When you watch a photographer at work, you see the session: a few dozen minutes or a few hours, a camera, a smile. What you don’t see is everything else. A photographer’s job is much bigger than a “click”, and it’s this invisible work that guarantees a beautiful result.

Before the session: talking and preparing

• replying to your enquiry and understanding your project and your style;
• preparing a quote and choosing the right package;
• scouting locations and studying the light and the weather;
• preparing the equipment: cleaning, charged batteries, formatted cards, settings tested.

During the session: much more than taking photos

Guiding without rushing, putting you at ease, suggesting natural poses, watching the changing light, handling the unexpected (a crying child, wind, rain) and spotting the small details that make all the difference. At a wedding, it also means anticipating the flow of the day and being in the right place without ever getting in the way.

After the session: the longest part

• backing up the files on several drives;
• sorting through several hundred images to keep only the best;
• colour grading and retouching each selected image;
• exporting in the right formats (web, print) and delivering, for example through an online client gallery.

It’s not unusual for one hour of shooting to mean several hours of work at the screen.

The business side

A photographer is also a business owner: invoicing, accounting, insurance, maintaining and replacing equipment, training, marketing, and looking after social media and the website. These tasks are essential, but invisible to the client.

A versatile profession

Depending on the commission, a photographer is by turns portrait artist, reporter, stylist, lighting technician and sometimes even diver: see, for example, underwater photography in Nouméa or corporate photography.

Read also: how a photographer’s prices are calculated · a demanding profession that deserves fair pay.

To organise your photo session in Nouméa or elsewhere in New Caledonia, get in touch and I’ll reply quickly.