Advice on editing wedding images

[Adam123]

Hello all, this is my first post (beside my introduction post in the "introduction section") and it regards the editing of wedding images, for more specifically, the editing of images for wedding albums.

I wanted to get some others opinions regarding how images should be edited but i thought it might be worth explaining how Im do things at the oment first. Ok, in the last couple of years I have shot alot of weddings and edited alot of wedding photographs/ albums etc. My work flow for albums goes a little like this> individual images are edited in lightroom and photoshop> album pages are then designed in dg foto art> the pages are then sent off to a company in the UK for printing and assembly. Now in the past, ive always been very consistant in the editing of my wedding images, ive never been too fancy with the edits, stuck soley to colour images and black and white and that was about it. Lately ive started to add a few sepia images into the albums and ive also been playing around with tilt and shift portraits, cross processed images (as well as some presets I have lightroom). My question is: to others out there> if you design wedding albums - do you put a range of different edits into the final album (ie sepia, cross processed etc) or do you keep it quite consistent ie, just colour/ black and white????


Sorry for the long first question!

Adam

 

[Robin Usagani]

Adam, you are the artist so you decide. When I do mine I keep it clean. White background, thin collage border, I like white empty space. I only have either color or b&w. I dont put an image on my background. But it is really up to you.

 

[Adam123]

Thanks for the reply so soon! Ive alwats tried to keep my pages as clean as possible. like you, I never used to put images in my background but I supposed as Ive experimented with other edits ive realised that they could potentionally work within an album. I just dont want to start cluttering up everything - but at the same time I want to ensure I am constantly moving forward on terms of my work.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I think you need to consider your personal style and what your clients expect from you. If at first you show them sample albums with your usual style, then deliver an album with a bunch of different things, they might be put off....or they might be ecstatic (who knows).

Do you let your clients proof your albums before you print them? That would give you a very good idea of what they want. If they like the 'extra' stuff, then go for it.

 

[Adam123]

thats a good point - generally speaking clients wont proof an album before print but might be worth considering for the future

 

[Big Mike]

I think that most wedding photographers that I know, do have their clients proof the album before printing. Considering that the album is usually a very expensive item, it makes sense to make sure they are happy with it, before it's too late to make changes. Of course, that opens up a few problems. For example, they may not get back to you and you would have to 'bug' them to give you the OK. They may also ask for some changes...some small and some big. So how do you deal with that? And how many times would you allow them to go back and forth with changes? I think you would have to come up with a policy and lay it out for the clients. For example, you will make # number of changes for free, but after that, it's $## per hour.

This brings us to a great sales strategy for up-selling your albums. The idea is that you sell them an album with say, 30 sides. But then you design 40 or 50 pages for them to proof. You basically ask them to pick the 30 that they want for the album...but if you have designed them well, they will probably want more than 30...maybe all of them. So you sell them the extra pages as an upgrade. One photographer I know, said that when he started doing this, he averaged an extra $500 per wedding (or something like that).
Of course, you probably don't want to be shady about this. Tell the clients up front that you will design more pages and have them choose the 30 for their album.

 

[Adam123]

Big Mike - thats def a good idea.... However.....what about the extra work thats incurred when your customer only picks the 30 pages (essentially the album they've paid for)???? I suppose sublime sales skills mean that your customer should up- grade their album but that also means that you have to spend even more time going throught an album with a customer (in what essentially could end just being a waste of time).

 

[Big Mike]

Yes, that's certainly a possibility. So like any of this, good salesmanship will really help.

As for the extra time...again, you'd have to figure out a system / procedure that works for you. As a business owner, time is money so you'd have to decide if it's worth your time to spend it with the customer, up-selling albums.

On that point, you can look at your whole business and prioritize your time. For example, I know several photographers who were doing their own processing, album designing, sales etc....and it was just too much. They finally figured out that they had to outsource or delegate certain things, which would allow them to spend their time where it was most valuable...not to mention have time for themselves and/or their families.

For example, you could outsource the album design. There are quite a few 'album designers'...plus, many of the album suppliers will offer a design service. Figure out the costs of that and compare it to the time that you could save.
Some of the photographers I know, outsource some or a lot of their post processing. One guy put it this way...as the photographer and owner of the business, his time was worth at least $50 per hour. He hired someone to do his post processing. Entry level might pay $15 per hour, a good one might demand up to $25 per hour. Either way, it's better for the bottom line, than having him sit at the computer doing it, when he could be out shooting etc.
Some photographers outsource their front line customer support and/or sales. For example, a studio might hire someone to act as the receptionist, secretary, salesman, accountant etc. These are all things that most 'small business' photographers do themselves...and it takes up their time. So if you can generate enough business that you could be shooing instead, it makes sense to give these jobs to someone else.

 

[familyalbumdesigns]

When I design I usually see what is trending. For the most part I, like you, keep it clean and simple. I do like to use the images of the day as faded backgrounds because I like to tell a story and capture the emotions of the day. it all depends on the bride and the theme and feel of the wedding or event. you can get a sense of that from the chosen decor and her dress. For the most part I use color , B&W and tilt shift. I reserve sepia only if the wedding has the old world feeling.
Hope this helps,
Julia

 

[skieur]

Hello all, this is my first post (beside my introduction post in the "introduction section") and it regards the editing of wedding images, for more specifically, the editing of images for wedding albums.

I wanted to get some others opinions regarding how images should be edited but i thought it might be worth explaining how Im do things at the oment first. Ok, in the last couple of years I have shot alot of weddings and edited alot of wedding photographs/ albums etc. My work flow for albums goes a little like this> individual images are edited in lightroom and photoshop> album pages are then designed in dg foto art> the pages are then sent off to a company in the UK for printing and assembly. Now in the past, ive always been very consistant in the editing of my wedding images, ive never been too fancy with the edits, stuck soley to colour images and black and white and that was about it. Lately ive started to add a few sepia images into the albums and ive also been playing around with tilt and shift portraits, cross processed images (as well as some presets I have lightroom). My question is: to others out there> if you design wedding albums - do you put a range of different edits into the final album (ie sepia, cross processed etc) or do you keep it quite consistent ie, just colour/ black and white????


Sorry for the long first question!

Adam

It depends on your customers. Don't assume that everyone is interested in sepia, cross-processed or black and white. When I was the father of the bride, I would certainly not have accepted or appreciated black and white or sepia.

skieur