What Raleigh Businesses Should Know About Hiring The Right Photographer

When it comes to promoting your business, high-quality photography isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. Whether you’re building a website, launching a campaign, or creating a cohesive brand presence, visuals are often the first impression customers get. But here’s the catch: not all photographers are created equal — and hiring the wrong one can cost your business time, money, and credibility.

If you’re a business owner in Raleigh, North Carolina looking for the right commercial photographer, here are 5 warning signs you might be headed in the wrong direction — and how to avoid making a costly mistake.

1. They Don’t Specialize in Commercial or Brand Photography

If a photographer’s portfolio includes everything from weddings to senior portraits, but very few (if any) business-focused images, that’s a red flag. Commercial photography requires a different skill set — understanding brand strategy, marketing goals, and how to create images that sell.

Look for a photographer who works specifically with businesses, products, and professionals — especially in the Raleigh market where local knowledge matters.

2. They Can’t Speak to Business Goals or Strategy

If your photographer is only focused on camera settings and gear — and not asking about your audience, your brand story, or how you’ll use the images — they’re missing the big picture. Commercial photography is about strategy just as much as aesthetics.

A great photographer will ask questions about your business, target market, and usage needs before even picking up the camera.

3. Their Process Feels Disorganized or Rushed

A professional experience should feel seamless from start to finish. If you’re getting vague timelines, no prep materials, or last-minute planning, it’s a sign they might not be operating at a professional level.

Look for photographers who guide you through planning, offer creative input, and keep everything on schedule.

4. Their Work Doesn’t Align With Your Brand Style

It’s tempting to hire someone based on price or proximity, but if their style doesn’t align with your brand, it’s a mismatch. Bright and modern? Dark and moody? Minimal and clean? Their past work should reflect the aesthetic you’re aiming for.

Review portfolios carefully. If their style doesn’t make sense for your brand, keep looking.

5. They Don’t Offer Licensing Clarity

This one’s huge. If your photographer can’t clearly explain what rights you’re getting with your images (where you can use them, for how long, and whether you can edit them), you’re setting yourself up for legal headaches.

Ask about usage rights, licensing fees, and deliverables up front — and get everything in writing.

Bonus Tip: Find a Photographer Who Understands the Raleigh Business Scene

Raleigh is a thriving market with a diverse range of industries — from tech startups and creative agencies to wellness brands and retailers. Working with a local Raleigh commercial photographer means hiring someone who understands the landscape, knows the best locations, and can tap into regional visual trends that resonate with your audience.

Final Thoughts

Hiring the right commercial photographer is about more than good lighting — it’s about choosing a partner who understands your business goals, your brand voice, and your market. If you’re noticing any of these red flags, take a step back and reassess.

Looking for a Raleigh-based commercial photographer who gets business? Let’s talk.

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AI is poised to transform professional photography in several key ways, enhancing both the creative and technical aspects of the industry. While photography is an inherently artistic and human-driven pursuit, AI’s integration creates new possibilities and efficiencies, reshapes workflows, and offers innovative tools for photographers.

While AI will undoubtedly change professional photography by automating processes, enhancing creativity, and offering new possibilities, it’s unlikely to replace the role of the photographer altogether. The human element—vision, storytelling, emotional connection, and artistry—remains at the heart of photography. Instead, AI will act as a tool that complements and augments a photographer’s abilities, allowing for greater efficiency and creative exploration.

The future of professional photography will likely involve a synergy between human skill and AI technology, making it easier to produce high-quality work while expanding the ways in which photographers can express themselves.

1. Image Enhancement and Editing One of the most immediate impacts of AI in photography is in post-production. AI-powered tools can automate tedious editing tasks like color correction, skin retouching, noise reduction, and even background removal. These tools can save photographers countless hours, allowing them to focus more on the creative aspects of their work. For example, Adobe’s Photoshop and Lightroom have integrated AI features, such as “Content-Aware Fill” and “AI-driven Auto Enhance,” that make post-processing faster and more accurate.

In the future, AI could also analyze an image’s composition, recommending lighting, saturation, and contrast adjustments or even predicting the best crop or angle. This would make it easier for both professional photographers and amateurs to produce high-quality images with less effort.

2. Smart Camera Features AI is already making it into camera hardware. Modern cameras and smartphones use AI for autofocus, facial recognition, scene detection, and more. These features help ensure sharp, well-composed images with minimal user input, even in complex situations. For example, AI can instantly detect when to adjust settings for a portrait shot, enhance low-light conditions, or recognize a subject’s facial features for precise focusing.

As AI continues to advance, cameras could become more intuitive, offering more automatic scene adjustments or recommending different shooting modes based on environmental factors. This could democratize high-quality photography, making it easier for beginners to capture stunning shots while still allowing professionals to refine their craft.

3. AI-Generated Content and Deepfake Technology AI’s potential to create photorealistic images and videos from scratch—such as through deep learning techniques like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)—opens up new visual storytelling avenues. Photographers could leverage AI to generate unique backgrounds, textures, or even entirely new compositions without needing to stage or shoot every element physically.

However, this also presents challenges. Deepfake technology, for example, is a growing concern in both photography and video production, as it can be used to create convincing but fabricated images and videos of people or events. This raises ethical questions about authenticity, trust, and copyright, pushing photographers to stay informed about the evolving landscape of digital manipulation.

4. Personalized Photography and Client Experience AI can enhance the way photographers engage with clients. By analyzing past images, preferences, and trends, AI can offer personalized recommendations for photo styles, poses, or themes, allowing photographers to tailor their sessions to each individual client more effectively. Furthermore, AI could streamline workflows by automating client communications, scheduling, and even delivering proofs or final images.

AI could also facilitate virtual photography experiences, such as augmented reality (AR)–based shoots where clients can interact with digital environments or objects. This would allow photographers to offer innovative and immersive experiences without needing to be physically present.

5. New Artistic Possibilities AI opens the door to creative exploration. Photographers could use AI to experiment with new artistic styles, like turning a photo into a painting or manipulating images unexpectedly. AI-generated art tools already allow for impressive hybrid creations, blending traditional photography with computer-generated effects.

Moreover, as AI learns from vast amounts of data, it may offer photographers entirely new perspectives and ideas that wouldn’t occur to humans alone, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in visual art.

If you rely solely on AI without the human expertise of a veteran professional photographer, you may be doing your business and your brand an injustice. Consider the benefits of AI and the human element working together to deliver optimal results.

Use the request a quote button to the right or text David at the phone number in the bio below to discuss your brand needs.

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Since RTP Photo and Video is a commercial and corporate photo and video business, the family portrait above is a stock image. The image on the right was shot by David Williams for portfolio purposes. However, an image like the one on the right might be used to sell the shades the lady is wearing or for other commercial use purposes.

Family photographers and commercial photographers each specialize in distinct areas of photography, catering to different needs and goals. While both require technical skills, creativity, and an understanding of visual composition, the subjects, purposes, and approaches differ significantly.

Family Photographers

Family photographers primarily focus on capturing personal moments, often emphasizing family relationships, milestones, and emotions. The work of a family photographer revolves around creating portraits that celebrate personal connections, whether through posed sessions or more candid, lifestyle-oriented shots. Their clientele typically includes families looking for images that memorialize significant life events, such as engagements, weddings, anniversaries, and children’s milestones.

The approach of family photographers is deeply client-centered. They must develop a rapport with clients to make them feel comfortable, ensuring authentic moments are captured. Lighting, composition, and location are often adjusted to suit the intimate nature of the subject matter, and there’s a strong focus on creating images that reflect the warmth and closeness of the family unit. Often, the final product is something clients will cherish for years to come, such as framed prints, albums, or digital keepsakes.

In terms of technical skills, family photographers may employ a mix of natural and studio lighting. They often work in private settings—whether at a family’s home or an outdoor location—and their images typically focus on a smaller, more personal scale compared to commercial photography. Emotional connection plays a significant role in family photography, where the photographer’s ability to evoke natural expressions and capture the essence of family life is paramount.

Commercial Photographers

On the other hand, commercial photography involves creating images for commercial purposes—promoting products, services, or brands. This category includes various industries, such as pharma, fashion, real estate, food, automotive, and advertising. The key goal of commercial photographers is to produce visually compelling images that help businesses sell or market their products, services, or ideas to a broader audience.

Commercial photographers typically work with businesses, marketing teams, or advertising agencies, unlike family photographers. Their primary aim is to create imagery that aligns with a brand’s vision, aesthetic, and marketing strategy. This means that the photographs must communicate specific messages or evoke particular emotions that resonate with a target audience. For instance, a food photographer’s job is to make the food look appetizing and convey a sense of luxury or comfort, depending on the brand’s positioning.

Commercial photographers often work in controlled environments, such as studios or professionally staged locations, with full control over the lighting, backdrop, and composition. They may also be involved in post-production work, such as retouching or editing, to ensure the final image is flawless and optimized for various platforms, including print, web, or social media.

Key Differences

The most noticeable differences are family and commercial photographers’ intended audience and purpose. Family photography focuses on individuals or small groups, emphasizing emotional connection and personal milestones. The images are often intimate, authentic, and timeless. Commercial photography, however, is about appealing to a broader, sometimes global, audience and is highly strategic and focused on brand representation and product promotion.

Moreover, while both types of photography require technical skills, family photographers are more likely to work in dynamic, less controlled environments, while commercial photographers typically work in more structured, studio-like settings. Family photographers often rely on their ability to build personal rapport with clients, whereas commercial photographers must understand brand storytelling and marketing strategies to meet business objectives effectively.

In summary, while both family and commercial photographers share a deep understanding of photography fundamentals, their roles, techniques, and goals are very different. Family photographers capture intimate, personal moments for individual clients, while commercial photographers create striking images designed to sell or promote products and services to a much larger audience.

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It has been nice shooting film again. This is a shot that I took with Kodak T-Max 400 film. I just love how film looks with no post editing changes.

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This is going to be a long blog post, but if you are a creative ( photographer, videographer, etc. ), I believe it will be worth a few minutes of your time.

A photographer that I’ve known for years whom I respect and is well respected locally reached out to me about having a business conversation. I wasn’t sure what type of business conversation until I received this text: “My main motivation is around hiring and training……. Just hard to make the leap to hiring. My analogy is very similar to how I felt about renting a studio but you showed me how and why.” I’m thankful that he reached out to me because it inspired this post.

Before I dive in, I am not a CPA, Employment Attorney, Human Resource Manager, Payroll Specialist or the like. I am a photographer who owns a business with employees. You should seek advice beyond this blog post from qualified professionals related to hiring your first employee.

I hired my first employee in the photography business in the late 80’s. Fast forward to 2022 and we now have the best employee’s on payroll that we’ve ever had, but it has not been easy: 1) The risk taking and leap of faith like the graphic illustrates. 2) Me micro managing and not giving creative freedom. 3) Not the right fit. 4) Learning curves with what is involved in having employee’s vs. just pulling in an occasional 1099.

I have always been a risk taker and still am at the age of 55. I’m willing to try things, do things, take a leap faith beyond what others may be willing to do especially in the creative field. That is both good and bad because I have fallen down so many times because of it that my body, mind and spirit should be full of bruises, but I get up, wipe off the dust and start back at it again. However, I try to learn from my experiences and press on.

Micro managing an employee is something that I have learned from. It was draining on my time and energy and not beneficial to the employee. Yes, it’s your brand. Yes, it’s your business. Yes, you will be the one left with your business if an employee leaves. But you have to train well and give some freedom for the employee to do what you hired him or her to do. Finding the balance will likely not happen overnight. That’s why hiring the right people is so critical.

I believe it’s a given that you will hire people that will not be the right fit no matter how hard you work at making the decision on the best candidate. I recently had someone reach out to me who graduated from Randolph Community College which has been a well respected school for photography for 45+ years. I was very upfront that if we did do something together that it would be a part time hourly position and not a 1099 higher rate freelance position. I asked him to think about it and let me know. He got back to me and decided to pass. That saved both of us a lot of frustration.

Keep in mind that creatives ( Photographers, Videographers and others ) will often continue to freelance on the side even if they are a full time employee. That’s the nature of the business that we are in as creatives. You’ll have to decide how to approach this area because there can be conflicts if your photo assistant wants to shoot weddings every weekend as a freelancer.

When you do find the right fit, you’ll want to do everything you can to hang on to that person because unless you get lucky, it can be difficult to find a truly amazing employee for a really small business that will stick with you long term. 

Navigating the road ahead with all the moving pieces of having just one employee can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. A lot of payroll companies have a human resource component, so if you have a payroll company that is likely one resource for you to gather additional information. More than likely you have a CPA or accountant which can be a resource. In addition to us using Paycor for our payroll services and having a CPA and bookkeeper, we use Soule Employment Law ( Mimi Soule ) for employee related advice. I just had a call with Mimi the other day that changed the way I would be moving forward on a new area. You may also want to consider joining SHRM.

Did you know that your general liability most likely does not cover a 1099? That’s why I want any occasional 1099’s to carry their own general liability. But because of being on an employee model, I prefer to avoid 1099 contractors when possible for many reasons beyond this one.

When hiring your first employee, you’ll have many things to consider like full time vs. part time? What is considered full time? 32 hours? Will you have any benefits like paid holidays, PTO, etc.? One easy benefit to offer as a small business can be a flexible schedule. It’s true that there are times when the schedule is set, but when possible, consider the ability for the employee to work a schedule that is good for both parties. Will you pay weekly ( we do every Friday ) or will you pay every two weeks or the dreaded once per month? Employees getting paid weekly and having a flexible schedule when possible are two easy benefits.

SHOW ME THE MONEY! WHAT TO PAY AND WILL THAT BE HOURLY OR SALARY?

I’ll close with this one because it’s obviously an important one for both you and your new employee. Let’s use $15 an hour since that seems to be a popular number these days when it comes to what the minimum wage should be. $15 an hour at 40 hours is $600 per week or $2,400 per month or $480 per week based on 32 hours or $1,920 per month. So can your business handle $2,000 to $2,500 per month more in expenses? FYI, $600 per week is $31,200. According to Zip Recruiter, the average annual salary for a photographer in Raleigh is $39,624 or $762 per week or $19.05 per hour. But I believe the right benefits can balance out with pay to be a win-win situation.

You will have added expenses when adding an employee like matching social security, added payroll/accounting costs, etc.  Also, one thing you cannot do EVER as an employer is miss payroll. No matter what else falls apart, payroll does not. Yep, it’s a little scary. But it’s reality.

The way my mind works goes something like this. If I invested $2,500 per month in the right employee, can that free me up to generate additional revenue? Can the employee generate additional revenue? How many more headshots, location shoots, etc. do I need to bring in to cover the employee while growing the business?

Keep in mind that there are rules when it comes to salary. You cannot work an employee over 40 hours in one week without paying them overtime even on salary unless they qualify which is why I seek advice from Soule Law. I prefer having an employment lawyer over reading a document online and trying to figure it out.

Having an employee model can lead to great things like growth, sellable business someday, freedom for you as the business owner and much more. I believe the risk is worth the rewards. But you have to decide what’s best for you and your business.

If you take the leap, Happy Hiring!

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The Canon R3 has lower noise at high ISO settings than other Canon cameras I have owned, but it still does not yield a usable image ( IMO ) at 51200 and especially at 102400. The results out of camera at 12800 and 25600 are not too bad but with the help of ON1 NoNoise AI, the images are better.

Take at look for yourself with 12800 pictured on the left and 25600, 51200 and 102400 further down this page. You’ll see the before out of the camera as shot on the Canon R3 and the after version that was rendered via ON1 NoNoise AI.

I have been shooting with the Canon R3 for several weeks now. I feel comfortable shooting at 6400 ISO in low light and would likely make my threshold 12800 for certain situations. Unless you shoot in low light situations like events or weddings, you likely have no need to push your ISO much past 1600.

I am thankful that I discovered ON1 NoNoise AI because it does a nice job of reducing the noise even more. Although there is a noise reduction slider in Lightroom, I believe ON1 NoNoise AI produces a better end result. However, it can be slow to render the results. You may be just fine using the Lightroom option especially if you have a lot of event type images to deliver to your client.

Here’s a time comparison: On my older desktop that cost about $1,000 without the monitor, it took about 4 minutes for ON1 NoNoise AI to work it’s magic on just one image. However, on Caleb’s gaming desktop at the office, it took about 1 minute for the same image. So you’ll want to make sure you have the right computer or it will test your patience.

For most of what I do at high ISO settings, the Lightroom noise reduction option will work just fine for a large batch of event images. However, if I’m only delivering 10 to 20 final edited images that were shot at a high ISO, then ON1 will likely come into play. There is an Adobe plugin for the ON1 NoNoise AI and there is a standalone option as well. I’m glad that we have ON1 in case we need it.

As for the Canon R3, I am thankful that I can now shoot at higher ISO settings than ever before should I have a need to. For me, I’m likely going to need the higher ISO option vs. the 45MP of the Canon R5 which does not do as good of a job at higher ISO settings as the R3.

One day, I’m sure that the best of both worlds will be in a Canon camera that has both low noise and a 45MP+ image. Will that be the Canon R1? We will have to wait and see. But for now, the Canon R3, Lightroom noise reduction and ON1 NoNoise AI will get it done for the majority of shooting that I do. 

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We now have the ability to print up to 24 inch wide prints in house at our North Raleigh Studio. The Canon Pro-2100 is an impressive professional printer that produces amazing results. It’s exciting going into 2022 with printing in the mix for our own work and for our clients. However, we hope to provide prints for others as well including both professional and amateur photographers in the Triangle.

Although we can print various sizes including a small 4 x 6, the plan is to stick with 24 inch width as often as possible. There are a lot of common sizes in the 24 inch range with easy to find frames on Amazon.

I recently photographed both the town council as a group and the mayor individually for a local municipality. They needed prints of both images which worked well for us now that we can do that in house. Those were the first two images that we printed off our Pro-2100 and they looked awesome. Both images will likely be on the wall in town hall for many years to come. It’s nice knowing that my ( our ) work will be shown as a physical print and not just digitally online.

If you are not getting your images printed, you should do more of that in 2022. It really does evoke good feelings to see a printed image.

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Two Canon R3’s, Canon F1, ProMediaGear Tripod & Monopod

The Canon R3 is 24 megapixels and the Canon R5 is 45 megapixels. So why not go for the more megapixels? Also, if you’re going to have two cameras, why not have an R3 and an R5? Let’s dive in below.

I think it comes down to what works best for you as a photographer based on the clients you shoot for and what your budget will allow: The R3 is $5,999 and the R5 is $3,899 as of this post. The EOS R is $1,599 and the newer R6 is  $2,499. I added the last two because not everyone wants or has the budget for the R5 or R3. I believe it’s important to shoot with what works within your budget. You don’t have to have an R3 or an R5 to get great results. Remember, the camera is a tool. It’s the person behind the camera that uses the tool to create.

Not every photographer needs a 45 megapixel camera. In my case, I’ve been in the 22MP ( 5DMK3 – years ago ) and 30MP ( EOS R ) range for around 10 years. The 22MP to 30MP range has severed me well for my client base allowing me to provide images for tradeshow banners, side of trucks, billboards and large prints. But beyond the megapixels, why the R3 and why two of them?

The R3 has so many amazing features that I love in the 6 weeks or so that I have been shooting with it. The eye tracking autofocus is spot on. The low light is awesome which is typically the case when comparing 24MP to 45MP. I need the low light, less noise feature of the R3 for some of what I shoot. The reason that I have two of them vs. 1 R3 and 1 R5 comes down to having a backup of the same camera that is my primary camera and having two cameras strapped on that function the same. When I got the second R3, I was able to copy the settings to an SD card and the second one setup like the first one.

With the Dual Stacked CMOS sensor of the R3 in a professional camera body and RF Canon professional lenses, the R3 will serve me well for years to come, 

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Yes, both pictures on the left are of me ( David Williams ). I once weighed 284 pounds . In June 2021, I hit 184 pounds for a total of 100 pounds lost. But I peaked at 105 pounds down in August of 2021. As of this post in January 2022, I have maintained roughly a 5 pound range for 7 months and generally stay around 182 to 184 pounds. To put the weight in a better perspective, I am around 5’11” and now weigh in a range that I should weigh.

Health is wealth. If you don’t have your health, you are very limited and often times not able to do things that you want to do. I understand that life throws things our way that we cannot control. But me being overweight was a choice. I chose what went in my mouth and I chose not to exercise. It was getting difficult to carry my camera gear and I truly wondered how much longer I could keep doing what I love: Being a photographer.

There are two things that I consider my turning point: 1) A new doctor saying things like “just move your body even if you walk in place for 2 minutes just move” and “instead of orange juice have a fresh orange” and “after that initial taste of something sweet what do you have once the taste is gone.” 2) After the shutdown of 2020, I gained 8 pounds. I wasn’t at my heaviest then, I had lost some weight slowly over time. But I finally decided enough was enough and began the journey in April of 2020.

I averaged about 5 pounds per month in weight loss. I started by controlling what I ate, the portion sizes and when I ate ( cut out the binges after dinner ). It was months later before intentional walking for exercise was added. Then, on December 13th, 2021, I became a runner. I ran my first 5K in the neighborhood. Prior to that I had done some 1 mile or so runs. I have always despised running but quickly fell in love with running.

I weighed in the 220’s and was 54 when I started running. So many body parts ached, but I stuck with it. Oh, I get it. You might not be able to run for multiple reasons, but if you are reading this, I trust that you can do something to move your body intentionally for the purpose of staying active even if it’s a stationary bike, walking or something else.

The running helped me shed the final 40+ pounds, but it also changed my life. As of January 2022, I have been an active runner for over 1 year. Running makes me feel better, helps me maintain my weight and allows me to have some occasional pizza and beer without keeping the pounds on.

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and message me there about weight loss, photography or anything else.

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