karen barnes Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 Hello. I've just been asked to shoot my first paid wedding, and the bride has requested a magazine style album. Unfortunately, all of the companies I have checked don't work with photographers who are non-pro/don't have an established studio. Does anyone have recommendations for companies who will be willing to work with me and who do decent quality work? Thank you so much for your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Taylor Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 My lab Pikto does nice books, but they are in Toronto. www.pikto.ca/books Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdp Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 Shutterfly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooke_moore Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 MPIX, is fantastic. The software is simple but has tons of premade templates and it is so easy to customize from there. Great prices and enough choices to satisfy most clients. Since it is a full service lab with a retail side bar you will have properly adjusted files on each page!!! Give them a look. Brooke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john at storybook pages Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 Storybook Pages provides complete album design/print/bind service for photographers who'd rather outsource. You send us the photos you want in the album, we design the page spreads and you approve online. Then we have our designs printed and bound by any of the leading album companies: GraphiStudio, Leather Craftsmen, VisionArt, Asuka book, Zookbinders, etc. Free design 'audition' for prospective clients. www.storybookpages.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip_johansen Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 MyPublisher does a nice job. The software is cool and easy to use and if you go through the Costco photo web site you can usually get a nice discount. http://www.mypublisher.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen barnes Posted September 25, 2007 Author Share Posted September 25, 2007 Thank you all for your suggestions. They've been very helpful. The bride is on a rather tight budget (obviously, since she's hiring me when I've only shot one unpaid wedding), but wants a ton of stuff (such as 4 magazine style books, save-the-date magents, etc, etc.) Trying to sort all this out and still make a profit after paying for all the lab costs is a little overwhelming. Do the MPIX and Mypublisher options produce decent looking images. I'm sure the Storybook option is well out of her price range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jana w. Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 For the magazine style albums, does she want an ablum or a book? An actual album might be hard to come by for you. Shutteryfly or Mpix are good options for what I call "Story Books". Another option is a self-mount album. The one I have used in the past is a Reniassance self-mount album from Michel Company, price starts off at $55 for 8x10 album (the have small and larger size albums in this style) and then you get the printed layouts from a lab. Candid2000 have tons of good templates and are a good price. So the cost for the smallest 8x10 album with the layouts is around $120. Candid2000 offers albums as well. One I saw in a magaine is $200 but I haven't used them for albums before. The looked pretty good from the ad though. You don't have to have a studio or a tax ID for Michels or Candid2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jana w. Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Oh yeah, you said she wanted to get save the date magnets as well. I use vista print and upload my own layout. They are REALLY affordable, $12 for 25. And good quality! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen barnes Posted September 27, 2007 Author Share Posted September 27, 2007 Thank you so much, Jana! This is really helpful information. I will definitely look into the magenets and printing options. She wants an actual book made of the weding photos. Well, she actually wants four books: one for them, and once for each of the three sets of parents. She's okay with doing a lower grade version for the family, but wants a high quality one for them. I was reading online that the Blurb books were not too bad, as far as consumer quality. I'm going to order some books from a couple different companies, just to check the quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_siemers Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Hi Karen, You did not mention what size albums your bride wants. I work with PCLWEST in So. Ca. and they print and bind their own albums in house in about two weeks. Prices start at around $200.00 for printing and binding of the albums and go higher for their high end line of albums. Check them out, as they deal with brides from all over the country so you do not need to be a Pro to order from them. pclwest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen barnes Posted September 28, 2007 Author Share Posted September 28, 2007 Thanks so much, Tom. I'll check them out. She hasn't specified what size she wants, but I think she'll be fine with 8 1/2x 10 1/2 for the family, and a larger size for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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