A website question for experienced wedding photographers only

[art_tatum]

This is the question from the bride...

 

'Can I view the pictures from one entire wedding on your website?'

 

Do you ever show photos of a wedding from start to finish? I have around 100+ wedding photos and

numerous testimonials on my site (http://www.cabophotography.com) and I feel he couples (bride) should

be able to make a decision with that information.

 

 

I just don't want to show photos from start to finish anymore. Any thoughts? What do you do when you get

a request like this?

[the black rabbit]

The better option is to have a 'wedding day' from one wedding or from a number of weddings in your sample albums. Then when you arrange a meeting they can see the albums, the type of work you do, and yes a 'day' of a typical shoot [albeit the best of your work].

 

Once there's an enquiry we usually take the samples etc to show. But in the UK we tend to be rather smaller in terms of location...it may not be possible for you if their wedding is the otherside of the country. So I guess you should put on photos that reflect the 'whole' day in your galleries...or as some togs do put some 'open' galleries of weddings you've done next to the password protected galleries. I find brides etc do like to see how the whole day will be covered in my opinion. And if it secures you their contract then surely it is worth it? Unless you are the position of turning work away then no need to worry.

[l_e]

We do it all the time without hesitation. After we have posted a full wedding online for the bride and groom to view we get their permission (even though its not required) to use their online gallery as a sample for potential clients.

 

The potential client asks we give them the gallery link and a password to view it.

 

Why don't you want to show photos from start to finish?

[katie b. - maine]

I would never show a ENTIRE wedding to a client. I just take way too many pictures. But I would give them access to an online gallery of a current wedding. Then they can see what they can expect for their wedding. My average wedding runs just under 500 pics. So if they want to take the time to look at a "entire" gallery they are more then welcome to view it.

[johnmottershaw]

I used to be wary of showing whole weddings because I only wanted to show the very best

of the best.

 

Since I started showing whole weddings clients are now more impressed than before, even

though all the pictures, by definition, are not the absolute best ones I've ever taken. Now

they can see that what I am showing them are not just one-offs.

 

There's no need to bore them with every single shot from a wedding. I show them my

portfolio of the best pictures from different weddings, then slideshows from individual

weddings with perhaps 50 or so from each.

[hooman_b]

I do show entire weddings if asked for. I don't mean every shot I took. No one gets that of course. But I will send previous couple's web pages to potential clients. Usually I send one that is simliar to the new couple's location (in a church, outdoor wedding, etc) sometimes send them two different weddings. I average between 450-700 final photos for a full wedding.

 

I don't see why it would be an issue. At least for me, it doesn't take up my time, since its just a web link they can look at while they're home.

 

A kind of poor analogy - would you pay $100 for a box set of DVD movies from a particular director based on just the 90 sec preview or would you rather watch at least one whole movie from that director first before you shell out the money?

 

Anyway, that's what I do and why... fwiw :)

[sam_ellis]

This is a common recommendation in bridal magazines and websites. The intent is not to see every shot taken, but to see an entire wedding's worth of work. Just about anyone can pull out 30-40 good images from several weddings, but are they representative of a person's work?

 

All of my weddings go into Smugmug galleries. I ask the bride and groom if they want them password protected and very few actually request it. Therefore, all of my weddings are online for potential clients to view. Many of the couples I meet with say they have looked at many of my wedding galleries. Some even chose their venue because of what they saw on my website.

 

I believe in the world of online shopping, it makes it easier for people to shop around. I have a portfolio of my best work and my albums showcase my best as well.

 

Sam

[jc5066]

My sample albums have one wedding each. I should put a proof album together of one entire wedding album as well.

 

Even uncle bob can get at least one good shot from every wedding. Its easy for one to put up a mix match of good pictures. Having one entire wedding gives the bride a better feel of what you produce as a photographer.

 

Having it on a website or not is up to you. Not having it on the site, but an album instead, is a good way to lure your bride in for a person to person consult.

[taylor_kyle]

I have a dvd slideshow that I usually show. It's not an entire wedding, but everything I liked from the day (including all the key moments) It's about 4 minutes long, and maybe 70 slides

[jill_gately1]

I absolutely give them access to a full wedding. When I put a wedding online for viewing and ordering I put the images up by categories like "Getting Ready", "Ceremony", "Cake Cutting", "First Dances"...you get the idea. One of my categories is "Photographer Favorites". I direct potential clients to go to that section if they want to see a summary from the whole day, but I give them the option to view the other images. The actual clients like having the "Photographer Favorites" section as well because when they send out the password protected gallery to their guests/friends/coworkers they can tell them that if they want to see a summary of their wedding to go to the Favorites section. Some guests want to see all of the images, but coworkers and aquaintances don't really want to go through 1,000 images and they like seeing the summary. So it serves two purposes....it's a good tool for potential clients...and a good tool for weddings already photographed. Not every image is going to be an award-winning image.....and I can understand clients wanting to see a full wedding. I mean some photographers really might only have 15 good images from a wedding and if I were searching for a photographer I would want to see the quality of the whole day.

[joshroot]

I show clients a selection of 100 images from a couple weddings in albums when we meet in person. I also have the thumbnails from every shot delivered for one of those weddings printed up to look at. I can provide more if requested, but at that point, my <i>"this person seems to be anal and nit-picky, perhaps I should be convincing them not to hire me"</i> alarm goes off. But then again, I'm more interested in enjoying my work than making a sale.

<p>

I think if someone if worried about showing a larger group of images from a single wedding, then they should be <b>more</b> worried about their photography or salesmanship skills. It is a perfectly reasonable request from a bride.

[tdj]

Hey Art,<br>Every year, I post 2 complete weddings on my View Proofs page, usually 1 indoor and 1 outdoor wedding. Of course, they see the edited images, not everything I shot that day.If they would like to see more, I send them passwords so they can view more events. I think it's a very reasonable request from a client who is attempting to hire a photographer. When I contracted with the builder of my home, I didn't settle on looking at just the rooms he had built, I wanted to see the entire house! Good luck to you.

[shaun ring - lexington, ky]

Seems like most of the posts are pointing to the same conclusion, but here's what I do, too:

 

My website has in the wedding section the "best of" kind of shots. Images meant to evoke emotion and interest. I'm a firm believer that less is more. My pricing info only gives the "starting at" info, too. Either I'm in the ball-park or I'm not. Might as well get that out of the way early without putting all of the details online. When brides call/email wanting additional info/images, I schedule a time to meet up with them. It's here that I go into front-to-back weddings, sample albums, and full pricing.

 

I'm also a big believer that brides are drawn to our personalities as much as our images. They want someone they're going to click with at their wedding. If you give all the info upfront, they may never meet with you to see how perfectly you would fit into their big day. Just my two cents, though! :) -SR

[surfidaho]

Howdy!

 

I generally don't do this, because there are usually pictures of children on customer websites.

 

Although I have a written release from the bride and groom to use their pictures for advertising, and adults attending the wedding can be reasonably expected to have their images used for advertising, I do not have a release to grant access to pictures of people's children to persons unconnected to the original wedding unless their parent's specifically grant it.

 

Am I being too careful? Perhaps. But all it takes is one very unhappy parent to ruin your day.

 

Occasionally I offer a consultation where I show potential customers pictures from an entire wedding. But I do not identify any of the participants, and I withhold any information that would allow people to identify the kids (unless they already know them).

 

Tuppence,

 

Paulsky

[steve_c.5]

I use Pictage, which makes this easy. I can direct my clients to several weddings which they can view at their leisure, and they can see all of the images from each wedding.

 

If I had to take the time to host all of these on my website, I'd never get anything done.

 

In addition, I keep sample proof books from several weddings in my portfolio case, and these proof books have complete weddings color laser printed 4 per page, double-sided. They have a very pretty photo cover with clear acetate, and are spiral bound. My clients receive these proof books in lieu of giving them a couple hundred 4x6 proofs. These are easy for them to thumb through, and allow them to see a whole wedding chronologically.

[conraderb]

Art - of course you should.

 

is it reasonable to ask someone what their previous work is like? yup.

 

if you don't show people, they think that your work is like a lot of photographers - 5 or 10 really nice pictures with 300 crappy ones. don't fall into the trap.

 

what do you have to lose? if your work is good, then you won't have any problems.

 

just setup a gallery somewhere and send them the link - pretty easy.

 

anyone can have 100 or 1000 great wedding photos.

 

only the pros can get a really solid, start to finish gallery that they feel proud of to show to the clients and their grandmothers!

[neilambrose]

<p>Nothing wrong with what she's asking. I always offer my prospects one or two recent

weddings for them to look at without being asked, and suggest they get similar from

anyone else they're looking at.</p>

 

<p>It's very easy to make a good portfolio. Much harder to deliver consistent quality and

vision in a single wedding. Anyone asking for this is merely exercising good judgement in

my opinion.</p>

[mari_darr_welch]

<p>I recommended a fellow photographer to a friend for a wedding (I was booked for that date). I loved this shooters site and their work they brought to a bridal show. Never had I seen a whole wedding by this person. My friend booked this photographer based upon my suggestion. <br>

Needless to say, I had egg on my face when she got her wedding images back. One or two nice images out of the 1,700 taken does not make a great photographer. Even my 86-year-old mother can do this by accident.<br>

I always have a variety of edited (down to about 150-300 images) weddings for my clients to view. All they want to know is visually your thought process during the wedding.<br>

Just my $.02</p>