Showing Ceremony images at Reception...

<p>Do you show your ceremony pictures at the reception? If so, what kind of projector/equipment do you use?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Yes, frequently.........a laptop.</p>

<p>How do you project them onto the wall and what program do you all use to create a quick slideshow?</p>

<p>macbook pro + iPhoto or Lightroom + DLP projector</p>

<p>Why? This seems an odd thing to do, and a real distraction for the photographer when he/she has more important things to do.<br>

As a guest, I don't think I'd be interested; I was just there, and now there are people to talk to, food to eat, dancing tobe done.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>As a guest, I don't think I'd be interested; I was just there</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I agree. If I was there a few hours ago, I don't need to see it again. It's a bit like kids who take pictures of their friends on their phones and have to show them a couple of seconds later.</p>

<p>I could never understand this. You were just there!</p>

<p>Secondly, what happened to the old adage of only showing your best (final product).</p>

<p>Not usually.</p>

<p>I don't have time to upload and work anything between ceremony and receptions in 99% of the weddings I shoot.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Many of the big wedding photographers do this. They must have an assistant who puts it all together while he/she is shooting the formals. </p>

<p>I tried it a couple of times when it was requested - far too much effort and I found I didn't really want to show the images till I'd done my final selections and editing.<br>

The images looked good and everyone enjoyed looking at them, but I found it too much of a distraction. I won't do it again.<br>

I agree that it would be better to have an assistant do the editing, projecting etc - it might work a lot better that way.</p>

<p>No, never. I take the images in RAW format and the images need to be color balanced and other corrections made. I am not going to show people images that are not as good as I can get the images.</p>

<p>I do load the images on a laptop, more for safe keeping than anything.</p>

<p>This has been discussed a number of times in the past.....you could try a search. A few years ago David Jay was touting the benefits of using his showit slideshow on a laptop at the reception and I eagerly embraced the idea back then. The image below is from a reception where I looped the slideshow (no sound) on a laptop that the guests could see while everyone was dancing and enjoying the reception after dinner. The idea of projecting the images on a large screen could likely be a bit of overkill. I've seen it done for slideshows of the couple's childhood days along with engagement and courtship photos but it seems a bit much just for same day ceremony pics.</p><div></div>

<p>The reception is the place for the bride and groom to meet their guests; trying to compete with photos taken at the ceremony may not be in the best method of showing your skills.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>At my own wedding, we showed a slideshow of childhood (and college, since that's where my wife and I met all those years ago) photos, and it was a great success. I don't think anyone would have cared about the ceremony photos, because as others have mentioned, the guests were just there.</p>

<p>That said, I think adding something to your package offerings of putting together a slideshow based on images your clients supply, using your own artistry and technical savvy, might be a nice add-on and something which can be produced long before the wedding day.</p>

<p>I was a guest at a wedding where they did a slideshow and I hated it. It interrupted the dancing and it went on forever. I think if you want to show some images be sure to keep them to a minimum. People want to socialize, dance, meet with the bride and groom, etc., not spend 15 minutes looking at something that they just saw a few hours ago. Plus, not as many guests went to the proofing site after the wedding because they had already viewed the pictures at the reception. This could result in a loss of print sales. I don't mean to sound harsh, I guess I just didn't have a good experience with it. </p>