For those who give CDs to clients...

[todd1664878707]

With my style of shooting, I end up converting about 1/3 to as much

as 1/2 of my digital images to B&W. I have always given the client

the B&W in addition to the original color image just incase they

don't like the image in B&W. From my perspective, if I convert an

image to B&W, I believe it is better viewed as a B&W image. The

problem that I'm having, is I'm afraid I'm giving the client too many

images and too many choices. When you give a CD to a client, do you

take out the original color images for the images you converted to

B&W?

[alan_chan4]

I am not a wedding shooter or pro, but I think giving the clients too many choices is not neceassily a good thing. Always show the best pictures, and never duplicate similar pictures will leave a +ve impression to your clients. I think the photographer should make the tough choice between colour & B&W, not the clients.

[steve_gibbs1]

Edit heavily. I think giving your client hundreds of images only detracts from

the especially good ones in the pile. Wedding coverage should be a "quality"

thing, not "quantity".

 

If you convert to B&W alot, maybe give them a choice of a CD with just B&Ws.

Although some of my clients order color AND B&W for their album, I find this

distracting and just inconsistant.

[phil vaughan - yorkshire u]

I convert everything to B&W as a batch, then delete all the formals, then go through deleting ones that work better either colour or B&W. I then chose some obvious ones for spot colour, then repeat the cull.

 

I don't shoot tons (by some standards), never give choices of 'similar' proofs, however I don't believe my clients can imagine how a B&W picture will look in colour or vice versa.

[KenPapai]

I think it is easier to get a higher %age of good shots at weddings, where most of the action is at snail's pace. If I shoot a fast-moving sports event (i.e., bike racing) and take 250 exposures, I am mad at myself if even 5 turn out bad.

<p>

The hardest part of weddings are the traditional poses. If everyone would assemble themselves automaticlly like automatons (and do not blink or frown) and be in position at the right time to get the posed stuff out of the way then the rest is cake. Just try to be a little original and creative with th PJ stuff.

[jaimie blue]

"When you give a CD to a client, do you take out the original color images for the images you converted to B&W? "

 

Probably give them all of the images in colour...repeat some images in B/W to give them samples, and maybe a few in sepia to give them some samples of that too. I like to believe that the client has some reasonable intelligence and can figure out how things might look in B/W. I know many photographers here make such a big deal out of the images that can be B/W and the "special" way you have to see in B/W, blah blah blah, but I am willing to believe an audience in this day and age has enough ability to view colour and imagine it in B/W. I do not think that this is a particular skill only given to a "brilliant" photographer. I do 2 to 4 weddings a day 4 days a week with clients from all over the world and every one of them has mentioned that they can visualize the shots from colour to B/W. Not everything has to be so spelled out for the viewer, or seen with some special exclusive eye.

[patrick_lockwood]

For black and white, I shoot with black and white film, which, depending on the type of film, of course, has a different quality, and so color is not an issue that can be raised, and that is how I deal with it. The rest is a combination of color digital and color film, which I leave in color. Some things I convert, here and there, but usually offer both for those.

 

 

Patrick

[photolace]

Todd,

I trust my own judgement. If an image just begs to be black and white, and the client highered you because they saw you do black and white (most of those will mention that fact!) then why worry? Black and white always rocks, is always timeless and beautiful. It speaks loudly without distraction.

If all else fails, the client can just ask if they can get the color version! No worries. ~L.

[khitrovg]

Todd,

Very good question. No I give the clients the original images without any touch ups at full resolution. I tell them upfront that this is the way they will get their CD/DVD. Allowing me to show them the difference between photos that they could order and the photos that they receive from the pro studio. This approach often follows with many more re-prints. Which otherwise could be ordered by the client from Wal-Mart...

 

 

Greg

[rich_taylor____mequon__wi]

You're the pro, make the decisions. The less you leave up to the clients (in most cases), the better the result, and the less pressure is on them. I like to decide which images will be best in b/w and I do not show the original color capture for comparison. Trust your instinct about showing too many images. I agree with you.

 

Not everybody can do this, but I am very impressed with Tony Corbell's approach. He doesn't even show proofs.

He promises to provide an extraordinary photographic story of the special day, and that's what he does. People hire him to capture their wedding, and he has them trust in his vision. He makes all the decisions and presents them with a finished album.

 

That's a goal I'd like to aspire to, and eliminate the entire proof process. It will take a bit to get there, but I'm working on it.

 

Ken, what question were you answering?

[david_coleman4]

For CD's, whatever the client gets shown I would put in some sample prints to show them. I only show colour images but have a retouched colour and B/W sample print. People are very poor at visualising so I give them something tangiable to hold and see.

 

Mind you, my application is a little different. I have a base package which the clients gets all the images to make their own prints / albums from. Because some labs may do a less than perfect job of doing the prints, I give them a couple of samples so any bad prints are automatically seen as the labs fault rather than them even thinking there was something wrong with the photography.

 

I only give out cd's as proofs AFTER the album is delivered. I have not done proofs save for thumbnails printed on an inkjet since I went digital and again the clients only get them after the album is delivered.

 

While the clients are on their honeymoon I make up all the album pages. I usually do around 50 pages even though I know the clients in most cases can only afford 35-40. Basically when the clients come back I tell them the images came up so well I decided to make a display album of their wedding and started to lay up some pages and got so enthused I ended up doing the whole thing.

 

I then show them all the images taken in a slide show on the computer. When they have seen all these unedited images, I show them through the album pages I have laid up. I tell them if they want to change, add or delete any pics that is fine. So far in over 20 albums, apart from deleting pages, I have only had to change about 6 pre-made pages.

 

Although I let the client think they are making all the decisions, I just guide them into making the right ones :)

[cjogo]

We include a unedited CD of everything >> if the B&G would like any corrections ~ what so ever--they can perform the necessary operations >>> or pay us..

[splat]

On the CD we give both color and black and white versions. We print only the version we think is best for the proof album (the only prints we provide). The proof prints are also often cropped while the files are always uncropped to give them maximum flexability. The CD also often included other extra images that weren't the strongest but which they may wonder what happened to them if they don't see them. After all putting files on a CD is free to me.

[luke ramirez]

If you feel the image looks better in black and white, then give them only that. When you were hired, it was because of your artistic vision, not because you gave the same photos in color and black and white. Whatever works best for you is what works for your client.