Slideshow of Ceremony at Reception? Yay or nay?

[genuinefoto]

Note: I am new here and didn't really know the best place to post this, so if this isn't the best place, sorry in advance!

I have only done a handful of weddings, as I have only officially been doing photography (in a business sense) since last October. A potential client contacted me after seeing my work from a wedding I did that was a friend of hers.

She says that for her wedding, they are having a very small ceremony (i.e. her, him, the MOH, BM, and officiant). Consequently, when they go to the reception (which is approx. 125 people), they were hoping I could display some of the photos from their ceremony on said iPad (their iPad I guess?).

I feel kind of uneasy about this for a couple reasons. 1. I don't like displaying unfinished work. It means a lot to me to spend time in post-process and THEN display a final product. 2. Does this mean I need to download my images on to one of their devices? I wouldn't want them having any of my unedited photos. I have a laptop of course but I don't really think I want to be concerned with it sitting out or anything like that. Besides my laptop, I would have no other way of displaying my photos except through a device of theirs.

Has anyone ever done this and what are your thoughts on the idea? Where is the line between accommodation and technical business guidelines?

Thanks guys!

 

[dennybeall]

People today, especially young people, are very tech savvy. Many want and expect instant gratification. A slide show takes just a minute to put together. If you shoot in raw with a jpg kicker you can grab some jpgs into a laptop and put them in a folder established in advance for the show. Nobody is doing a critique of your shots - they just want to see the ceremony.
I like to do a show in advance of the bride and groom growing up and show it also.

 

[tirediron]

Both of your concerns are valid. As far as the slide show goes, that would depend on what they wanted. If time permitted, I might go ten watermarked images. As for putting them on their device? Would. Not. Happen. Ever.

 

[goooner]

Most projectors have a USB slot these days. Maybe put some 'low res' images (sufficient for the projector resolution), watermarked images on a usb stick. Stick it in the projector , and after the show stick it in your pocket.

 

[Designer]

Nobody is doing a critique of your shots - they just want to see the ceremony.

I disagree. True, while practically nobody will stand there and badmouth the photographer, there is still the overall impression that is transferred to the viewers about the perceived skill of the photographer. They won't say anything right then and there, but if the subject comes up with the B&G later, you can be sure they will offer their opinions.

Ordinarily, the people attending the reception probably JUST SAW the ceremony, so no need for that. In this case, if there is some reason they don't want to invite people to the ceremony but invite them to the reception is kind of strange.

Besides; all this "hurry up and do it faster" is anathema to producing good work.

Offer to produce a slideshow and make it available on your own website in say about a week. Put up an easel with your announcement along with your web address and when the slideshow will be available.

 

[dennybeall]

Sometimes we need to consider other peoples needs and wants instead of our own vanities. We're really talking about people that are happy with cell phone photos...........

 

[Big Mike]

This is a tricky one. It can go really well, which may help you book more clients....but it could also go poorly.

I've worked with photographers who do this. One of them stopped doing it because it was just taking to long to get the photos to a point where they were happy to show them off in a slide show.

Another photographer still does it, and it works well for him.
The procedure is that before the reception, all cameras are set to RAW+small JPEG. Then, as soon as we get to the reception, he takes the cards and off loads the small JPEGS. It happens very fast because he has a fast card reader and they are small JPEG files.

He then goes though them, picks out the best shots, gives them minor edits in Lightroom and creates a slideshow, which is displays on his laptop. There are a couple reasons why this works for him. Number one is that he's a really good photographer who is a master at off camera lighting. The photos don't need heavy editing, just basic processing. The next is that he is pretty quick at processing. He has an accessory keyboard with 20-30 customizable buttons, which he uses to edit/process very quickly.

Part of shooting with him, is that I'm definitely on-duty while he's doing the slideshow. That is usually a big issue for photographers who consider doing this. There are many photo opportunities at the beginning of the reception, and you don't want to be hunkered down with your face in a laptop, but you don't want to miss the photos. So doing this, is much harder if you are shooting on your own.

 

[Dave442]

I was at a wedding recently where they ran a set of photos from the engagement session during the reception. The reception area had a DJ with a full lighting setup and a TV on each column. The images were shown on these TV's in a slideshow with music. Part of it is the timing and in this case there was a wedding planner that was in charge of when these were shown. Showing the engagement session focuses all the shots on just the couple.

I think if you show shots from the ceremony there are people that will feel left out.

I think it is worthwhile to have the capability to have photos uploaded, processed and posted instantly, but I would be reluctant to do this at a wedding. The solution I have seen is to upload to your server and the files that arrive there go in a folder where those are then automatically processed and automatically posted to your preferred service (such as Facebook).