Opening a photo studio....what do you as a customer look for?

[Bob Hubbard]

I'm considering opening my own photo studio and looking for information on what you as a customer look for when considering one. Where have you gone, what have you liked and not liked about it. If you're a regular somewhere, what do you love about the place that makes you go back, and if you've ever had a bad experience, what was it?

Thank you!

 

[bydand]

I may be the odd man out here, but when I step into a photo studio, I look for more than just portraits for display. I look for a blend of different styles and really look for, and at, the B&W ones. I know it is harder to get a good B&W than it is to get a good color shot of the exact same subject. Color hides a lot of missed contrast and attention to detail so I tend to notice them more. I figure if someone can get a real nice B&W, then my ugly mug should come out alright.

 

[Carol]

Most of my experiences stem from shopping for a photographer for my wedding.

The positive stuff:

- Wedding packages that were affordable, at the time I was on a tight budget.

- The photog produced captivating photos

- The photog was easy to reach and answered my questions thoroughly

- Everything about the work was as promised. The photog was on time for the shoot, the photos were done the way we asked, and were delivered at the time promised.


The negative stuff:

- Not being taken seriously, esp. when I enquired about cost

- Not being able to reach the photog

- Being dismissed (overall) as a ditzy bride-to-be.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Okay Bob here are a few thing's that I look for.

1. Cleanliness (yep that is number one)
2. Are they on time
3. Can they do house photo shoots (that is big with me)
4. Do they work hard to get the good photo (also super important)
5. Is the photographer personable (makes it go by faster)

Really if you can run an extremely clean operation and be on time to the best of your ability and work really hard to capture the best photos then you will be successful in my book.

Personally I will pay more for time. I do not want to feel rushed.

 

[Kacey]

The location needs to be convenient, and so do the hours.

I would love to find a photography studio where I could take my dog so he and I could be photographed together - which would, I think, necessitate a door directly to the outside.

A variety of backdrops and props would be really nice.

The one truly bad experience I had involved a coupon/package deal; the studio stuck to the letter of the deal, but there were quite a few additional charges - the cost per picture was much higher even if ordered at the same time, the pictures were stamped with the studio's name on the front (which I realize was intended to prevent copying, but it looked pretty tacky - gold Old English script just didn't go with the portraits I had taken), and the negatives were not available at any price... which wouldn't have been much of a problem, except that a year later when I went back for more prints, they'd gone out of business, and I couldn't reach anyone who had worked there.