How long should it take... really?

I shot a wedding on September 25th, more than 400 images from the

shoot. My client (the MOTB) called asking for her photos last

Saturday. I felt like I was taking too long, but it was only three

weeks and this is a part time gig for me. Our deal was for

proofs "in about three or four weeks". I suppose she is

understandably anxious, but I felt really preassured when she

called. I am delivering her proofs tonight, 24 days after her

duaghter's wedding.

 

How long should it take? I shoot digital, edit all images myself,

and deliver CDs - all on evenings and weekends when I'm not working

my 'day job'. Is proof delivery within a month reasonable? What are

you guys promising? delivering?

My experience is that if I tell anybody that pictures will be ready in 3-4 weeks, they will call by the beginning of fourth week. I would not interpret it as being pushed. I think they are simply looking forward to see the pictures.

 

It's still better than one particular individual I had to deal with. She said "three weeks are fine" and then promised "pictures within next 24 hours" to the newspaper. Long story.

Hey Derrick

 

I too shoot Digital, and my delievery time is 3-4 weeks. I also do my own proofing and editing, so i know how you feel. I think a month is a good time. If you are feeling that you are running late, just let them know, and i am sure they will understand. Just do your best, and everything will work out.

 

Anton

wow and digital is supposed to be easier..

i shoot film, i typically deliver the proofs in three days.

because i get all my money up front, before i start shooting, i feel i owe it to them to get the images as fast as possible.

my MO, it works for me.

Hi Derrick, I'll preface my response with the boilerplate "I'm not a Pro".

 

Having said that, I'm not sure why it would take more than a couple of hours to do initial exposure & white-balance cleanup on 400 images - for *proofs*, not for final images for the printer. When I'm on a trip where the main objective is photography, I shoot RAW at the rate of a couple hundred or so images a day, then do basic tweaks after sunset using CaptureOne. Doesn't take more than maybe 1/2 hour to go thru 200 or so images.

 

Maybe you're taking your proofs too far. Seems like you should reserve that time for the images that the MOTB will select for prints.

Our contract says three to six weeks, and right now, it's more like six weeks due to delays at our lab. We like to keep in touch with clients during that six weeks. If we drop off the film at the lab and delays are long, we'll shoot an email to the B&G letting them know that it's going to be more than three weeks and probably closer to six, and we'll include one or two of our favorite digital photos to tide them over. This seems like a VERY popular service.

 

When we got married, the photographers didn't say boo for six weeks (the contractual deadline) and when we finally called them after 6.5 weeks, they were like, "We were just about to call you..."

 

That's not the way I like to do business. My recommendation would be to pad your delivery date (three to six weeks instead of three to four) and then to make sure to contact the client before the three weeks is up. Many clients are so excited that the moment they enter the "window" of proof delivery dates, they'll be calling and emailing. You can preempt this--and make them very happy--with an email explaining the delays and a couple of attached photos for them.

 

Best!

-Adam

I shoot film, do not give proofs but put all useable images in the Album and have now

'redone' my workflow so that it takes me 8-10 weeks to finish an album from wedding

date to delivery. That includes the 3-4 weeks that it usually takes to order and receive the

albums.

I like the idea of a preemptive e-mail and 'teaser' images - I'll probably do that in the future. I'll probably also stop telling people "I often deliver proofs in two weeks" (I often do, but I probably shouldn't say it)

 

Mr. Zapped makes an interesting point about time spent on proofs. I go through each image after the initial cut and make any adjustments I feel necessary (often none) before giving them out. I don't like giving out any image that won't represent me well, even if it is only a 'proof'. What are others' thoughts on this? How much attention do you give your images before delivery?

Doesn't matter how long it takes or how long someone else takes to get images to the client. What matters is if you say its going to take x weeks/months (whatever), you keep to that commitment. I still shoot film, and deliver proofs in about 3-4 weeks, sometimes sooner.

I always promise a week later than I deliver, that way the client feels better about having gotten their pictures 'early'. I learnt that trick from an experienced wedding photographer who said that it had made all the difference sometimes. Unfortunately with the deals I have at the moment, I promise the proofs between 2-3 weeks. I ususally will have them back and in an album within a week.

We shoot film --in Sunday night out Tuesday afternoon--like clockwork. We ship the negs and prints on Wednesday~~~

Hm. 600 rounds on saturday, 60 selected and edited and sent to the printers on monday.

 

Either I work fast or you guys work slow.

Adam's got a point, IMHO. The pro labs in my town have a longer turn-around than they

used to , partly I think because many of the less high-end labs are now gone and the pro

labs are having to take up the slack. I expect this will settle out as the film/digital ratio

reaches some kind of equilibrium over the next few years.

We have two pro labs in town ..I just alternate between them. But generally never more than 3 days. We do not assemble albums or enlargements. Shoot-deliver 4X6 prints & negs--finished~~

My recommendation is whatever time you tell your client, deliver them sooner than they expected. A plesant surprise is always nice and it puts a good thought into your clients mind. Come up with a time frame you can live with and deliever them sooner!

 

I know that, here in Minnesota, road construction is all the rage, especially during our short summer season and it's always nice to hear that it will be done early!

 

Just a thought!

Five to six days should be the 'norm.'

 

 

 

 

If it were your wedding, would you cater to waiting 3 to 4 weeks to see the results of your 'hired' photographer? (It, shooting a wedding, is not laser-eye surgery, so 30 days to produce a set of 'proof' images is not going to give you a lot of references down the road.)

So when you film shooters get back all 3 or 400 images, do you give them ALL to the customer? SURELY you don't want to give them 3 copies of EACH formal (you do take extras right?) plus all the blinkers, out of focus shots, shots that just suck, etc right? Part of the post processing work in digital is deleting the files you know are throw aways.

 

It normally takes me about 45 minutes to sift through all the photos and seperate keepers from tossers. Lets say i end up with 200 keepers, it normally takes me about 30-45 seconds per photo for basic curves, saturation, even a basic BW conversion, and maybe even a clone stamp or two.... so thats no more then two hours total to get good looking digital proofs ready to go.

 

And to answer somebody above, I am also a fan of making sure that whatever the customer gets, is your best work. Some images may take me 5 minutes to edit, some I dont have to edit at all. If an image looks bad, I fix it or toss it. I would never give my digital shots to a customer right out of the camera, because we all know at that point they are just negatives and aren't finished yet. Every image will require SOME tweaking.

 

Always put your best foot foward.

Since we include the negs--the B&G receive all the prints! --But from the 200/300 images we capture >> we still guarantee 33 of 36 per roll. Our exposures are executed ~ all manually ~ so the only forseable reject >> is closed eyes, facial expressions, etc. When your package includes all negs ^^^ the clients see everything!<div></div>

My dad's friend had his daughter's wedding in August and he let me take some photos as practice. Of course he hired his own pro's for the job. 2 guys doing some digital stuff. I shot film. Although i never got in the way of the pro's i was always on the opposite side the furthest away from the pro's. He had 3 functions and let me be the main photographer for 1 of it though.

 

Anyway, I gave them an album of 6x4's and some enlargments in less than 2 weeks. By the time the pro's gave them a low res CD of ALL the images (bad and good) in about 4 weeks the album i gave them had been well thumbed. They were supposed to choose from 1000 or so images to put in an album. I don't know but somehow the mother kinda gave me a feeling that she just wasn't that excited about the pro's images anymore.

 

I don't know but wouldn't you lose interest a bit after a month or so. You're just not in the wedding mood anymore. Work goes on as usual. Well, that's just my opinion. I think just under 3 weeks for proofs should be the norm. Any longer and the excitement is gone. All the relatives have gone home and no one other than the direct family will see the photos.

 

I know it's gonna be difficult though if you're just doing it part time but for pros should it really take 21 days to create proofs for 200-300 or so images. That's like editing 10-15 images a day only.

Iskandar, remember that many pros shoot every weekend, sometimes Friday and Saturday.

It's not just how many images can be processed at what rate to calculate turn around time. Saturday is for shooting. The rest of the week is for the rest of the wedding photog's activities to maintain an active and successful business. Meeting new clients, updating portfolios, buildng albums, taking orders, prints, advertising, bridal shows, proofing. Wedding photography is "simple". Shoot, print, deliver. The business of wedding photography is what takes significant additional effort and time to be successful.

 

Some have business models that work without this but most people that I know put a lot more time in than just the shoot and proofs.

 

As far as trn around, we strive for three weeks to online proofing but it can go a little longer. Especially when three hurricanes blaze through town in a couple months. Yes, I shoot in the plywood state. Florida, on the space coast.

For me it ussually takes about a week, but ussually i just do a hi res digital cd and then a dvd slideshow as well and a letter allowing them to get the images printed where they like with my recomendations listed. In my higher end packages it would be 3-6 weeks thou, mainly because of the lab time taking a min. of three weeks. thou one they were slow and called me four hours later wanting to know if i wanted to pick them up, not bad for 3 hour dip and dunk processing, lol.

 

now my problem happens to be getting the brides to call me back when they say they are and pay me when i need them to

As a full time pro shooting 120/220 film I promise two weeks and deliver in one. {a phone call to the B&G that the previews are ready while they are on their honeymoon} This exceeds most of their expectations and also frees me up to concentrate on the next weeks work.My lab picks up on Tuesday and delivers on that friday. An hour or less to proof the 200-250 images and off they go. The clients get all the images. Even the blinks -they get a laugh out of them. Best regards -RichD

Derrick......

 

3-4 weeks is a very reasonable time to produce a hard copy presentation of proofs. Good work takes time, especially if you care about every little detail of each photo. I tell my clients that i will produce an online gallery within 3 weeks, as can be seen here:

 

http://essentialmomentsphotography.com/mshmain/

 

I then tell my clients that i will produce the hard copy presentation of proofs two weeks after submitting the onling gallery. Delaying time is important (even if you have to intentionally).......it builds anticipation. If you deliver right away, the day is so fresh in their mind that it doesn't have the same impact as it would if they had to wait with anticipation. I've found that after they've waited 3 weeks and i present to them the online gallery - they grab it and spread it like wild fire to all their friends and family. If they only had the hard copy - how long do you suppose it would take to circulate? Just food for thought. I generate 90% of my reprints from relatives and family being able to view at their conveinence from their home. Kindest Regards,

Jammey Church

I think everyone agrees that proofs should take no longer than 3-4 weeks. I like the idea of presenting an online presentation first. That way more of the family can have a look. Especially the ones that are further away.

 

If you're taking too much time producing the proofs and blaming it on the business end of wedding photography then you've certainly taken on more work than you should.

 

I guess you really should discuss with the wedding couple of your plans and when you can deliver the proofs. Maybe by setting a date for delivery of proofs would make it easier for the couple. If you can have it ready before then...all the better. Call 'em up and arrange an earlier date.

 

If they don't agree with the timeline that you gave before shooting the wedding then you shouldn't take the job.