Delivery of Wedding Photographs

ChrisOquist

TPF Noob!
Joined
Sep 8, 2008
Messages
286
Reaction score
0
Location
Boston, MA
Website
www.aperculture.com
Can others edit my Photos
Photos NOT OK to edit
A friend of mine from work got married last week, and I covered the wedding along with another amateur photographer from my office. It was both our first times shooting a wedding as an "official" photographer - we offered to do it for free for the fun and the experience. While it was understood that none of us were professional wedding photographers - I definitely want to turn in the best work I can to my friend.

After the insane amount of stress, which was fairly unexpected on my part, of the actual wedding day, and during which I learned about a lot of mistakes it was too late to fix, I'm wondering about a few things in terms of the delivery of the photographs (I'm not doing prints or anything - just giving her a CD or CDs with all the shots on them)..

1. What is the way in that wedding photographers generally deliver the shots? Broken up into folders named "Reception", "Ceremony", "Formals", etc.? Or just chronologically in one big folder?

2. I took something like 2000 pictures, many of which aren't that great, and some which are unusable (blurry subject, etc.) I'm deleting the garbage ones and most of the crap ones - to what extent do you guys that do weddings professionally pare down your work? Do you get rid of anything that's not great? Or do you include all the excellent ones and then throw the other ones in there in case they want them?

3. I also have multiple frames of the same photograph, as I shot a few bursts here and there to make sure I got a shot - do I include them all or is it better to have just one of each photo on the CDs?

4. Do I include a CD with all the finished images, and then a second one with small watermarks, maybe at the bottom or the right, in case she wants to use them on Myspace, send to friends, etc. and is willing to include my info?

Any other details I'm missing?

Thanks!
 
1. What is the way in that wedding photographers generally deliver the shots? Broken up into folders named "Reception", "Ceremony", "Formals", etc.? Or just chronologically in one big folder?
There is no standard way to do it, so do it the way you would like it to be. It would be a good idea to rename all the photos that you give them, so that they are all numbered and in order. Jeff_and_Jen-001.jpg etc.

2. I took something like 2000 pictures, many of which aren't that great, and some which are unusable (blurry subject, etc.) I'm deleting the garbage ones and most of the crap ones - to what extent do you guys that do weddings professionally pare down your work? Do you get rid of anything that's not great? Or do you include all the excellent ones and then throw the other ones in there in case they want them?
Again, there really isn't a right or wrong here. Some photographers deliver 1000 images, some are closer to 100. I would suggest getting rid of all the junk and anything that is a duplicate or redundant. Quality over quantity. Giving them the best 200 images is probably better than giving them 500 images, where 300 of them aren't very good.

3. I also have multiple frames of the same photograph, as I shot a few bursts here and there to make sure I got a shot - do I include them all or is it better to have just one of each photo on the CDs?
There is very little point in having multiple shots of the same thing. Choose the best one and give them that. The exception might be when you don't have a shot where all the people are looking their best...eyes closed etc. In this case, I will usually edit the images and replace heads/faces/eyes, so that I get the best results in one image. It can be a time consuming process but delivering the best results is important for a pro photographer.

4. Do I include a CD with all the finished images, and then a second one with small watermarks, maybe at the bottom or the right, in case she wants to use them on Myspace, send to friends, etc. and is willing to include my info?
That might be a good idea, just make sure they know which images are for web and which are for printing.
 
1. What is the way in that wedding photographers generally deliver the shots? Broken up into folders named "Reception", "Ceremony", "Formals", etc.? Or just chronologically in one big folder?

I put mine in an online gallery broken down into sections like you listed. It seems to make things easier to find. i also label the files accordingly. example: smutek_ceremony_001 and smutek_formals_002 that way if they want to reprint or something it is easier to find.

2. I took something like 2000 pictures, many of which aren't that great, and some which are unusable (blurry subject, etc.) I'm deleting the garbage ones and most of the crap ones - to what extent do you guys that do weddings professionally pare down your work? Do you get rid of anything that's not great? Or do you include all the excellent ones and then throw the other ones in there in case they want them?

I put together a 'photographer's favorite' section. this is the best of the best. then i include some of the standard must have shots that don't excite anyone but they have to have them anyway. then, of what is left over, i may include an 'outtake' section. this way they can see some of the prints that they may want, but you are not in love with. i never show them the junkers. let them think you only take good pics.

3. I also have multiple frames of the same photograph, as I shot a few bursts here and there to make sure I got a shot - do I include them all or is it better to have just one of each photo on the CDs?

i only include multiples if there is a different angle or a very different expression. otherwise, i pick the best and only include that one. this way, the client does not have to debate over it, and they think you were there at the perfect moment.

4. Do I include a CD with all the finished images, and then a second one with small watermarks, maybe at the bottom or the right, in case she wants to use them on Myspace, send to friends, etc. and is willing to include my info?

this is up to you and her. i would do it, you shot her wedding for free...i don't think some promo is too much to ask!
 

Most reactions

New Topics

Back
Top