Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

FM Forum Rules
Wedding Resource List
  

FM Forums | Wedding Photographer | Join Upload & Sell

1
       2       end
  

Archive 2015 · Delivered Images

  
 
WiredMike
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Delivered Images


Starting off with an apology for so many new guys questions. I am slowly getting this I promise!

I have been looking at hours spent/images delivered ratios. So lets just for giggles sake say on an 8 hour coverage/ 1 shooter you have contracted for 400 images.
Now are those 400 unique images? As in totally unique subject matter/pose? Or are they same subject with slight nuances? Maybe same subject with some additional editing? ( LR preset or PS filter)
The reason I am asking is that I got through about half of my editing last night with a quick look through to make sure that I had the "key" shots. And it got me to thinking. Ok there are only so many key shots, how are you going to get 400 images out of this?

Any advice or a point to a place I can study up or see a gallery or anything useful is truly appreciated.
Thank You
Michael



Dec 17, 2015 at 07:50 AM
sherijohnson
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Delivered Images


great question, hopefully someone has a good answer for you. I personally don't count images, so I don't have this issue. How many photos did you take altogether?


Dec 17, 2015 at 08:06 AM
WiredMike
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Delivered Images


I took around 1200 total over 8 hours. Took a large chunk out of blinkers, soft focus, not looking in my direction.
It was late last night when I shut down so I don't have numbers of what is left. I do have about 200 corrected so far and I am just past the bridesmaid/groomsman formals. But many of those are "repeats" which just slight pose variances and a filter or two applied where I thought it would look good.



Dec 17, 2015 at 08:35 AM
sherijohnson
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Delivered Images


don't know what you are editing with. in lightroom I do rate and flag as I go through the images and I find that helpful in narrowing down the best images from the day.


Dec 17, 2015 at 08:40 AM
WiredMike
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Delivered Images


Using Lightroom here also.
My thrown together "workflow" is first go through and cull out all non usable.
Then go through and make slight adjustments and flag those that I want to take into photoshop for editing where I feel more comfortable with burn/dodge/heal/clone or whatever.
This is where I am getting a bit worried. In my head I see maybe 50 best images. The rest are good don't get me wrong, but they are not the best.



Dec 17, 2015 at 08:44 AM
sherijohnson
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Delivered Images


just remember the clients will likely be thrilled with those that are "not the best"


Dec 17, 2015 at 09:10 AM
IrishDino
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Delivered Images


Deliver more. Spend less time culling. Batch edit.

I let the clients pick out their "best pose". I no longer have time to pick it for them.

And honestly, have the time they change their FB profile picture that I was borderline going to delete.

And in terms of micro adjustments, we offer to give them the RAW file and have a professional retoucher edit it if they want skin retouching.



Dec 17, 2015 at 09:29 AM
WiredMike
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Delivered Images


Still honing my batch editing skillz... Never had to sit down and go through this many shots. Most of my experience before hand was street and abstract. Not complaining though. Gotta start somewhere.


Dec 17, 2015 at 09:40 AM
sherijohnson
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Delivered Images


ZachOly wrote:
Deliver more. Spend less time culling. Batch edit.

I let the clients pick out their "best pose". I no longer have time to pick it for them.

And honestly, have the time they change their FB profile picture that I was borderline going to delete.

And in terms of micro adjustments, we offer to give them the RAW file and have a professional retoucher edit it if they want skin retouching.


that is pretty much what I was saying, sure they get a lot more images, but if I had to try to decide, I would be putting way too much time into that. it is rare for someone to complain that you gave them too many images. but we hear from other photographers all the time that the clients are asking for more photos than were delivered.




Dec 17, 2015 at 09:44 AM
IrishDino
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Delivered Images


At this point, were only culling out obvious duplicates, blinkers and test shots. Culling takes an hour tops, and that includes picking for the blog.

Editing is a stock colour preset, then batching white balance and exposure fix, and finally, any micro edits that need to be made to random photos.

Total editing time is about 8-10 hours tops. But we like to look at things with fresh eyes, so we do chunks throughout the week.



Dec 17, 2015 at 09:59 AM
WiredMike
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Delivered Images


Keep a secret? One of the reasons I came here to ask this.
There was one gentleman in almost every shot decided it was cool to give the "thug" smile. Hard to explain, sort of a smirk with more attitude... I honestly wanted to reach through the screen and smack that look off his face! (Glort chime in here)
So sitting here this morning at work asking a few questions and doing some research on improving my workflow. Thank goodness for slow times in the office.
Thank you all.



Dec 17, 2015 at 10:04 AM
WiredMike
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Delivered Images


ZachOly wrote:
At this point, were only culling out obvious duplicates, blinkers and test shots. Culling takes an hour tops, and that includes picking for the blog.

Editing is a stock colour preset, then batching white balance and exposure fix, and finally, any micro edits that need to be made to random photos.

Total editing time is about 8-10 hours tops. But we like to look at things with fresh eyes, so we do chunks throughout the week.


This helps. Just guessing I will have about 12-14 hours invested total. I really want to get this down to under 8 if at all possible. Granted some of this is due to an aging PC that needs replaced, but most is my own skill set that needs improving.
This whole venture has been eye opening for me. I knew there would be hard work involved, and I have never turned my back to hard work. But I do know that with improvement it can be made easier.





Dec 17, 2015 at 10:10 AM
travelair
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Delivered Images


Things sure have changed with the move to digital. Obviously, I haven't shot weddings in some time, as I quit when medium format film was still 'normal' and digital was the new kid in town. A typical wedding was 15-18 rolls of 645 format 120 @ 15 images per, and another 3-4 rolls of 36 exposure 35mm. In other words 300-500 total image, with typically no more than 150 delivered.

Heck, the guy I was stringing for, said I was shooting too much.

So, are you putting in your contract that you will provide 400+ delivered? Not a knock to you personally, but I'm trying to wrap my head around producing 400 unique keepers for a typical wedding.

Just got back from my first cousins wedding, where she asked me to "take some photos." It was a nice, low key, adult event, as she is in her early 50's, and finally found somebody important. For stills, I shot 197 total, and will end up delivering 65 or so, including 3-4 BW renderings or just the couple and bride. All important family groups were captured, which was very important to her, as well as formals and a few environmental shots.

This is a close family member, so all images were individually color balanced, with rotation, plus vertical and horizontal perspective adjustments, as needed. Of course, I copied settings in LR, but every single image got at least a couple unique adjustments. My background is technical and I tend to get a little carried away making certain everything is 'square' on formal shots. I also don't like putting anything out there that I wouldn't be comfortable hanging on my wall. Even with some level of proficiency, there will be about 4-5 hours of post processing, just for my small event.

It completely blows my mind that you are starting from a stack of 1200 and delivery 400.



Dec 17, 2015 at 10:24 AM
IrishDino
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Delivered Images


If you really want your mind blown, just look at the photos on a girls phone. It's nothing to take 100+ photos to get that one car selfie just right.



Dec 17, 2015 at 10:32 AM
sherijohnson
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Delivered Images


I think it is fair to say on average a wedding is typically no less than 1000 images if you are covering the entire event, though of course I make no promises that I will be shooting that many if the day is shorter than normal, etc.


Dec 17, 2015 at 10:41 AM
amonline
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Delivered Images


At 1200, you're shooting on par for average. Your problem is "contracting 400". Never agree to an exact number. There are too many uncontrollable variants. Find your lowest point, and say you average x per hour, but it can be higher or lower. 25-50 an hour is fine if it's a hoppin' wedding. What's going to happen when you get a dead one? Never commit to an uncontrollable amount.


Dec 17, 2015 at 11:02 AM
WiredMike
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Delivered Images


travelair wrote:
Things sure have changed with the move to digital. Obviously, I haven't shot weddings in some time, as I quit when medium format film was still 'normal' and digital was the new kid in town. A typical wedding was 15-18 rolls of 645 format 120 @ 15 images per, and another 3-4 rolls of 36 exposure 35mm. In other words 300-500 total image, with typically no more than 150 delivered.

Heck, the guy I was stringing for, said I was shooting too much.

So, are you putting in your contract that you will provide 400+ delivered? Not a knock to
...Show more

Believe me I did not start out wanting to take that many. I really did not have a set number to take.
Luckily, as these were friends of the church it was not contracted for a set number. But reading/researching many photogs offerings it seemed like 400 was almost a norm(?) in the price range/coverage hours I was doing.





Dec 17, 2015 at 11:05 AM
travelair
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Delivered Images


ZachOly:

Yes, I have 16yo twin daughters, so I have a sense. But, I have taught them to work on setup, and shoot economically rather than pray and spray.

sherijohnson:

Curious, is that number from you solo, or are you running 1-2 assistants?


Guess I'm old (only 50, but a matter of persective), but would like to think there is a market for a wedding with 12-15 spectacular shots, delivered as a bound book of 8x10's or 11x14's and maybe a companion book of 100 or so smaller images that cover the event, plus whatever digital content. Or, am I completely missing the boat in that only digital content is delivered on first pass, with no prints?



Dec 17, 2015 at 11:18 AM
WiredMike
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Delivered Images


Heck travelair your probably still using one of those flashes that use powder and go boom?
Just kidding sir, your only a few years older than myself. The advice you are giving to your daughters is rock solid.
I had to find a blend of setup and composure mixed with time constraints as not by my choosing and more of the wedding coordinator I had only X amount of time to get everything in, so I know I took way more shots than I wanted.
Living and learning!



Dec 17, 2015 at 11:51 AM
SloPhoto
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Delivered Images


I usually state ~50/hour and when pressed say it varies from 50-100/hr. I usually deliver >75/hr. I also make sure to note that my number is for active shooting time and does not count driving or any other downtime.

I am still slow at editing so I am usually 3-4:1 (for every hour on site, I spend 3-4 hours culling and editing). I used to be even slower.



Dec 17, 2015 at 12:25 PM
1
       2       end




FM Forums | Wedding Photographer | Join Upload & Sell

1
       2       end
    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.