How many photos to give to the Bride & Groom? Which ones to toss?

[tina___cliff_t]

<p>I took almost 1,000 photos for a 8 hour wedding. How do you decide which ones to give the bride & groom? Obviously, I'll take out any accidental shots of my foot, overexposed images etc That still gives me a ton of photos to go through.</p>

<p>Who's to say the bride wouldn't want that picture of aunt betty laughing, while at the same time showing her triple chins? Granted aunt betty would most likely want that picture burned. haha</p>

<p>I am only providing a DVD with the images, so I thought about having two folders. One with the images I've color corrected, or just what I felt was the best group shots etc (This gives me around 200 out of the 1000 photos). And then another with ALL the other images. Or just give them what I felt was the best, and if that means pictures of some people got tossed so be it?</p>

<p>How do you decide which photos to toss, and which to keep? And how many to you usually give them?</p>

<p> </p>

[heather_claypool]

<p>Are you posting them online to some sort of gallery? <br>

I'll usually pick through the best of the best (no one needs to see all 15 shots of the cake...just the best 2 or 3) and post those to the gallery, then I'll give them <em>everything</em> on the DVD later on. For my couples, the online hosting makes the album design process a little easier and it allows the out of towners to order photos if they wish...and it's a good way to keep from overwhelming the bride with so many images at the beginning! </p>

 

[steve_c.5]

<p>I always err on the side of giving them more images than they might need, but there are limits. Remember, just because you got a shot doesn't mean the client will remember you took that shot, and you don't have to necessarily give it to them. If, in the rare instance that they do, you could always say the shot came out badly or the camera got it wrong.</p>

<p>I'd just use your best judgement and include any shot that was technically good (in focus, lit decently, has artistic value, includes guests that are not otherwise covered in other shots, etc.).</p>

[sherijohnson]

<p>edit out duplicates, bad shots, keep the best of the best, those you are unsure of, I see no reason not to put in an extras folder</p>

[sarah_hyder]

<p>I really don't think any couple will want to ever go through 1000 images. 200 is more than enough. I wouldn't give them any of the extras that are "less than perfect."</p>

[rayt]

<p>I color balance and exposure correct all the images. The out of focus images and images that cannot be corrected go into a rejects folder. The other images are placed into folders that represent the phases of the wedding. I explain to the client that there will be rejects and ask if they want those images. They paid me for my time and the product of that time. If they want the less than perfect images they can have them.</p>

<p>Clients understand that not every image captured is perfect and there will be some less than perfect images. I explain this to them before the event. Telling them the camera got it wrong is not good in my opinion. You control the camera and take the photograph, the camera only captures what you tell it.</p>

[chris_whitcomb1]

<p>This question is also answered in how you want to brand yourself and what your images will say to potential clients. Our mentor and good friend, who is a very talented photographer, considers each image as an advertisement for her business and decided a long time ago that only THE VERY BEST images would ever see the light of day. This practice has led her to become the area's highest paid and most sought after wedding and portrait artist (notice I did not say photographer, this is by design), which has paid off since her wedding packages start at $8000.....and she's booked solid for 2009 and most of 2010. That's why I said in your "critique" post to be very critical, hyper critical of what you show but now I want to include what you give your clients as well. Those images represent you, your work, your art, and your future business.</p>

<p>However I understand that your just starting out and if you were to be that honest about your own work (we are all our own worst critics) the bride might get a dozen or so shots, I know I felt that way after our first few weddings. Just keep in the back of your mind that as you get better the number of shots that are keepers will grow so you can be more critical then but start the practice now to make it a habit for the future.</p>

<p>As a side note, most infocus images that show smiling faces, intense emotion and overall happy feelings especially laughter will always get put in the keepers pile, even if they are not so perfect. Sometimes the emotion of the moment needs to take precedence over technical merit.</p>

[silverdae]

<p>I guess I'm of a different school here. The client always knows that there will be editing. I only present my best work, some of which is better than the rest, but only the work that is technically good and what I want to represent myself with is seen by the client. I never make the "toss away" images available. The only exception is if I unknowingly edited out a specific shot they requested, and then, I only present them with one or possibly two images that I could live with. I think showing that it took you 20 shots to get a good one of the cake devalues you in the client's eye. </p>

[chris_whitcomb1]

<p>What Jen said....I need to learn to write better!</p>

[aimee_pieters]

<p>I would toss:<br>

Anything that's not your best work (unless it's a <strong>must have</strong>)<br>

ALL duplicates of the same poses (you're just making it more difficult for them)<br>

Anything that doesn't flatter the subject.<br>

You're not doing your client any favors by giving them 1,000 images to sort through.<br>

Also, here's a though: There is a lab that will either proof your wedding with individual prints OR proof magazine and return a disc with the COLOR CORRECTED files. Why not make that part of your package and save yourself all that color correction time? Check out Natural Color Lab in New England....-Aimee</p>

[wedding-photography-denver]

<p>I have just started to process a wedding from last week and I have 3k to go through from two shooters.</p>

<p>I expect to deliver around 700 - 1000 with careful editing.</p>

[tina___cliff_t]

<p>Thanks Aimee, I'll have to look into that for the future. </p>

<p>LOL Chris, I thought your answer was good too :D And helped more with the critique too.</p>

<p> </p>

[bob_crisp]

<p>I do as Chris and Jen said and I usually provide around 200 images. I know others provide alot more, but IMHO if you give people too much to choose from it is overwhelming.</p>

[think27]

<p>When I was shooting from year one to about year 6 I probably only shot 8 to 15 rolls per wedding. In the first 3 years I probably discarded 5 to 8 shots per roll. Not so as I got better.</p>

<p>After 17 years it was up to 25-30 rolls of film per wedding partly because I'm a "speed reader" - which translates to a scene reader ;-) Two assistants and three cameras - completely unfettered and able to "see" moments happening all around.. So in addition to shooting the ceremony - I see something important happening with parent's/grandparents watching, bridesmaid expressions, someone tearing up.. a child doing something cute and with many years of experience - framing and exposure come quickly to me. It was common for me to shoot 4 to 6 rolls of just the ceremony depending on how long it was. </p>

<p>I couldn't possibly throw away some of those shots because they're just too good. Plus my clientele - seeing proofs and finished albums wanted 8 pages of formals, 8-10 pages of couple shots and 6 to 12 pictures of the reception. Many albums were 40 to 60 pages. I shot for the album and an expectation (realized) of many reprints by many family members and friends. </p>

<p>So - I would keep about 700-800 proofs. I say there is no "right" answer. It depends on your clients, your market, your preferences, your shooting and the quality of the images.</p>

[cjogo]

<p>Really depends on how you shoot --what you have promised your clients. We include all the images .......RaW & Jpg. but, then again we shoot under 400 total. </p>

[francie_baltazar]

<p>We do it in a sort of combo mode from what is written above- We give a proof book of about 200 finished images. From which we request that the B&G pick their images for their album (about 100) - all other good images - mostly reception shots of family and friends, dancing etc. are given on a CD - about 200-250 more. We request that unless we missed something really special that they pick prints and album photos from the finished images only. This way they get the best of the best - plus some nice shots for memories of the day but not required for telling a beautiful story. What they show to family and friends are the finished shots - those are the ones posted on our site and the ones for sharing.</p>

[james_nealy]

<p>I shoot 1,00 plus and provide 200-300 of the best. The "pick of the litter" The more they have to choose from the more chances I have to sell!!<br>

Once you have eliminated the duplicates, the blinks, and the look aways you will find it so easy to choose what to show your client</p>

[hwee_ling_lim]

<p>Brides will like to be in their best for wedding. Few months ago, we have our pre-wedding photography shots. I simply like those shots which i look pretty in it . From then i told myself, when i doing wedding shots, i will give my clients the best photo out of the lots. </p>