Over the next year, I hope to randomly post before and after pictures. Why? As a professional photographer who has spent money and time on education as well as constantly perfecting my craft; I see a disconnect with consumers that do not know what to look for when hiring a professional. In this day and age, everyone has a camera and anyone can take a picture, thus anyone can be a "photographer".  This goal of this information is to help educate the consumer who is spending their money expecting to get good quality photos. These examples are very basic as photography can be complex and that's not the point of this post. 

  This example is extremely basic concept. The before is a picture I see way too often and it's not something a "professional" photographer would produce. Sometimes we are in situations we have no control of and a professional has to make a fast decision to a get a good picture.  The before is not a good photo because of the location and items I pointed out. The background is all over the place with blown out areas and draws your eye to the background before you even look at the subject. I moved the subject 5 feet and quickly snapped a different picture. Now, the scene is calmer and the subject stands out, her face doesnt have any crazy light patterns and no ugly green neck. 

  So, I always try to look at my environment and make my decision on where I see the best light. These examples are using natural light which for me isn't something I do much, but for ease of examples I just moved the subject over and retook to show the difference.