p.3 #3 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
You guys assume way to much on here. I am one of the top 10 photographers in Atlanta so "Spray and Pray" and "Shoot and Burn" are not in my vocabulary or business practice. We have 3 photographers at most weddings, myself and my wife plus our intern. 3 camera going for 8-10 and sometimes 12 hours equals to roughly 1500 photos or so per camera. So out of 4000 photos take they receive anywhere between 1500-2000 edited photos. How in the world is that "unfair" to the couple? I got married 11 years ago and we have about 20 photos from our wedding that we received from our photographer so I hardly thinking getting a lot of photos would be unfair.
p.3 #4 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Graceology wrote:
You guys assume way to much on here. I am one of the top 10 photographers in Atlanta so "Spray and Pray" and "Shoot and Burn" are not in my vocabulary or business practice. We have 3 photographers at most weddings, myself and my wife plus our intern. 3 camera going for 8-10 and sometimes 12 hours equals to roughly 1500 photos or so per camera. So out of 4000 photos take they receive anywhere between 1500-2000 edited photos. How in the world is that "unfair" to the couple? I got married 11 years ago and we have about 20 photos from our wedding that we received from our photographer so I hardly thinking getting a lot of photos would be unfair. ...Show more →
I am sorry for the confusion. I was trying to get at the part about the bride and groom having to look through all those photographs and make album decisions, not that they are bad shots or spray and pray, or that in some way the bride and groom aren't getting good work. I actually love your work.
When I have 1500 to 2000 photos to go through, it takes me days to wrap my head around them, much less make culling decisions from similar shots of the same moment for an album. I don't think it is rocket science to say that looking through 400 to 600 shots and making decisions is much easier than looking through 1500 to 2000 shots and making the same decisions.
Clearly, your business model is working for you. You don't get to be where you are because it is a sucky business model. I on the other hand am a newb. I am still struggling to get my website up and running so I can put that dang www button down on the bottom line, so that people can visually see not to take my thoughts too seriously.
p.3 #6 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
@ACRe, I understand where you are coming from and thanks for the compliments. On a typical album, they will choose anywhere between 100-150 images that are "album worthy" and go from there. I urge them to take their time and not decide in 1 or 2 nights. I import all my photos the night of the wedding, even if it means I am up until 3am and I actually give them a top 50 preview that night before they even wake up the next morning. I have actually booked people on that little perk. Going through that many photographs on my side is usually a 1-2 day process with another 3-5 days editing off an on. Our custom USB's are usually waiting at their door when they return from the honeymoon. We also do the online ordering galleries where the guests order the photos from either the ceremony and or the reception. The more photos we take of everyone enjoying the night, the more $ in our pocket from the print ordering. It makes sense and it works really well. This is all we do, I do not have any other jobs except photography so I put every effort in our work and provide to our clients what I would want out of my photographer if I hired one.
p.3 #9 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Graceology wrote:
@ACRe, I understand where you are coming from and thanks for the compliments. On a typical album, they will choose anywhere between 100-150 images that are "album worthy" and go from there. I urge them to take their time and not decide in 1 or 2 nights. I import all my photos the night of the wedding, even if it means I am up until 3am and I actually give them a top 50 preview that night before they even wake up the next morning. I have actually booked people on that little perk. Going through that many photographs on my side is usually a 1-2 day process with another 3-5 days editing off an on. Our custom USB's are usually waiting at their door when they return from the honeymoon. We also do the online ordering galleries where the guests order the photos from either the ceremony and or the reception. The more photos we take of everyone enjoying the night, the more $ in our pocket from the print ordering. It makes sense and it works really well. This is all we do, I do not have any other jobs except photography so I put every effort in our work and provide to our clients what I would want out of my photographer if I hired one. ...Show more →
Everyone has their own way of doing business for various reasons. I don't think you should feel the need to explain to justify your process to anyone.
My business has evolved much from the first time I shot a wedding. Many of the changes that I made came about when I put myself in my clients' shoes. While I understand that more is sometimes better, I'm in the "less is more" camp. I can't imagine having to look through 1500-2000 images - all of which are fantastic - and trying to narrow my choices down to 100-150.
I view blog posts the same way. I would rather put up less images to make more of an impact. More images = dilution.
I get paid a decent amount for my expertise. I am here to service my clients. For that reason, I provide every one of my clients an album pre-design. I'm the one with "the eye" and I'm the one that captured their day as it unfolded. They don't remember a damn thing from their wedding day. It was a whirlwind. Who better to tell their story than me? It takes all of the stress/burden of sifting through hundreds (or thousands) of photos to come up with a design.
In the course of shooting a wedding, I capture really private and intimate moments. Some that the couple may not want to share with everyone that attended their wedding. My rule is that only the bride and groom get the password to their gallery. It's up to them to share it with whomever they wish. I wouldn't want to compromise their right to privacy in order to make a couple bucks off of print sales.
Anyway, thanks for sharing what works for you. I'm sure there are people here that will find this information useful.
p.3 #11 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
We send potential clients links 5ish past weddings & engagement sessions in full when they inquire. Agreed, helps to manage expectations and prove you are consistent with delivering great wedding images all day, in any situation for multiple clients.
Personally I'd be skeptical of a photographer who wouldn't show me an entire wedding from start to finish. Just my two cents, glad you decided to share them!
p.3 #12 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
I have 104 wedding galleries, with a total of 64,339 photos. Galleries are open for viewing. I also have 42 Album galleries that are wedding albums that were designed for clients. Is it a lot to view, yes. Do they view it all of course not. But my site has the edge over eveyone else because I dont hold back what I show.
Some may find it wrong to SHOW all your work, but this is working for me.
p.3 #13 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
I have made a few wedding books as my office samples.. Same size as the originals and some smaller..If I only show them teh love story shots and ceremoy shots..it get boring.. They love and they bite on all ther PJ getting ready moments...and i don't shoot revelaing parts of clients anyway..
But i don't show raw files or complete shots that are siiting in my pc.. thats like buying a Ferrari and asking Ferrari to give you the cars' blue prints and specs..
holy hell.
