You will see there are thousands of photographers out in the marketplace, all vying for your business, how on earth should you choose?

• Do you want the cheapest possible job but pay more in the long run as the quality is fine for Facebook but not your dining room wall?
• Do you want the highest quality possible but then can only afford the complimentary print being offered?
• Or do you go on reputation, quality and price?

For most of our clients, the third option is the route taken. Sure a lot of them have gone to the likes of Venture, Olan Mills or whoever but when they see the pictures they like and are told “that will be £990 please sir”, you can visualise their hearts skipping a beat or few – “£990 for five photographs, you are having a giraffe!”

A lot of the work we do is by referral i.e. past clients pass our name onto their friends who then go on to book us and never look back. Why?

• Our prices are very reasonable – we are not and never will be the cheapest – this is our living and we need to meet certain overheads and of course make some money.
• Our approach is second to none – we have a lot of fun with all our clients, this allows them to relax and consequently their pictures shine.
• Our quality is top notch – Simon is a particularly fussy bugger and will not allow anything to go out unless he is happy for it to be on his own wall or album
• We try and accommodate all your needs so if you want the shoot to go ahead, purchase a couple of prints and then can only afford more in 12 months time, that is fine – we can do that. This happens a lot with Weddings where we will shoot a wedding, say Budget Bronze at £350 for the photography and then wait 6-8 months whilst the couple save up to get their album done. They then spend another £325 on the album plus get some canvas prints as well – in total the couple have spent over £800 on their wedding package but spread the costs over 8 months hence they don’t notice it as much.

One saying we do go by is:

“Good photography isn’t cheap….. and cheap photography often isn’t good!”

Remember this. There are a lot of bedroom shooters out there that are trying to make it work but with inferior equipment, inferior skills and most importantly, they are not insured – 90% of the time, it’s their second income  and all these points together explain why they are cheap.

Do you research, talk to the photographers, meet them, find out their style, look at their portfolio and then ask yourself, would I like their style of pictures on my wall or in my album – I’d hope that you would find a full time professional to then take your photographs for you, I know we would!

Simon Steed

March 2010

Simon Steed is a full time professional photographer that focus upon high quality portraiture, wedding and baby photography. He covers the Stockport, Greater Manchester and Surrounding areas and is available for commission work. He can be contacted through his website, http://www.simonantony.co.uk

Here is a photograph I took on our honeymoon last year aboard the Island Star on the way to Barcelona. It was early October and the light was just beautiful. I always carried my camera around with me but I did not take my tripod (shame on me) so this was taken handheld with an exposure of 20 seconds at F4.5 – yes there is a little blur on the ship but everyone we show this too agrees it really adds to an very atmospheric shot – hope you like it

Simon