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What "speed" advantage?


edgreene

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Subject: What "speed" advantage?<p>Saturday afternoon, I shot a

reception for a fellow Guild member who had scheduled two Weddings

but Wedding #1 bogged down, leaving him in a quandary: not shoot the

Wedding reception or dash off to Wedding #2. Guild members often

assist each other so I jumped in.<br>I shot the reception with no

hassle and met up with him later Saturday evening.<br>In our

discussion over the fine shrimp dinner he provided, we talked about

turnaround.<br>He would take the film to the Lab on Monday and

unless something catastrophic happended, he would have the prints,

CDs, enlargements back in his hands by 1PM Mondy. He would mount the

prints, have his assistant custom frame the two enlargements and

deliver the finished package Tuesday evening.<p>We wondered if or

how much faster a professional Wedding shooter using digital could

do the same thing?</br><i>Remember this, on a weekday in my town, an

event shot on film and delivered to the Lab by 10:30 can be on CD

with prints and negs (no enlargements) between Noon & 1PM</i>.

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I think an efficient wedding shooter could hit the same delivery time

with digital, but he or she might work at it all day Sunday. It would

probably take me all day Sunday. Other's may be faster, but I don't

think by much. I know enough to know that certain constants are a

factor in this equation, and that my own digital ineptitude not

withstanding, digital workflow is labor intensive for the

photographer.

 

I thought about making this point over in the "hidden costs of

digital" thread, but it's more on topic here. Digital shifts much of

the work that labs have traditionally done back onto the photographer.

Although there may be a cost savings involved in that shift, time is

money, or rather time is time you could be spending doing something

fun. And I'd rather spend Sunday afternoon drinking beer and

barbequing than running stuff through Photoshop and a qui

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None of the film labs in my area can do that as a matter of normal service. I've asked for

"emergency service" and got it the same day, late afternoon. But never, ever by 1PM.

 

If I shoot a wedding on Saturday using digital, I can, and have, processed the RAW images

the next day, and printed 13X19 contact sheets of around 200 images. But it does take all

day Sunday to do that because I work on every image: cropping, color balancing, and

cloning out distractions or removing blemishes from the brides face. So most of the

images are ready to print even as enlargements ... which I can do as I go if I want. So, with

some effort, an entire package could be delivered Monday AM, (which I've done only twice

since shooting digital).

 

But the real question is why?

 

As my wife pointed out, it looks like it was to easy for the amount being paid.

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There's not any local labs in my area that can turn out stuff that fast. I usually get my prints and negs back within 24 hours, though. I often tell them to take their time and do a good job, so I end up giving them 3 or 4 days. In any event, the bride is expecting a four week wait regardless of how fast I get 'em back from the lab.
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Steve Levine has inserted real wisdom here. Wedding pictures need to be "aged" alittle like

wine to make them fine. Pictures need this time delay to become Memories. Only the

wedding announcement needs to be quickly produced to meet the newspaper's deadline.

 

This "Guild", what is the name of it?

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Agree with Steve and Timber. <p>I don't like digital, but, since I was lucky enough to have a fabulous wedding photographer friend give me a deal for 2 room nites and $300 at a beautiful resort in NH - I let her choose and she shot digital. <p>While at the reception -- She already had wedding pics on her monitor and everyone gathered around to see the slide show. I hated it!! Aside from the distraction at the party -- I also would have prefered to wait a few weeks to see anything.
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Timber ... , apr 04, 2004; 02:11 p.m. asked: "<i>This "Guild", what is the name of it</i>?<p>Central States Professional Photographers Guild. A group of 47 Professional Photographers from Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Colorado. We meet quarterly, usually rotating cities. We trade news, "coordinate" prices, learn new tricks, see new products.<br> About one quarter of us are PJs, most are <i>Certified Master Photographers</i> (not me though), most are Fuji and/or Kodak certified Professionals (like me). There are six of us in Kansas, where I live. Retirees like myself have "emeritus" status, digital has become the purview of more than half, most of them shooting Canon EOS gear.<br> Every wedding photographer should belong to such a Guild (<i>"Guild" because it sounds "Professional"</i>).
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Steve Levine , apr 04, 2004; 09:38 a.m.<i>: "I have never heard of a wedding shooter turning around this fast?I feel that time should be allowed to pass so that the reality of the day leaves the clients eyes.The pictures will then become "the day". Too short a time will ruin this effect</i>".<p>We don't disagree. I empahsized the speed of turnaround because those who shoot digital only always emphasise how fast they can "see" the finished product.<bR> But my clients know with a dead-bang certainty they won't see me or the finished product until I call and ask for an appointment. I emphasize quality of over speed (you don't have much choice with film) of delivery.<br> In the Photosig.com forums, some digital only shooters speak of showing previews the next day in their studios <i>or on site</i> on a laptop!<p> I agree with you 100%.
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In my mind,such speed "cheapens" the value of this kind of professionally produced product.You cannot confuse an artistically created product,with a cheesburger W/biggy-fries.People expect that "quality" takes more than 24 hours.And somehow they might suspect a lack of quality with instant prints,IMHO.I suppose there is room in any market for low priced,quick buck operators that only concern is delivering 30 minute pizza?(Id be carefull,sending people's valuable wedding photos through the shredder at the local Wally-mart though.After all these are once in a lifetime,irreplacable pictures!)When I call a bride 30 days after her wedding.She has already seen "drugstore" point & shoot prints of her wedding,and a has huge anticipation of the "pro" photos.This may be BS or hype,but is part of the mystique of professional photography.
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Not sure I have ever turned prints that quickly (esp.not film). My normal "speed" is 2-4 weeks, allowing plenty of time for any fun I want to have with the shots digitally. If asked I will return them within a week. I feel like any faster, especially with digital, is not allowing enough time to make things 'happen'. Speed with wedding shots, IMHO, is secondary at best (though you may have to promise it to get the job).
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A friend of mine who shoots weddings digitally delivers his albums about a month after the wedding. It takes him about 2 days to process the images and then when they are ready he FTP's them to his lab. It takes him a few days before he actually starts working on the images though. He is a very busy guy.
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If I need it I can get a finished album, prints or whatever in 24 hours. I like to step away from a shoot for a day which I can do with a wedding but almost never with commercial work. I think it cheapens wedding photos in the eyes of the customer if the wedding book is waiting on them when they return home. Still, film has always had a slower turn around for me. I mean, I can FTP a digital file today and FedEx will bring me prints before lunch tomorrow. I never got that from an out of town lab printing from negatives.

 

Rick H.

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