Choosing album company - any trade shows in North-Central US?

[l_c10]

I'm starting up a wedding photography business and I'd feel comfortable booking clients for next summer

right now, but I don't have any sample albums to show prospective clients. How do I choose which album

company to go with? Seems like everyone online has conflicting opinions about which company is best.

How can I actually SEE and HOLD these things without paying big bucks for ones I might not like and

spending tons of time designing different layouts for different companies' books?

 

Are trade shows the best route? If so, which ones would you recommend? The WPPI show in Las Vegas

looks overwhelmingly big and I can't afford to stay in a hotel (or be away from my family and job) for such

a long time. Are there any good regional shows around Wisconsin?

 

So thanks for any advice. And an obligatory note on qualifications: I have a lot of shooting experience

(former newspaper photog, studio work, a few family weddings) and I'm assisting / second shooting for a

couple of well-known wedding photographers starting next month. So I'm not going into this blind, so to

speak.

[scottl1]

Hi LC,

 

I was curious about albums a few months ago myself. I don't know about album company trade shows but I went to some local wedding shows and looked at other photographers albums. I was upfront with them saying I was a photographer starting out and with so many album choices, I really wanted to see what they actually looked and felt like. Most photographers could appreciate the starting out part and were happy to tell me all about the albums and why they choose them.

 

Scott

[terrence_quandt]

LC -

 

Check out the Wisconsin PPA. http://www.wppa-online.org/

 

112th Wisconsin Professional Photographers Association

Affiliated Regional Convention 2008

 

March 7-11, 2008

 

They have strong vendor particpation at their conventions.

Madison, WI

[tim_monahan1]

I started with GraphiStudio (http://www.graphistudio.com) albums and never looked back, its all I offer and its all my brides have ever wanted... When I first signed up with them they sent me (for free) a sample 9.5X13" Album with the different paper and layout options. They have good deals on sample albums too, when you put a clients order in I think you can order a studio sample for $199USD and 8X12" parent albums are buy 1 get 1 50% off.

Good luck!

-Tim

[tom_siemers]

Hi L.C.

 

Try PCLWEST, they are in california, and make a nice coffe table album.

They do both the printing and the binding of the album on Kodak paper and are running a special thru the end of the year at %50 off. Check them out at pclwest.com