p.2 #1 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Oops,
I would just show a nice wedding not to bore her, another one maybe, more than that I would start getting
suspicious !!!
I have seven large albums from seven weddings and dozens of parents books as a library (looks amazing) for clients to see, I dont mind clients seated in my comfortable sofa in my studio going through some of them, page by page to check out wheter or not I am a good photographer or I am what they are looking for.
Most of the times I just show three albums and a couple of those parents books but I am sure one day a bride will
want to go through them all, well no problem I will bring her a coffee and I will continue with whatever I was doing
in my computer !!
P.S. not showing a full wedding but real albums make clients to understand that you are not just showing lucky shots but real personal jobs, bytheway, I am all against just showing a few photos which are the best ones lucky shots or not.
p.2 #2 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
We show our full weddings via a slideshow done to music during the consultation. It is an excellent selling point and I think the brides deserve to see what a full wedding looks like
p.2 #3 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
I have no problems showing a full wedding. Do you show them an album? More than 1 album? Why just stop there if they ask? If you're asking for a lot of money, do whatever it takes to make the person giving it to you confident. Transparency inspires confidence.
Aug 15, 2012 at 08:48 AM
marti.g3 Offline • • • • [X]
p.2 #4 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
ryan21 wrote:
We show our full weddings via a slideshow done to music during the consultation. It is an excellent selling point and I think the brides deserve to see what a full wedding looks like
How long does that take ? Are you talking about 500-700 images on a music slideshow ? That would take forever to watch ?
Aug 15, 2012 at 09:24 AM
Chris Beaumont Offline • • • • • [X]
p.2 #5 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
BGP1 wrote:
One of them had a website with images from some kind of workshop
To be fair, nearly 5 years ago I booked my first 3 weddings off the back of workshop images, if people can't show shots "uncle bobbed" at a wedding or shot at workshop, how exactly is anyone supposed to start out in the profession?
Are you advocating that people be born with a portfolio?
p.2 #6 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Chris Beaumont wrote:
To be fair, nearly 5 years ago I booked my first 3 weddings off the back of workshop images, if people can't show shots "uncle bobbed" at a wedding or shot at workshop, how exactly is anyone supposed to start out in the profession?
Are you advocating that people be born with a portfolio?
Using workshop images, from models you didn't set up is highly frowned upon and not representative of what they would get if you were in completely control. Uncle bobbing someone else's wedding and using those shots to book your own weddings is total lamesauce.
The admirable way to do it is to shoot portraits... free portraits, then paid portraits, enough portraits that someone can see that you know how to pose people, use your equipment, and convince them to take a chance on you for perhaps small weddings, low budget weddings, or second shooting (with full disclosure of your intentions and permission to blog).
p.2 #7 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Graceology wrote:
Hey everyone. We do bridal consultations a few times a week but I just had my Thursday afternoon appointment email and ask me to bring many "complete wedding galleries" with me to the meeting. In 7 years I have never had a potential bride want to see complete weddings from beginning to end. My issue with this would initially be my past clients privacy. There are photos of them getting dressed, family members, intimate moments, etc that I wouldn't want the whole world to see. Another issue is that I do not print out and keep 2000 photos from a wedding just laying around my office for potential clients to see. What are your thoughts on this request? ...Show more →
Shouldn't be an issue to show a client a whole wedding. It isn't common for a client to want to see an entire wedding from start to finish, but it also isn't odd that they would want to see it. I take it as this. They want to see an entire wedding because they are really interested in booking you but just want to verify they are making the right choice.
In my 10 years in biz, I had a dozen brides want the same and most booked me.
In their defense, it is easy for anyone with half decent skills to throw up some awesome portraits and moments. But not everyone can be consistent throughout the entire day so this could be why they want to see a whole wedding.
best of luck
Aug 15, 2012 at 10:08 AM
Chris Beaumont Offline • • • • • [X]
p.2 #8 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
ckhagen wrote:
Using workshop images, from models you didn't set up is highly frowned upon and not representative of what they would get if you were in completely control. Uncle bobbing someone else's wedding and using those shots to book your own weddings is total lamesauce.
The admirable way to do it is to shoot portraits... free portraits, then paid portraits, enough portraits that someone can see that you know how to pose people, use your equipment, and convince them to take a chance on you for perhaps small weddings, low budget weddings, or second shooting (with full disclosure of your intentions and permission to blog). ...Show more →
I agree with half of that, whether a workshop or uncle bobbing, using someone else's locations and poses is disingenuous and unrepresentative, but I see no real issue if you did it for yourself (with the usual caveats - for example a couple I had in mine, the "pro" turned up for ceremony, did group shot and mock cake cutting then went home, where's the harm in someone who wants to do better than that trying to actually do a good job after he's gone home?)
As for second shooting, maybe you treat your seconds differently to me, but if I've got 30 minutes to do shots of my bride and groom before dinner, I'm not giving my second 10 of those to experiment for their own portfolio, my seconds provide candids and additional coverage, not the sort of stuff you'd need for your own portfolio.
Portraits is all well and good for honing your skills, but if someone's going to hire you for their wedding and you've got no shots of people in white dresses, you're not getting hired.
p.2 #9 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
I have no problem showing someone a complete wedding, I do have a problem of sitting in a cafe or Starbucks for 3 hours while they scroll through 2000 images. Albums are highlights of a wedding yes, but, we bring 5-7 albums that are updated every year with our new images. She wanted me to bring a few complete weddings with me to the lunch meeting. If I did that, it would turn into a dinner meeting going through 5000+ images. When you buy a car, you do your research and take it for a quick test drive. You don't borrow it for hours on end to make sure you like it. Reputation and your work speaks for itself.
p.2 #10 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Graceology wrote:
I have no problem showing someone a complete wedding, I do have a problem of sitting in a cafe or Starbucks for 3 hours while they scroll through 2000 images. Albums are highlights of a wedding yes, but, we bring 5-7 albums that are updated every year with our new images. She wanted me to bring a few complete weddings with me to the lunch meeting. If I did that, it would turn into a dinner meeting going through 5000+ images. When you buy a car, you do your research and take it for a quick test drive. You don't borrow it for hours on end to make sure you like it. Reputation and your work speaks for itself. ...Show more →
Yeah, this is what stood out to me. She wasn't just interested in one; she wanted multiple weddings, which indicated she either didn't trust you or didn't trust herself to make a decision based on the work she'd already seen. Neither would be a good sign. However, it sounds like you found a solution by sharing a gallery.
p.2 #11 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
How long does that take ? Are you talking about 500-700 images on a music slideshow ? That would take forever to watch ?
My deliverables for a wedding are less than 400 images which can be about 15-17 minutes. Perhaps I misunderstood your original post. When I say this is a complete wedding it is all the deliverables.
p.2 #12 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Dude, your site is wonderful. Your work is fine and consistent. Offer to show one full gallery in-person on a laptop and be done with it. The problem is she thinks it's going to take 3-5 minutes to view an entire wedding. It doesn't. Stick to the time you usually allow for a consult. If you can squeeze in another, so be it; but if she wants to keep pushing for more, I'd say there's a much bigger red flag here. I can already see the post delivery demands coming. Take some incredible prints. That usually seals the deal when they see the actual result.
p.2 #13 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Graceology wrote:
... I don't have a 500gb laptop to take with me to show her weddings. That's where my questions came in. Thanks guys!
why not get a 1TB external HDD, they can be have for about $100
p.2 #14 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Thanks @amonline. My albums seal the deal 99% of the time. I think you are right about post delivery demands, it's a prime wedding date for next year so if it doesn't work out or we do not click I am not worried about it.
@Ryan21, a typical wedding from us returns anywhere between 1500 and 2000+ final edited images from the day depending on the length and type of wedding.
p.2 #16 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
@Ryan21, a typical wedding from us returns anywhere between 1500 and 2000+ final edited images from the day depending on the length and type of wedding.
Wow, well that does change the situation a lot.... hmmm got to get creative for that one! Good luck!
p.2 #17 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
ckhagen wrote:
Using workshop images, from models you didn't set up is highly frowned upon and not representative of what they would get if you were in completely control. Uncle bobbing someone else's wedding and using those shots to book your own weddings is total lamesauce.
The admirable way to do it is to shoot portraits... free portraits, then paid portraits, enough portraits that someone can see that you know how to pose people, use your equipment, and convince them to take a chance on you for perhaps small weddings, low budget weddings, or second shooting (with full disclosure of your intentions and permission to blog). ...Show more →
p.2 #18 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
I show every bride at least one complete wedding, if not several. Anyone can come up with a few dozen nice images after 72 weddings. I always try to show a bride one or more full weddings, as well as albums from her venue
p.2 #19 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Graceology wrote:
a typical wedding from us returns anywhere between 1500 and 2000+ final edited images from the day depending on the length and type of wedding.
holy hell.