Picture Perfect: Hiring a Professional Versus Snapping Your Own Photos

Landscaping is one profession where your work can speak for itself, but this can only happen if you are capturing quality pictures of it.

“I think it’s pretty fair to say that a lot of landscapers really, really struggle to capture great photography,” says Chris Major, founder and lead photographer of CM Images, LLC. “They might have a great camera. They might even have a really good eye for capturing a great photo, but a lot of times they’re just overwhelmed and too busy trying to keep their business moving.”

Choosing to hire a professional photographer can help lift that load.

“There are times where it just makes absolute sense to bring in a professional, because they’re going to have the gear, they’re going to have the mindset, they’re going to have the general clarity of mind,” Major says. “They’re going to focus on getting the best possible photo for you.”

When to Hire a Professional Landscape Photographer

Major says hiring a professional is a good call when you are looking to improve your portfolio or want to enter certain projects for awards.

“If you don’t have time to be on the site and spend the appropriate amount of focused time not getting distracted by phone calls for clients and this and that and the other thing, then that’s where you’re going to really want to bring a professional in and let them do their work for you, and you’re going to end up getting way more for that investment,” Major says.

It’s also important to consider hiring a professional if you are looking to attract high-end clientele with your work.

“If you’re showing a client a bunch of iPhone pictures, mobile phones are very impressive, but most people can tell the difference between something that was shot on a mobile phone versus something that was taken professionally,” Major says. “If you want to set yourself up for success and get those higher ticket clients, you really need to start considering investing in that direction.”

Hiring a professional also allows you to develop a consistent look with your pictures, as opposed to having multiple different people on staff taking pictures with various styles.  

Building Rapport with Your Photographer

Major recommends finding a photographer who is industry-specific, as they have background knowledge of what should or shouldn’t be captured on a property.

“No site is perfect, and it’s important to try to leave that out,” Major says. “Things like, ‘Oh, look at this beautiful garden,’ and then in the foreground is poison ivy.”

Major notes that good photography isn’t cheap. However, as you build a strong relationship with your photographer, the more you’ll be on the same page as far as goals and focus.

“They know that the images that are produced they are then able to use, then they should be able to easily make up that investment,” Major says.

He recommends looking at a photographer’s work to get a sense of how they compose their shots and if it aligns with the images you want to show your clients. Ask questions about how they handle various lighting and weather scenarios.

“A lot of times it’s just having that conversation, and if they’re not willing to come to the table and have that kind of conversation like you and I are having right now, then it’s probably not going to be a great fit,” Major says.

Talk to the photographer also about what your expectations are as far as the number of photos they’ll take, if they prefer to send the pictures to review first before editing, or they only send the edited pictures afterwards.

Licensing and Photo Credits

Another important conversation to have with your photographer is how they handle licensing and photo credits. Major recommends working with the photographer to establish a clear, understandable contract on how the pictures may be used.

“You wouldn’t sell $100,000 landscape to a client without having a good, solid contract, would you?” Major says.

He says it’s essential for landscape companies to understand that the images the photographer takes are not theirs unless the photographer explicitly transfers the copyright in writing.

“If you’re a company and you need to have that level of control of the image, then you need to have that in writing,” Major says. “It needs to be all legal and everyone needs to understand you need to pay more for those images and the photographer needs to charge more for them, because if you’re not, then they are losing control of something that is inherently theirs. They are losing control of being able to use those images for their own marketing.”

Major adds that listing the photographer in the photo credit lends credibility to the landscape company, as it shows a willingness to invest in a professional.

When to Use In-House Photography

In cases where you can’t book a photographer to be on site, such as during the construction process, having an in-house photographer is a great alternative.

“I think those are the times where you want to get out there and take the shots,” Major says. “Have a camera ready. Does it need to be a professional-level camera? No. The best camera is the one you have in your hand. So if it’s a smartphone, then that’s what you need to use.”

Major does recommend investing in a quality tripod that you can set up with whatever camera you’re using.

“The reason why that’s important is you can have consistency in your images,” Major says. “You can have long exposures. You can use it if you’re flying solo, and you can set it on the tripod, and you can turn it on wirelessly. It can help capture time lapses. So there’s a lot of versatility in having a really good, solid tripod.”

If you do have a DSLR camera, Major says another piece of gear to invest in is a quality lens.

“Try to get something that’s maybe a good high-level 24 to 70 millimeter zoom lens,” Major says. “The reason why I say that is because if you have one lens to rule them all, you’re going to have a wide angle and you can get a much narrower angle, and it’s going to give you the variety that you’re going to need to get those dynamic shots.”

If you plan on utilizing a lot of in-house photography, Major advises starting a file-naming system from the start, so it is easy to find specific photos.