How To: Work with Photographers

Hey hey hey cuties!  Welcome back to another post on the Allison in Wonderland blog.  Today’s topic is how to find and work with photographers.  Over the last few months, I’ve gotten some questions about how I find the photographers I work with so I thought I’d share my best tips with you today.  Keep reading to find out what I look for!

Tip #1: Start with Instagram

Fun fact: I’ve found every photographer I’ve ever worked with through Instagram.  Instagram is such a wonderful tool to help you connect with local creatives.  When searching for photographers, I typically begin by searching for specific hashtags.  I’ll first look up photographers by state (example: #marylandphotographer) or by city, if I’m looking to shoot somewhere in particular (example: #annapolisphotographer).  This narrows down the playing field to only those who are “within reach,” so to speak.

Once I have the results from my hashtag search, I’ll scroll through until I find someone who has the specific style or aesthetic I’m looking for.  If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen that my editing style is very warm, so I look for photographers that edit similarly to me so that my Instagram and blog feeds will stay consistent.  This method of finding people is also a really cool way to connect with those who live around you so you can support one another!

Tip 2: Be Ready for Anything

When I say be ready for anything, I mean be prepared to meet any type of personality.  On Instagram, people don’t always end up having the personality you would expect from viewing their feed.  I’ve been really lucky that I’ve absolutely loved every photographer I’ve ever shot with but at the end of the day, you’re still meeting up with someone you met on the internet and you don’t know everything about them.  I typically make sure that I shoot with photographers in a public space (such as shooting in a downtown area) and that I leave the tracker on on my phone.  Sometimes I’ll even bring a friend with me to be extra safe.  Even though I totally understand wanting to get cool content, you can never be too careful!

Thank you for reading this week’s post on how to work with photographers!  Did you find it helpful?  If you have any tips of your own, leave them in the comments below, and be sure to come back next week for another brand new post.  Have a great week!