Anyone wanting to sell their work or display their work needs professionally photographed images. We are all weekend warriors with our digital cameras but if you need to put your best foot forward you must seek out the help of a professional. That sounds and is an expensive endeavor. Photographers are artists and technicians. They will take many pictures to get you the two or three great images you want. Their time is worth every penny. They have spent a lifetime experimenting so you don’t have to. Here’s how one group of artists succeeded in getting professional photographs at a reasonable price.

We are a small group of artists who hired a photographer to spend an entire day shooting art in digital format. We checked his credentials carefully and sent him a written proposal. We asked him for a price for a day’s shoot and how many images we could expect to receive for that price, taking into account that we wanted 2 good images (which for him could translate into 15 or more shots) of a lot of different artwork. We took that price and divided by the number of images and decided if we could afford it as a group. We worked closely with that photographer and here’s some things that worked for us.

• Be honest with the photographer about what your plans are. For example, let him know that you have a miniaturist, a jeweler, a sculptor and so on. It takes time to set up the shots and he will have to account for that in his fees. Maybe only work with jewelry (think the trouble with sparkle and shine) one day. Set up a different day for large scale art that requires a full size back drop. Agree ahead of time that you will shoot on only grey or white. Changing the backdrop takes up valuable time.

• One of you should volunteer to be his assistant. Work out what information he needs ahead of time. Name, address, phone number, labels for images, digital or slide (digital can be reproduced as slides and most photographers know how to get that done.)

• Have a staging area away from the actual shooting area. Let each artist arrange – on a portable tray -- how they would like the piece shot. It will be helpful for the photographer, but remember; they are the professional and may have a better way to deal with that pin back or earring wire. Only one person should move the art from the staging area to the shooting area. The fewer people in the shooting area, the better!

• Set up the order of shooting ahead of time. Group art in terms of size - the photographer shouldn’t have to waste time moving the camera in and out. Group art in terms of backdrop – everything on white goes first, grey next and so on. Group art in terms of color – light colored art or shiny art has a whole different set of issues for photographing than dark colors do. Think about this ahead of time. Invite the participants and their art over for coffee and a planning session and invite the photographer too, or at least someone who is familiar with how a camera “looks” at things.

• Ask the photographer if he is providing individual CDs of images for each artists, or if it would save you money by doing that yourself. It’s easy to copy CDs now, but he may want to hand out individual copy protected CDs. Make sure that issue is clear for both of you.

• Set clear deadlines for participants and the photographer. Want in on the action, have your money in by a certain date. Find out the delivery time for the images and have it written into the contract.

• Ask the photographer who retains the rights to the images, him or the owner of the art. You might be surprised by the answer, so ask! Also, be sure to get his contact information. If the work ends up in print, you will want to be sure and give him photo credit!