In our last article we talked about old school vs. new school photographers Now let’s understand how that translates to choosing a photographer for picture day.

We have been discussing how digital technology has revolutionized the photography industry. It has also revolutionized the products and services available to today’s youth sports photographers. When choosing the right company to do your youth sports photos, make sure they are taking advantage of what is available to them in the form of digital products.

The first sign of a lazy company is the lack of innovation

If a photographer shows up to your league board meeting and has nothing to show you but impressions, don’t walk, run! Old school photographers are those who look their way. It’s easy to only offer prints for sale because they don’t have to bother with additional order processing. Now, that sounds crazy to most of us, but it’s very common in this industry. With youth sports photography days, it’s not just about a few orders, it’s about hundreds or even thousands of orders from a single shoot. A sure sign that this is a one person operation is a limited number of products.

The best youth sports photographers will have a large selection of products available for parents to purchase. Parents get bored with just another day of pictures. Look for someone with a variety of innovative products to choose from and you’ll see parents get excited about picture day again.

Make sure they get the job done

There are many youth sports photographers who pass a lot of work to the leagues. Find a company that makes it easy for you.

Make sure they make the picture day schedules. This is important not only because it makes your life easier, but a good youth sports photographer needs to understand what goes into making a photo day successful.

It’s not the leagues job on staff picture day. Look for someone who doesn’t require league volunteers, this is a sign that they are willing to spend the money on proper staffing. All photographers should have assistants to help pose the children and make sure they look good. Always ask if the photographers have assistants for each photographer.

Many of the good youth sports photographers out there today have the ability to ship products directly to each parent. This is a great option for some leagues and is a sign of good company. However, if the products are delivered to the league, make sure they will be categorized by team and clearly labeled. Basically, you want to be able to deliver the products directly to each trainer. Some companies even offer to ship products directly to a coach or team mother for a small fee. It’s worth spending a few bucks to free up resources for all the other things volunteers do.

Beware of the “I take care of everything” type

We talked before about how a session could potentially have thousands of orders, right? Well, if you’re dealing with a youth sports photographer who shoots for multiple leagues, it’s easy to see how you could be dealing with thousands upon thousands of individual requests. When you combine that with all the different volunteers you’ll be dealing with, it’s not hard to realize that a team of people is required. If you’re working with a youth sports photographer representative who tells you they take care of everything, beware.

The reality is that there is a lot of work behind the scenes that needs to be done to make sure everything runs smoothly. This cannot be done by one person; rather, a strong team of people is needed. Good youth sports photographers will have staff members assigned to work directly with a league representative. You need to have multiple layers of contacts in the company and you need to know the person planning your photo day.

Lastly, make sure you understand what happens when parents have questions or complaints. Regardless of how good a youth sports photographer is, there will always be mistakes. When you are photographing hundreds of children, sometimes parents are in a hurry and their handwriting cannot be easily read and something may be misspelled. Find a company that gets things right when things go wrong. Good companies will have people dedicated to taking calls from parents, correcting orders, and handling customer service issues for each parent. If parents have to call the league first to report a problem, that’s a red flag.

Beware of price-focused photographers

If the only thing a company wants to talk about is how cheap their price is, then they obviously don’t value their service very much. Neither do your parents. Remember that photography requires some talent. Many companies hire kids for $8 an hour with no photography experience, put the cameras on “P” (auto mode), and click and pray. Low prices are a good way to spot these companies. Look for a fair price, but understand that they are in business and have to make a profit. It only takes a few low level photographers to drive the quality of photography in a market straight to the ground. Look for quality and overall value for your money.

Probably the most important thing to consider when choosing your youth sports photographer is reputation. Look online. The best youth sports photographers will have good testimonials on their website and, more importantly, good reviews on sites like Google and Yahoo. Ask for referrals from clients with programs of a similar size, as well as a few referrals outside of your sport. If you are a soccer league, ask for soccer or hockey league referrals. These sports are a bit more complicated to shoot and require more experience. Also, ask for long-term references. Good companies will have long-term relationships with other leagues and organizations. A long list of long-term loyal customers is more valuable than you can imagine. This is a very competitive industry, so if someone has been using a company for a long time, that means he is doing a great job.

The last thing you should consider is your own feelings. Go with your instinct. If something doesn’t feel right, keep looking. There are plenty of companies out there. Just be sure to do your research. If you are reading this article, you are obviously doing your homework. Just be sure to follow at least some of our tips.