Brides Taking Forever To Provider Pics For Album

<p>We just completed our 2nd full year of wedding photography and many of last year's brides ordered our packages that include wedding albums. We have been chasing 5 brides with little success, one as far back as last May, to provide images they want on their albums.</p>

<p>Our wedding photography agreement does not address time limits on providing images for album and I'm wondering if other wedding photographers do include that language in their agreements.</p>

<p>Also, would like advice on how to deal with brides that keep putting this task off???</p>

<p>Given how busy life gets, I don't feel it's fair to ask a bride to select her own album pictures; that's partly why she hired a photographer, isn't it?</p>

<p>My clients hire me to shoot the wedding <em>and</em> design the albums. On the extremely rare occasion, a bride will want to see the album design before I send to print, but in 99% of cases, they just let me do my thing and wait for the album. No complaints. I <em>do </em>ask them to pick which image they would like enlarged though.</p>

<p>You might want to consider trying that model this year.</p>

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<p>I specify in the contract we sign how long terms of the features remain valid. After that, there's an additional fee because I'm having to store all that stuff and it's so likely that when someone finally does get around to it, it's at a time when I'll be very busy with something else.</p>

<p>This was one of the reasons that I left selling albums out of my business plan when I was working as a wedding photographer. It just wasn't worth the frustration to me. That having been said, I knew I was leaving money on the table.</p>

<p>I think if I were going to do it, I would see how the market reacted to Mark's kind of plan where the photographer did all the image choosing and design.</p>

<p>In our contract the price is subject to change after 6 months. I'm with Mark K on this....many photographers choose the photos and design it for them....chasing them down will drive you crazy...and it can get costly.</p>

<p>The only thing is to get a feel or ask....do they want the album to be more about them and less about family and friends or equal amount of both. We normally ask....what images are must haves(grandma, grandpa .etc)...maybe special people. After that...I would try to convince them to trust your expertise.</p>

<p>Also put together an album that you designed to show them...so they can see your take on a wedding story....if done right...this will help to convince them....</p>

<p>Manuel, I feel you on this. I was debating how to address this in my contract because if it's been more than a year the company I use to produce my albums has likely increased their costs, and in my album model I charge a design fee of $17.50/page and currently charge $300 for the album production because that is approximately the amount it costs me to have the company produce the 20-page 10x10 flush mount album. My philosophy is they are paying me for my design, not for me being a middle man. So I don't ever mark up the production cost.</p>

<p>I give the couples the choice of either having me pick out the images or them picking out the images. All but one couple so far has chosen to select their own images. In my consultations with potential clients, the question usually comes up as to whether or not they will get to pick their own images for their album, and it actually seems to be a selling point. That way their album is more personal to them. To make it easier on them though, I do on the online proofing site create a highlight reel (what pictures I basically would put in the album if I were to design it) which is a subset of the entire gallery, and that is where most of my clients get their shots from and then they sometimes pick out a few random other shots.</p>

<p>But for those couples that wait a longer time, I may end up eating some production cost when the album company increases their costs. I've yet to have a couple wait over a year, but am thinking that I might want to put a provision into the contract that says if it has been over a year that I can then make their album without their selection of the photos or that there will be an associated increase in cost, say $50 since the album itself will now cost me more to produce.</p>

<p>One way to handle it may be as that year mark approaches, if they still haven't responded, make a draft design and send it to them. This should hopefully make the process easier for them and kick start them into the editing mode. Yes you run the risk of them saying we hate this design, and picking totally different photos and you having to start from scratch, but I'd rather do that, than just be left waiting and waiting.</p>

<p>If I let the bride choose, I'd go crazy. It's in the contract that I select.</p>

<p>The bride and groom view all of the images on a medium resolution photo CD in the comfort and privacy of their home. They make a list of the images they would like in their album---they know that the more images they select the fewer the page style elements due to page room considerations. I do the layout for four -five pages and get their input on details like color harmony and color of the stroke around the images. Once I feel we are all together in the artistic department I finish the album layout. Before I send the order to the lab the bride and groom approve the finished layout. It is amazing how we all will notice little things which can be easily corrected at this point. I have never had a couple say after receiving their album, "Damn, I wish we hadn't done that, or I wish I had seen this thing." The confidence level on all our parts at this point is as close to 100% as you can get. Millers Lab accurately delivers what I send to them.</p>

<p>1. Yes, you should put limits in your contract re album completion and state what happens if that deadline is not met (fees, increases, etc).</p>

<p>2. One of the big reasons for couples not making their selections is the fact that they feel overwhelmed by the task. It is too hard to make decisions, and takes too much time to go through and compare images. This is even more the case these days when the number of images they receive can be over a thousand.</p>

<p>I don't require my clients to select each and every image to go in an album. Just ask them to give you a list of their favorite images--ones they want to see appear larger in the album. The number can be as small as they feel comfortable with. Then ask for a list of family groups to go in the album. They don't even have to sit and compare the groups, if you shot two of each. Just indicate which groups. Most people can handle this.</p>

<p>After you get the lists, design an album, proof it and present it for their approval. Allow x number of rounds of changes by a certain deadline, or you may be going on forever. Get the approval in writing. Caution them to carefully proof such things as spellings and dates. You're done.</p>

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<p>This is even more the case these days when the number of images they receive can be over a thousand.</p>

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<p>Another good argument for quality over quantity there.</p>

<p>If a client wants an Album, it's a separate transaction for me. They can select to do one upon signing, or do it later ... which most fail to do.</p>

<p>I stipulate in the sub-contract for the album that I will select the images to tell the story of their wedding day, do the design, and then PDF a copy to them to approve. They get two weeks to do this, and are allowed up to 6 image swaps for the base album price. This focuses the client on a doable task. To date no one has swapped out 6 shots ... the most I've been asked to do is 3 so far. </p>

<p>Albums are paid up front, no exceptions. Design fee plus production costs. If they decide to make multiple copies, those must also be paid up front prior to the book going into production at the lab.</p>

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<p>I don't allow the bride to choose her photos, I do the initial design of the album then at the 1st viewing invite them to change anything they want. Some change a photo, rarely more than 1 or 2 photo changes. I allow some pages blank for them to advise on family group shots otherwise all the rest is the cream of the day. So the album is made and collected one month after the wedding, all done.</p>

<p>I only offer albums in my top package that also includes the disc of the images. I used to have the same issue of couples taking forever to make their album selections UNTIL I made it so that the disc would not be delivered until the album was made and the print credit was used. I now have couples complete everything within a few months of their wedding, sometimes within weeks of the images going online for proofing.</p>

When was the wedding? If you are worried about them, which shouldn't be the case, at the 1 year mark let them know your prices are going up and you may not be able to make their album at the set price at the time of the wedding took place.

A photo friend of mine that sells albums states in the contract the prices are for 6 months. After that the prices may go up in price due to lab and album price increases.

<p>A phone call to ask permission to design the album using your choices might be helpful at this point. Because they feel overwhelmed, they may be relieved to have you make the offer, and see it as the service it really is. You may be surprised at how willing they are to allow you to make the choices now, even if they were reluctant before. </p>

<p>You can offer to do what Vail suggests -- provide a sample layout -- but I'd start by asking for permission to make the decisions yourself. Having that permission in hand will tend to reduce resistance when they see your proposed layout.</p>

<p>And it's worth setting a time limit now, if they're reluctant. Explain that you can only guarantee prices for a year from the wedding date -- that vendors change prices, and that you may be using different vendors after a time, not to mention the cost, to you, of storing images and the burden of having unfinished business. Most clients will appreciate this. Since the deadline isn't in your written agreement, you face a challenge (which you might be able to overcome) in enforcing it legally, but that's not the point of having this discussion. Just set the deadline and insist gently but firmly that delays beyond that point will incur additional fees (which you should be prepared to state, and which should be reasonable).</p>