So you want to hire a photographer, or a retoucher, or a * and you think you can find them on the internet.

STOP. Don’t hire them until you learn a few things.

Do they make money doing seminars, instructional videos, 1 to1 training?

Do they regularly speak at industry conferences, present at the local Kiawanis, or have a meetup?

Do they, in short, make their money by telling others what to do, or how to do it?

If you have answered “yes,” to any of these questions, then skip them. They are not making their money delivering to clients, they are making money talking about doing stuff.

Beware, and look elsewhere

If someone tells you what to buy, how to use it, where to buy it:

don’t use them, they are using you.

Any photographer that is making money by doing photography is too busy to stop and talk with you , even if it is at a conference. They Don’t Go to Conferences. Conferences don’t pay enough.

At the end of a career, or during times when the weaker talent (photographers & retouchers) aren’t getting good pay from strong clients, they do feeble work for the lower skill, lower scale people.