How do you go about finding your family, maternity or newborn photographer near Atlanta, GA (or anywhere really)?

Do you do a quick google search and choose someone off page one?

Do you ask in a local moms group?

Or do you ask your trusted friends and family who they use?

Photos of mom with her daughter and son at Arabia Mountain

I don’t believe any of those ways are wrong but I do think that no matter what the person who you are spending intimate time with and that you are allowing you be a small part of your children lives (even if it is just an hour once a year) is an important decision.

Do you want your portraits of your loves ones to convey who they are to their core? Do you want your kids to feel loved and comfortable? Do you and your spouse want to be able to feel comfortable and take a kissing shot in front of this stranger? What if you kid decides to pull his pants down and pee off the side of a mountain, or your daughter has a wardrobe malfunction or you are nursing your little one at the photo session? You want to be sure that you are choosing a trusted individual that will take care of your family and protect them as if they are their own. Photography sessions are an intimate experience that should not be taken lightly because you are at your most vulnerable state when you are in front of a camera.

mini session photos with mom and son

You need to know more about your choice of photographer than just their follower count on social media and even that is questionable with people being able to buy their followers and being able to purchase a verified blue checkmark now. So these days it’s hard to know who authentically built their audience vs. who bought it for vanity metrics.

Something huge to keep in mind when you are looking at those vanity metric numbers when you see a photographer who has a very large following say over 10K they are being followed by over 80% other photographers who are inspired vs. potential clients who are think they are the best thing since sliced bread.

Here are my top 3 things you can do to find the best fit photographer for your families milestones:

  1. Follow them on social media so you can follow their posts, stories and reels so that you can get to know this person before you allow them to enter your life. This way you can watch how they speak, the things they are sharing and dig into their true heart behind their business before investing. This will allow you to know if you will click in person.
  2. Ask them to send you a full gallery of images so you can get a full story of what it’s like to work with them. You don’t want to make an expensive choice based on just seeing their highlight reel.
  3. Talk to them this could be a phone call, email or DM If don’t see something you want on their website but you are drawn to their work but don’t want to make a mistake just reach out to them and request a conversation vs just a email.

So all this to say we are living in an era where not many people keep their lives a big secret. You can follow people on social media and feel like you know them before you ever meet them. Some people may not be as serious about their photography experience and they may not really care anything about who takes their photos except to get good images but some of us do care and this is how you can start vetting your photographer today.

Follow along on Instagram if you want to book a compassionate, authentic and fun photographer for your next milestone! www.instagram.com/alyssahollisphoto

Check out this recent session

family of 3 in home photo session with newborn baby

Green Meadow Preserve

Aware Nature Center

Cheatham Hill

Nash Farms

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