1. 1 slideshow that shows only your strongest images from various weddings mixed together, or
2. Separate slideshows of individual weddings showing a realistic selection from the whole day.
I have been doing no.2 but am thinking of just having the one slideshow which will be much stronger as I can select only my very best. Does anyone think it is dangerous to show ONLY your very best images and risk unrealistic expectations? Lets say you do not have a killer image of the bride walking down the aisle with her dad? Do you just leave that out even though it is a key image for a wedding photog? Is it fairer to show a prospective client nearer what they can expect overall rather than just the killer images?
Hi again!
In my opinion, brides are going to be "wowed" more by an awesome, stellar image more than she will a chronological story in an online gallery. I assure you the bride will not be going from photog website to photog website looking for a specific timeline of images or time gaps in galleries.
I do my strongest images from weddings. I've done so many weddings now that it is hard to choose!
The first option is your best bet, as eventually you're going to have a good number of weddings under your belt and nobody is going to go through 20 galleries of your stuff to decide whether or not to use you.
Show your best, but make sure you have a best for all those important parts of the wedding. Have a general representation of how you would do their wedding rather than how you've done other couples' weddings.
When you go to a job interview, are you going to tell them how you have been at every single job in the past, or give them a general overview of your work ethic and such?
I'm going to throw out another opinion here. It probably wont be popular, but here goes.
The way I look at it is this. Anyone can get lucky and get 10 good images over the course of 30 weddings. But really, would you want to hire anyone who only got 10 good images over the course of 30 weddings?
What I prefer is showing a "set" of the best images from each of the weddings I shoot. This usually winds up being 30-40 images. This gives a more accurate and honest portrayal of how good you actually are. If you are good you dont have to worry about how people perceive you. If you aren't so good, this might be a problem.
I find it better to err on the side of too much information as opposed to too little. I like to show the clients that I am open and have nothing to hide. So far it has been successful.
Do NOT do number 2 (hehehe). A client will not be able to put the puzzle together that only the best can be chosen for THEIR book(s) and/or prints. Often times there are very uninteresting images that an outsider will not be able to relate to but your actual client will.
All this to say you should only use your best of the best for all presentation purposes.
website: selection of your best - but with enough variety so that it doesn't appear that you've only shot 2 weddings. if you want to have individual galleries, create them based on theme rather than wedding by wedding (ie. engagement, details, etc.)
sample album: start to finish wedding (but with limited pages so you can really highlight the shots that are universally appealing)
I've historically been showing a "greatest hits" gallery on my website, with one sample album spread... but the new version of my website is going to focus a bit more on slideshows from weddings (IE 20-30 images)....
Brides are now being counseled more and more in the major mags etc to look for complete weddings over "greatest hits" to establish consistency...
website: selection of your best - but with enough variety so that it doesn't appear that you've only shot 2 weddings. if you want to have individual galleries, create them based on theme rather than wedding by wedding (ie. engagement, details, etc.)
sample album: start to finish wedding (but with limited pages so you can really highlight the shots that are universally appealing)
Here is another advantage of having both a blog & website .. show the best of the best on your website and also have maybe a dozen from each of your recent weddings on your blog.
Mike Mahoney wrote:
Here is another advantage of having both a blog & website .. show the best of the best on your website and also have maybe a dozen from each of your recent weddings on your blog.
I have only a select few best images on my website. If you've ever done any type of portfolio review, you'll know that common wisdom is that less is more, only show your strongest work. But wedding photography is a little different of course. So when I meet with a couple, I show them a collages.net gallery of an entire recent wedding, so they can not only get the feel for the service, but for my ability to capture unique images throughout an 8 hour stretch....
Seems like then the best approach is to WOW them with your website showing your very best images, and also have a gallery/blog of complete weddings also so they can see what they can expect back?
deepbluejh wrote:
I'm going to throw out another opinion here. It probably wont be popular, but here goes.
The way I look at it is this. Anyone can get lucky and get 10 good images over the course of 30 weddings. But really, would you want to hire anyone who only got 10 good images over the course of 30 weddings?
What I prefer is showing a "set" of the best images from each of the weddings I shoot. This usually winds up being 30-40 images. This gives a more accurate and honest portrayal of how good you actually are. If you are good you dont have to worry about how people perceive you. If you aren't so good, this might be a problem.
I find it better to err on the side of too much information as opposed to too little. I like to show the clients that I am open and have nothing to hide. So far it has been successful....Show more →
This was my thinking exactly. But I only do this on my website in the latest work section. I pair them down when placed in my wedding gallery. I've had many comments from visitors that they actually enjoyed seeing how I captured the day, not just a shot or two.
I think you can go whichever way you think your clientel will appreciate the most. That's why there are so many photog choices out there and usually someone that wants that from them!
I've been of the belief that the best method is to only show a slideshow of all your best work on your website, then when the client asks to see full weddings, you have them come in and look at your sample albums in person. If you're a "salesman" type who can talk and really befriend a potential client in a 20 minute meeting, then you've almost got it locked. Getting a sitting is crucial, that's really where you get to sell yourself, as opposed to your photography. Less than 5% of wedding photography is actually groundbreaking new imagery... it's the individuality of the photographer and the "experience" you provide that makes you desirable to your client.
Mike Mahoney wrote:
Here is another advantage of having both a blog & website .. show the best of the best on your website and also have maybe a dozen from each of your recent weddings on your blog.
This is exactly what we do. Top 10-12 photos from each wedding on the blog. At the end of the wedding season, we'll then compile our best for the year and update our website gallery...
Show only your best work on your site. There is a reason. We often have a misunderstanding that marketing is a one hit approach.
That is people see us and make a decision. In fact there are several steps to couple making that decision and a clever marketer will set things up to get a couple to take each next step.
Think of it like building a fire. If you try to light a big log with a match it's a no go but by simply setting up your structure it's no problem at all.
So your site will want to have couples make a decision but it won't often be the final one. It will be a decision to go to the next stage.
The steps want to lead a couple to talk with you. On the phone is fine but in person all the better. This is the crunch time. Here you can show them a mix of your photography because you also have the power of your personality at work to balance things out.
The trick is Martin to identify all your marketing components then identify what step each one leads the client to next.
The fewer the steps you can use to get the client to spend time with you the better.
Once you do that it becomes a replicable system.
There will be exceptons of course but for the most part this is correct.
Every bride has been told to look out for one hit wonders. I even tell the girls who interview me that if a photographer only shows you their Best Hits, then you need to be wary of what fell in between those shots. I give full galleries and my brides LOVE it. They want to feel the whole day, not live for one or two amazing shots out of 400. Every once in a while you'll get someone who doesn't have the time to look at everything... but more times than not, my clients (prospective or "caught") will view nearly every image I have online... and they almost ALL remark on the ability to do so and the faith they now have in me to cover their day WELL.
