What to ask a photographer before booking

Picking a photographer based on portfolio alone is the most common mistake clients make. A portfolio shows you a photographer's best work over a long period. It doesn't show you how they communicate, how they handle a curveball, what their actual day-to-day standard looks like, or whether you'll like working with them. The conversation is where those things surface.

Question one: how do you handle a session that isn't working? A great answer involves naming a specific scenario — a wardrobe choice that read wrong on camera, a light situation that turned harsh, a client whose energy was off — and walking through what they actually did. A weak answer is generic ('I'm flexible, I roll with it'). The first answer tells you they have real reps; the second tells you they don't.

Question two: what's your retouching philosophy? Photographers fall into camps here, and the differences matter. Some retouch heavily — smooth skin, sharpen jawlines, bend reality toward an aspirational version of the subject. Some retouch conservatively — clean up the image, but leave the person's actual face intact. Neither is wrong; but you want to know which camp your photographer is in before you commission a session, not after.

Question three: what's your standard turnaround, and have you ever missed it? Honest photographers will say yes — there are real reasons (a hard drive failure, a personal emergency, a project that ran long) that turnaround sometimes slips. The follow-up to listen for: what did they do when it slipped? Did they communicate proactively? Did they offer something to make it right? An honest answer here is much more useful than a defensive one.

Question four: who else is going to be on set? For a solo portrait sitting, often it's just the photographer. For a brand shoot, expect an assistant, possibly a stylist, sometimes more. You want to know who's coming, what they do, and how they were vetted. A photographer who improvises crew on the day is a different operation than one who has a regular team they've worked with for years.

Question five: what's the one thing you'd push back on if I asked for it? This is a stress test for honesty. A photographer who can name something — 'I won't shoot anything that requires heavy face-bending retouching' or 'I won't book a wedding even if you ask' or 'I won't compress a brand campaign into a single afternoon' — is one who has a clear sense of their own work. A photographer who says 'I'm flexible, whatever you need' is one whose values you'll only discover after you've paid them.

If a photographer can't answer these comfortably, that's information. The strongest collaborators are usually the most specific — about what they do well, what they don't do, and where the line between those sits.