Need info from wedding photographers

[hijinks7]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, if it is please move it.

I am a software developer and my wife is looking to become a wedding photographer and while looking for an online proofing option for her I think I've stumbled onto a business model to allow me to charge hardly any money to host full resolution proofs for people to proof and purchase.

I just need to know how many pictures from a proof set on average are purchased by the couple, friends and family. The key to my business is hoping that enough are bought to fund this business and keep it above water. I've run a bunch of numbers over the last week but I need some input from the community.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have done weddings but couldn't call myself a 'wedding photographer'. But, I have known many in the business. A commonality that exists is that people (customers) seem to not want to pay the photog. I'm not sure why, it might have to do with them getting pictures taken by friends. Most I have known have a collection of albums that were never paid for. Get money up front, enough, at least, to not make the day and time a bust.
You didn't ask, but the other admonition is to check equipment beforehand, then double check it. Screwing up an assignment is always bad but weddings have more emotion involved than most. And, they have lots of folks who can badmouth you. That can put one out of business. Quick.

 

[hijinks7]

Thanks for the feedback. My assumption was that most people aren't paying the photographer for the images.. I'm guilty of that also.. we bought the full res proofs and just gave them to everyone that would probably buy from the photographer

 

[NateWagner]

I would guess that for an average wedding... depending on the photographer you're looking at an average of 500-1000 images. Some do more and some do less, but that would be my rough guess.

 

[hijinks7]

I know the average number of pictures taken.. I'm wondering how many people order pictures from the photographers per event that are not part of a pre-paid package

 

[Mike_E]

Almost none. Occasionally the mothers will order a smaller album but the best bet is to put those in the package.

In the economic climate here you are lucky to even sell prints in a package under $500. Meaning that most are actually only paying for 'work for hire'. They just don't know what to call it to own the rights to the files as well as getting them on disk.

For the upscale clients it's business as usual although they are spending somewhat less.

 

[NateWagner]

so what exactly would you be hosting then? Just the images that people would purchase?

The reason I quoted 500-1000 is that many times people will host large galleries of about that size as proofs that clients can then go through and order.

Also, the amount that people order really depends greatly on the photographer. If the photographer gives the CD of the images then they are less likely to get much done in the way of prints.

 

[NateWagner]

Also, the way most of these places that do similar work is to host the images and offer a shopping cart of sorts. They then fulfill the order for a percentage of the commissions, and often hit you with a monthly fee as well.

If all you're planning on doing is hosting the images, one struggle might be that many photographers have a website and hosting already and can just put their images online and host them on their own with no need to pay. The only value is the shopping cart and the software/ease of use side of it.

 

[KmH]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, if it is please move it.

I am a software developer and my wife is looking to become a wedding photographer and while looking for an online proofing option for her I think I've stumbled onto a business model to allow me to charge hardly any money to host full resolution proofs for people to proof and purchase.

I just need to know how many pictures from a proof set on average are purchased by the couple, friends and family. The key to my business is hoping that enough are bought to fund this business and keep it above water. I've run a bunch of numbers over the last week but I need some input from the community.

Thanks for the help!

Are you in the US or another country? If the US what part? The Internet went international a while back. :thumbup:

 

[perfect wedding]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, if it is please move it.

I am a software developer and my wife is looking to become a wedding photographer and while looking for an online proofing option for her I think I've stumbled onto a business model to allow me to charge hardly any money to host full resolution proofs for people to proof and purchase.

I just need to know how many pictures from a proof set on average are purchased by the couple, friends and family. The key to my business is hoping that enough are bought to fund this business and keep it above water. I've run a bunch of numbers over the last week but I need some input from the community.

Thanks for the help!

Well... I think I am little bit late in the game. You can get possible information from my signature link. We are best wedding photographers and we can definitely help you... Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[bhphotography]

I host all of the images on my own server. I create the galleries using a program called jalbum. I think they are at www.jalbum.net. It's a free program, with many skins, some include paypal integration (which is what I use). It's not the best of a gallery, but it works. If I give out the digital negatives, I hardly ever receive print sales. Most people want the digital negatives. Some clients get their dvd and completely forget that I offer prints in the package, that they have paid for...

 

[KmH]

Some clients get their dvd and completely forget that I offer prints in the package, that they have paid for...

Pretty amazing, huh?
And figure they got over on you to boot!

 

[heninsmithy]

Yeah, that's really amazing. Thanks for sharing,,,,,,,,,

 

[templatephotoshop]

We have an incentive program that makes the bride and their families purchase $1000 worth of prints before they qualify for the digital files. Seems to work really well for us.

 

[Formatted]

Well... I think I am little bit late in the game. You can get possible information from my signature link. We are best wedding photographers and we can definitely help you... Thanks for sharing with us.

Right! Thanks for sharing that with us. You post doesn't make any sense and doesn't even begin to answer the question originally stated.

Doesn't Smugmug provide free templates that do what you are asking?