I'm getting buried with work, both weddings and my other specialty - architectural.
I love digital but I also miss the days of dropping the film off at the lab and letting someone else do the preliminary proofing (conversion). I do not enjoy the conversion process and the more time I spend at the computer, the less time I'm out shooting and meeting with new clients. I need help. At this point I'm looking for a local Photoshop assistant that can work from home. I can either send (DVD) or FTP files.
Is anyone else feeling this computer crunch? Don't get me wrong. I love doing the creative stuff in PS. I love all of the new nik Color Efex 3.0 and I have a bunch of creative actions as well. I love putting the final touches on each image - but please save me from conversion overload .
Is their anyone outsourcing? Who, what, where, how much??
Yes, that is in the ballpark. We are netting about 1K worth of images after the first edit.
We would probably convert about 600 - 800 depending on the contract with the bride.
Tha architectural stuff ends up being about 50 images from each shoot, some less.
Those are some pretty accurate numbers.
I'm in the same boat... but I don't want to outsource my processing... just my storybooks. But I can't find anyone who does it well that I can afford. Pink Penny is the closest, but they charge $400 per album. Not that I think they're charging TOO much... just that I can't afford it.
I have been giving this some thought recently as well. I have even toyed with the idea of shooting less and more deliberately in order to save some time in PS. The problem you might encounter by outsorcing RAW conversions is that you are probably going to end up spending time fixing the images anyway before showing them as proofs to the client (cropping, shadow brightning, etc.). It will probably end up costing more and you will only save a small amount of time in the end. Having an assistant that is on the same page with your style and is very familiar with what your final images should look like might be a better option. This assistant would probably get the conversions done more effectively than an outside company. I have been in the market for an assistant as of recent and this is definitely one of the tasks I want the assistant to learn first.
I'll be happy to swap with you.
In fact my wife, artist by trade, does our wedding albums and I do the DVD "ProShow" presentations. Those are fun and creative. The conversions will be best left up to someone willing to put in more computer seat time.
For those of you wondering what an architectural photographer is doing shooting weddings:
I am partners with with a younger protege'. We have been booking some rather nice weddings. For a former film shooter (who will never go back) that used to shoot 300 -400 images during a 6 - 8 hour event, shooting a 1,000 or more is daunting. Because we shoot all weddings together, as a team, (wouldn't do it any other way) we come home with over 2k in image files. My partner is more prolific .
That's why I think outsourcing for me makes sense.
Wedding Site:
I have an ad placed locally to see if there is anyone out there.
I would prefer to work with an assistant but may opt for some of the offers I have received here and at the dp site.
Thanks for sharing. I have got to believe that there are a lot of photogs in this same situation. I am surprised that we haven't seen more people / labs offering this service.
just find a kid like me thats good at that backend computer stuff see slantphoto.com there are tons of us out there. i'd do it but im busy actually shooting weddings myself now. Though I would have been all over this if someone took me under their wing and treated me right instead of ABUSING my help, back when i started.
Great images and very nice website. Looks like you are off to a great start.
Keep up the good work. I'm still looking for that assitant if you know any
Best Regards,
Ron
Sorry to hear about the abuse thing. There is never any room for that .
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