bride wants other photogs photos in album

njw1224 · Jul 14, 2010

I shoot lots of weddings (professionally), and usually there's a final designed album included in the photo packages. This is an album that I lay out and create, not just a proof book of 4x6's. I just had a bride ask if I could put photos in the album that some of her guests took. I don't know how many she wants yet. Now, philosophically I'm against this because the albums I create have my studio name on them, and when a bride shows this album around for years to come I consider it a showcase of my work as much as it is a showcase of her wedding day. But the practical (non-philosophical) side of me says "how can I tell her no? The album is a product which she has paid for. How can I mandate what goes in it?" So I'm wondering if anyone else has had this experience and how you handle it. Perhaps there should be an extra charge for me working with amateur photos because they will likely all need color & contrast corrected? Is it kosher to put a small line of text under these images saying something like "photo by wedding guest" in a very small typeface? I'm trying to think of some way of these images can be singled out as not mine when the album is being shown to people in the years to come - that is if I decide to accept the guest photos at all. Help!

Robin Usagani · Jul 14, 2010

I wouldnt sweat it. But I would tell her to do it her self.

njw1224 · Jul 14, 2010

Before anyone else misunderstands my post - I create and design the album. It's part of the wedding package that is purchased from me. I cannot tell the bride to do it herself.

Robin Usagani · Jul 14, 2010

You cant pull the photos out and replace them?

njw1224 · Jul 14, 2010

Everyone seems to not understand my post. Let me try to clarify. When I book a wedding package, it includes an album that I design - usually containing all of my photos. This bride wants to send me photos that some of her friends took at the wedding and have me put them in the album layout. I am just now starting the layout process. I HAVE to design the album, that's a given. So my question is how I respond to the request to put other photog's photos in the album?

Petraio Prime · Jul 14, 2010

njw1224 said:
Everyone seems to not understand my post. Let me try to clarify. When I book a wedding package, it includes an album that I design - usually containing all of my photos. This bride wants to send me photos that some of her friends took at the wedding and have me put them in the album layout. I am just now starting the layout process. I HAVE to design the album, that's a given. So my question is how I respond to the request to put other photog's photos in the album?

How awful you must feel.

NateS · Jul 14, 2010

njw1224 said:
Everyone seems to not understand my post. Let me try to clarify. When I book a wedding package, it includes an album that I design - usually containing all of my photos. This bride wants to send me photos that some of her friends took at the wedding and have me put them in the album layout. I am just now starting the layout process. I HAVE to design the album, that's a given. So my question is how I respond to the request to put other photog's photos in the album?

Clearly nobody knows (that has posted so far) what an actual wedding album you talk about is and the fact that photos are printed on the page rather than in sleeves like an album from walmart.

What I would do is limit the number she can put in....and the last few pages maybe title it something catchy like "The Guests' View" or something so that people looking through it can see that it was images by a guest rather than you. I would not let them be a part of your album if they are horribly out of focus, underexposed, etc....

So, I would tell her that the photobook is a representation of your work as much as a memory keep for them and that you will dedicate 1-2 pages to the back (say 6-8 photos), but that you will have to review the photos to make sure they are properly exposed, and focused. Composition wouldn't matter but they need to be at least decent "snapshots" I think.

That's how I would handle it.

Perhaps get permission to edit them if needed as well? Will you need a copyright release from whoever took the photos? Technically I would think yes...you will if you want to stay 100% legal and not take any chances of another photog not knowing you are using their photos.

Derrel · Jul 14, 2010

How about just simply overlaying a "Guest Photo by ____ _______", as a way of giving a photo credit to the contributor and as a way of differentiating your shots from those of random guests? This would allow the guest photos to be interspersed with your work instead of segregated and all placed at the end of the album; I have a feeling this bride is going to want the guest photos placed all throughout the album, and not segregated into a Guests View section (just a gut feeling). Using my idea, the contributors will get a photo credit on each photo they have taken, so they'll be happy, and all of those "guest photos" will have a clear source attributed to them on each shot, so there will be no confusion about why you can't expose a flash shot, or why you have the shakes, and why you tend to backfocus a lot, etc,etc. :lol:

njw1224 · Jul 14, 2010

Thanks Nate, you get it! And yes, the album is laid out as a book with the pages printed as complete pages, not individual slip-in photos. I like the idea of making a page or two of "guest photos". My only concern is that wedding albums tend to run chronologically through the wedding day from start to finish, and putting all of the guest photos at the end would look out of place - especially if they are photos of something that happened early in the day - like the bride getting ready or the ceremony. But I will play with that idea. Thanks.

njw1224 · Jul 14, 2010

Thanks Derrel, good point. What does everyone think of me charging an extra fee-per-image that's not mine? My thought is that I will have to invest photoshop time into color correcting, cropping, etc. of these guest images.

tirediron · Jul 14, 2010

If you're going to work on the images, you're entitled to payment for that time.

pbelarge · Jul 14, 2010

To bride & groom:

The wedding album I design for you is a well planned, photographed part of the our agreement. Adding guest images is not part of the plan. If, for a fee, you are interested in my planning and producing a "guest book", I would be pleased to do so.

Aayria · Jul 14, 2010

pbelarge said:
To bride & groom:

The wedding album I design for you is a well planned, photographed part of the our agreement. Adding guest images is not part of the plan. If, for a fee, you are interested in my planning and producing a "guest book", I would be pleased to do so.

+1

~Stella~ · Jul 14, 2010

Can you give her a small, but coordinating, album for her guest's shots? And charge accordingly?

You might just say that the extra shots won't fit in the professional album.

Otherwise, figure out how to do it - if the extra shots mean a lot to her, it's worth it to keep her happy - even if the photos suck. If it's clear that you didn't take them, it will only make your shots look that much more fabulous, right? Happy bride = good references = $.

inov8ter · Jul 14, 2010

What about if you create your book, and after your last page you have some design and nicely layed out and on that page you can put some like " Wedding Guests Photos" Kind of like a cover page but have all there photos after that page and after all your photos/pages.