Even in my smaller town there are way too many photographers for you to find and analysis everyone one of them.  So lets break them down into some subsets to start the evaluation process.

Award Winning Studios

Chances are you will have the experience of a lifetime.  Awesome photographer and staff;  Make-up artist available (at an extra charge);  Studio filled with sets you can’t decide from; And most importantly stunning photos to last a lifetime.  So what’s the downside?  Well, for starters…..$$$$.  These photographers are well trained; well experienced;  they do a lot of marketing and have a lot of overhead.  And that costs something.   They may also be extremely busy.  You might have difficulty getting an appointment that works well with you schedule and they may not be very flexible if you need to reschedule.  If you have your heart set on outdoor photos and it’s raining that day they may have a policy that requires you to move your shoot into their studio.  Make sure you ask about their policies.

Medium to Small Studios

Does a smaller studio automatically mean less than awesome photos? Of course not.  Many photographers choose to work in a different type of environment; One that exists at a slower pace where they can give a lot of personal attention.  Rather than having a large staff doing most of the post processing, they chose to do it themselves because they see it as part of their own personal art.  Are they cheaper?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  That’s for you to find out.  The biggest down side is that the majority of studios in your town fall in this category. Finding one that’s right for you could be difficult.  Ask around.  Google from them.  Their websites have examples of the quality and style of their work and locations they shoot in.

In Home Professionals

It may be even harder to locate in-home professionals who shoot wonderful shots.  Word of mouth and Google may be the only paths to their door. The up side is that they may be able to be more flexible with you; both in regards to time and location.  They may be in a position to take more time with you and give you a more relaxed photo shoot.  Though it is not always the case, their prices may be less than photographer’s with a studio just because they have less overhead.  You never know.  You just need to do you research.  The biggest down fall is that many of them don’t have an in home studio.  They shoot only outdoor, on location photos.  If the weather isn’t cooperating you may need to reschedule.  So prepare to be flexible.

Walk-In Studios

If you decide to go to a walk-in studio with their $9.95 full package deal coupon in hand, make sure you are ready for a sales pitch for a much larger package.  You might also want to clarify, if you decide to just take the $9.95 deal, “Do you have any choice in which pose you want?”   I’ve received several treasured photos of my kids when they were little from studios such as this.  Some studios take great pictures and others don’t.  Sometimes is depends on the photographer who happens to be working at the time you go in. Since you won’t have an appointment you can go when you’re in the mood. Then again your mood might change if you have to wait in line.  You might want to call ahead to see how busy they are.  They may be willing to suggest times are are slower.   Things to remember is that you will have limited choices of settings with very little, if any, post processing done to your final images.