New Opportunity

I know wedding photographers are not often involved in providing

prints and albums anymore. I am investigating an expansion of our

video services to include video photo albums of weddings. We have

been in business for 20 years providing video photo shows set to

music for anniversaries, graduations, etc. We have never pursued

weddings. Since people don't buy the big bound wedding albums anymore

is there a market here? I'm thinking first anniversary may be the

ideal target since money may be available and with a year past they

may want to see a presentation of the wedding (assuming the couple is

still together). Do you wedding photographers provide any such

service? Would you be willing to share client lists with me for a

small referral fee? Appreciate your comments.

"I know wedding photographers are not often involved in providing prints and albums anymore." Huh?

 

 

 

Some photographers are not digital now, and may never be....

Well then, answer the question. Would a video photo album be something you are interested in offering your client? Many film based wedding photographers I have spoken with are not offering reprints and albums. They simply don't want the hassle on what has become low margin work.

Dave, I see that you've been a member for quite a long time, but possibly haven't spent

much time on the wedding board. I just joined recently myself.

 

I think you're mispercieving the market opportunity here. The demand for traditional

albums is still there, and now there's the whole "coffee-table" style album/book market

which if anything has grown the market for after-the-shoot products.

 

While a few new digi shooters may be handing over a CD, I would daresay that most are

still doing prints, whether as 4x6s, traditional albums, coffee table books, image boxes,

etc. The range of products is dizzying, and even includes cutting edge solutions like iPOD

Photos, Epson Media Viewers.

 

DVD slideshows, which seems to be your idea of a "new opportunity" is actually pretty

much standard, if not 'old hat". There are even off-the-shelf software solutions for

generating such things: think Proshow Gold, even iPhoto.

 

So, to summarize, I think you may be barking up the wrong tree!

Dave, while traditional film based photographers may still offer printed album services,

there are many opportunities to construct video shows from stills where just about any set

of digital files (or scanned film) can be put to music and burned to a DVD for TV viewing

on any in-home DVD player or computer.

 

Takes very little time to construct with programs like iPhoto, and iDVD, not to mention the

latest versions of iMovie. Music is also available and editable as part of these simple

programs. There are similar programs available to PC users.

 

So, if there's money to made in it, the photographer will do it themselves ... because

recent software has made it almost fool proof and easy.

Photographers are really missing a good income opportunity if they are not going through the trouble to at least have a few sample albums on hand. It's a good idea to offer a storybook style album, traditional matted, and maybe something with an artisitc flair. I don't know about all of you, but the only reason some brides choose me is because I can offer the albums. Sure, it requires and investment in software, time, and the growing pains of figuring out what works best. But at the same time, you need to charge for your product.

 

No, I would not outsource DVD production work. Once I'm done with my images, it's a simple as importing 20-40 images into a template and do a little tweaking. Print a lable or directly on the CD, and I'm all set to go in the same time it would've taken me to email you image files and arrange for payment.

 

However, there are plenty of brides and grooms out there who might be willing to have you do this for them if they have the image files. That might be a good market to test. I don't think there's anything wrong with asking questions about new opportunities like this. That's how you learn what works and what doesn't and where your potential market is.

I myself still use wedding albums and dvd's. I'm fully digital as well. I just happen to out source where I do everything after the shoot. so there really isin't much of a need for that in my opinion because with my dvd burning software it creates a slidshow on tv or computer, with my album company i can get flush mount books or tradional wedding albums. Sorry i think in the world of digital it's so easily done, because even those using film have all thier images technically scanned before they're printed with the new machines and could get a slide show made at that time. keep trying thou, i'm sure something will come along.