tact oth­er pho­tog­ra­phers as reshoots may not meet their require­ments.».