FAQ section help...

[wildwhim]

<p>Hi There!<br>

I'm working on the FAQ section of my new wedding website that I plan to get up around the new year. I have been compiling a list for sometime now and it's quite long. I'm debating if I should include the following FAQ, or if this particular issue is something that I should save when I meet/speak with my potential clients. Any insight is very much welcomed and appreciated. <br>

Let me first begin by telling you how my best friend hired a wedding photographer whose work she had been astounded by. He had done her cousin's wedding and when the photos were ready, she was shown the top 100 photos from the wedding day and formal portraits. She loved his work! She hired him immediately. When the time came for her to view all of her photos (all 800 images) she was disappointed in the collection. When I looked through all of them, I thought they were very good (technically and artistically). I told my friend that she was seeing the entire collection versus the very best of her cousin's collection. I said that if we pulled out the top 100-200 pics, they would be absolutely on par with the quality of the images that initially sparked her interest in this Photographer. Seeing the entire collection, however, diluted the magnificence of those top-tier pics and ultimately, jaded her view of his work. <br>

This has been in the back of mind ever since becoming a Wedding Photographer. And so I feel it necessary to bring to light this issue with each new client. <br>

I'd like to be able to articulately and succinctly address, in my FAQ section, how the size of a wedding collection determines the overall quality of the photos. So far, in meeting/speaking with my clients, I've been very adamant is making clear to them that the images they see on my portfolio, on my facebook page, in blog posts, and in past wedding "best of" galleries (that I send them to upon inquiry) are my favorite photos. These are, in fact, the <strong>best</strong> photos, from my p.o.v, that I've taken.<br>

Upon completion of a collection, I first send clients to their "Best Of" slideshow galleries (like this one: http://www.wildwhimphotography.com/HilligossWedding) to view the top 175-200 photos of their wedding to not only showcase their wedding in a teaser format, but to also control their initial impression of their wedding collection. I am quick to point out, prior to booking, that an entire wedding collection (usually 800-1000 images) will not likely have the same impact as these "Best Of" slideshows. In a way, I'm trying to protect myself and my client from experiencing the "let down" that they might undergo if their expectation is that ALL of the photos will have the same impact. **A side note to this is that I've thought about culling my collections down to about 500-600 photos to "better" my collections as a whole, but I just don't feel right denying my clients perfectly clean and decent photos simply because they dull down the collection a bit. I do think it's important that my clients understand this, however, and feel it's something I touch on so that they can better appreciate their entire wedding collection. <br>

I guess my question is 1.) Have you found yourself dealing with this same issue?; 2.) Do you address this with your potential clients?; and 3.) Is it appropriate for me to address this on my FAQ page?</p>

[picturesque]

<p>1. Yes.</p>

<p>2. No, because they don't really understand the issue.</p>

<p>3. Try if you want, but see #2.</p>

<p>IMHO, it is best to continue with the slide show of the very best, as you have done.</p>

[william-porter]

<p>I think anybody with any experience at all will answer your first question "yes" — that is, we have all dealt with this issue. </p>

<p>It's much harder to answer your second question (do I address this issue with potential clients?). It's a tough issue to deal with because, well, clients simply don't understand it. If you let the bride know that you're going to take 800 photos, it's more or less inevitable that she is going to feel she has a right to see all 800, and if she does, I've found that no clause in the contract will make a difference to her. </p>

<p>I don't think any of us want to lie to the bride. ("The other 600 photos that I didn't show you were all out of focus or people had their eyes closed.") But I do think we have to finesse the issue. Either that or give 'em 800 photos (or 2000!) and leave it at that.</p>

<p>My approach is evolving but now I try to tell clients: I want to deliver somewhere around 100-150 photos. I will take no more photos than I feel I need to, to meet that goal. I may delete some photos while I'm working. I may delete more photos upon first review. I explain that there are many reasons why a photo might not be a keeper: it was an exposure test, or somebody grimaced or blinked just as I snapped the shutter, or it's the obvious worst shot in a group of two or three of the same thing.</p>

<p>But it's a hard hard issue to deal with. Frankly it's one of the things that depresses me about wedding photography from time to time. Doing portraits, my clients are often much more practical because they are focused on getting <em>one</em> good photo to print and hang on their wall, post online, use for a Christmas card, etc.</p>

<p>Will</p>

[william-porter]

<p>Once again, upon hitting the submit button I discover that, while I was typing, Nadine already said what I wanted to say, and said it more efficiently.</p>

[the_mongrel_cat]

<p>1 - yes<br>

2 - yes. i have never shown more than 200 photos to any client (normally in around 120). The mere mention of 800 gives me the fear. i don't believe (and i'm open to others contradicting me on this) that anybody needs 800 wedding pictures. personally, my eyes would bleed if my wedding photographer gave me that amount. 200 images is a lot, spread them out in front of you (or your client) on the floor and it soon becomes apparent how vast this number really is. i always explain that i am trying to tell the story of the day and that i don't want to dilute the product. so far (touch wood) i've had 100% meeting/booking success. it's about managing expectations. the phrase "quality not quantity" is something that everyone understands and accepts.<br>

3 - i think websites are to get clients around the table with you. i wouldn't dream of hinting at potential differences in understanding on my website. i like the sound of an FAQ page, great idea, but only put things in it that will SELL you.</p>

<p>fwiw - i really liked the gallery you linked to. lovely pics.</p>

[wildwhim]

<p>Thank you so much for all of your feedback. I've been checking back every hour since I posted. I'm really quite keen on your insights. Thank you.</p>

<p>@Iorek Bear -- thank you for your kinds words. :) In regards to the number of photos, I feel like 600-1000 is kind of standard now with digital documentation, insofar as my experience with other Photographers and wedding clients go. Do you not get many guest and/or reception shots? How many group shots do you give from the formal portraits section of a wedding? I feel these two components to a collection (aside from the essential ceremony and bridal party pics) are what up my numbers in a total collection. From my experience, my clients prefer that I try to get a shot of nearly everyone who is attending the wedding, in addition to capturing the day. My cousin just got married, for example (I was in the wedding, not the Photographer) and she loved her photos (all 500 of them), but there were hardly any guest shots and this upset her. What's your take on this?</p>

[goldbergbarry]

<p>Regardless what is on your FAQ page, your contract needs to reflect whatever you plan on giving to your clients. That is really what is important.</p>

<p>Also like Iorek referenced, your FAQ page is a sales tool. It is not meant to(and it will not) protect you. That is what a contract is for. You should only include items that helps sell your services. Anything else does not belong there. </p>

[fuccisphotos]

<p>Kelly, I agree this is something to address with your clients but it likely isn't best to put it on a FAQ. But I used to have the same view as you, if it's a clean photo, why not give it to them, they might love it, right? Here's why to not give it to them. They hired you for a reason. They saw those great shots and that's what they are expecting to get. So no, I don't expect every clean shot you give a client to be as good as each shot in your portfolio, because really the formal shots, the basic bread and butter shots, those have to be in there one way or another, but the rest of the stuff, make sure it's good. I say to myself would ANYONE ever want to print this? I try to make sure that I am aware of any special relationships at a wedding i.e. the obvious like parents grand parents, cousins, close friends, and then the not so obvious (someone who had recently had a heart transplant, a little girl who had recently gone through chemo, etc). That way as I go through the shots, if those people end up in shots that are good but not great, I will still likely keep those in. But if you just keep in those ok shots, it really does dull the impact of the overall experience. And some people just don't have time to go through 800+ images. Yes there are some brides who will want EVERYTHING! <br>

So here's what I do for work flow to address both types of people. When I get home I load all the RAW images on my ipad. I go through and delete any shots that are not well in focus or just plain LAME (yes I can admit I still sometimes take lame shots). At this point I haven't cleared the cards. Then I put the images that I have sorted through on the ipad onto my computer through light room. I then copy those RAW images to my external hard drives. Then I go through and color code the images. Shots that will likely make the highlight reel and are tops (try to keep this to 100 or less) get coded red. Shots that are meat and potatoes shots that should still go in there are yellow. I don't really do any "developing" processing at this point, JUST basic image evaluation. Then I sort it so only those yellow and red coded images come up. This makes it so that if you took a bunch of cake shots, you can easily compare them and then decide which is the best one. If you are like me (and it sounds like you are) and you can't settle on just one, then you decide on the best 3. For first dance shots, I try to limit it to no more than 10 shots. Parent dance shots, no more than 5 per parent. For speeches, around 5. Be REALLY selective with reception dance shots, even though this part may have gone on for hours and you have LOTS of shots from then. Having 50 shots of people dancing unless they are really great or exciting and different is just way too many. </p>

<p>I set these arbitrary rules for myself to remember that frankly most of my clients don't want to see any more than that. It's really our job to pick the best ones for them. It's often hard for me, but it's a good rule for me to follow. Once I've decided on those ones that I like, I remove the color coding on the ones that I no longer want to include. Then I go through and do the proper post processing on these. After I do all this, I upload the images to zenfolio and make the gallery private. Then I go through the whole gallery on my ipad. Somehow having it on this medium makes the process quicker. Then images that I find not key and just kind of blah I delete here. The JPGs will still be on my computer though. Then of those images I make a highlight gallery of the best of the best, basically the images I could see going into their album. I make a web page that embeds a slide show of those highlight images and puts it to music that has a link to the whole gallery and a coupon code for their guests to use to get a free 4x6 on my site. Once I get rid of the blah images, make the highlight gallery, make separate collections for the different parts of the wedding (i.e. formal shots, ceremony, getting ready, reception, etc) , I make the gallery public. Then when I give them the images on disc all the images from the online gallery are there plus I give them the ones that were ok, but I decided they were blah on the online one. That way they feel like they have a little extra when they get the images on DVD. </p>

<p>If I have a bride say, I remember you took this one pic of X and it isn't in there, or I loved my cake so much, did you have more photos of that, etc, then I will go back and check my RAW images and see if I can give her those extras.</p>

<p>When I meet with a couple during a consultation session I will basically explain to them that I will take many pictures that day to make sure we cover all the wonderful events and details of their day. I will say that not every photo is a gem though...people blink, and make bad faces. I will explain that I have a policy that I try not to have any unflattering shots of anyone put into their online gallery because no one wants to have an embarrassing shot of them up online for the world to see. Then I will tell them that I will review all the shots one by one and edit them, and then provide you with about 400-1000 images, depending on how long a shoot we had. At that point they are usually flabberghasted, some are like ok that's what I was expecting. I tell them that they will also have the highlight gallery that I will put together for them and for their guests to see on their personalized page that I will make for them. This is usually sufficient. Once in a blue moon a client will ask about the RAW images. I will then check to see if they know the difference between a high resolution JPG with reprint rights (which is usually what clients mean by RAW) and an actual RAW image. If someone really understands what a RAW image is and it sounds like they could actually use it, then I will be open to giving it to them, but ONLY the images that I culled down to just those red and yellow files. </p>

<p>On a side note, WOW I WRITE LONG RESPONSES! Sorry!</p>

[william-porter]

<p>Meant to mention earlier another way that I deal with this.</p>

<p>I have sometimes distinguished between my "A" list selection (the good ones, the ones they really paid me for) and the "B" list selection (the outtakes or extras). I have, at least a couple of times, given brides two CDs, clearly marked to distinguish the A from the B. And I never dump all of these images into the same gallery if I put them online. Although occasionally a client orders a print from the B gallery, I don't think I've ever gotten the sense that the client disagreed much with my evaluations.</p>

[the_mongrel_cat]

<p>i guess it depends on what market you are in.</p>

<p>for myself, i live and work in a small rural part of scotland. i don't work in a high end section of them market either. this does not mean that my clients are any less deserving or demanding, far from it. but there are not thousands of other photographers here and there is not the clamour of fiercely offering more and more etc. also, most of the weddings i shoot are small affairs with limited numbers. but that is just context anyway.</p>

<p>in terms of the formal portraits section - i work quickly and efficiently at this part and recommend to my clients that they consider who they want for these portraits. it normally comes down to the standard parents & bridal party plus a couple of babies, grandparents. so there aren't really that many shots at the end anyway (i don't double up, I pick the best one and move on).</p>

<p>as for pictures of the guests - i don't really take that many to be honest. i explain beforehand that i am employed to photograph the bride and groom - everybody has a digital camera nowadays so there will be hundreds of pics of guests. i make sure to get immediate family, bridal party, kids and spend my time photographing the couple and anyone they interact with.</p>

<p>like everything else, the wedding photography market changes. and i'm sure it will here too, presently it suits my way of working but if i have to change in order to work, then change i will. my present workflow would struggle to accomodate a threefold increase in output, so that is something that i need to improve on (and i am working on that). </p>

<p>going back to 'managing expectations' is where i think the key is. i have a questionnaire that i go through that allows me to find out about the couple and allows them to find out about me. i explain what i do, why i do it and why i think it is the right way (i'm not as pushy or arrogant as that sounds by the way).</p>

<p>bringing it back to your point about the 'wow', guest shots just don't wow me. and if it doesn't wow me then...</p>

<p>nadine makes a good point about clients understanding this debate. it's all well and good for us as photographers to talk about how many pictures should make a wedding, but it's not our opinions that matter - the market will decide, as it always does.</p>

[savagesax]

Often I wonder why photographers tell the clients how many shots he/she shoots. When someone asks me I usually say something about people blinking or their eyes weren't looking at the camera, whatever pops into your mind. If they push it tell them your really don't have any idea because the counter on the camera is used for several weddings. There's no reson to reset the camera.

 

So my answers are yes, no, and never unless someone asks.

[William Michael]

<p>My thoughts:</p>

<ol>

<li>“Frequently Asked Questions” of this nature, are only frequently asked, because they are listed in many Wedding Photographer’s web Pages as “FAQ”.</li>

<li>“FAQ” don’t make bookings.</li>

<li>Most people do not read, accurately.</li>

</ol>

<p>I ask: what is the sole, singular focused purpose of the Web Page?<br />With the answer to that question, then make the Web Page efficient to that end and to that end only.</p>

<p>My answers:<br>

<strong><em>Have you found yourself dealing with this same issue?</em></strong><br>

No as it is not an issue, but yes the Clients sometimes asked about it – I shoot Portraiture and not weddings now, sometimes similar questions are asked.<br>

<strong><em> </em></strong><br>

<strong><em>Do you address this with your potential clients? </em></strong><br>

If asked, yes.<br>

<strong><em> </em></strong><br>

<strong><em>Is it appropriate for me to address this on my FAQ page? </em></strong><br>

It is NEITHER appropriate nor inappropriate – but what leverage is it giving you – what is the upside for your business?</p>

<p> <br>

WW</p>

<p> </p>

[wildwhim]

<p>Thank you, all , for your thoughtful responses. I really got a lot from seeing your workflow, Vail, thank you. I also really like the idea of only putting the best 500 or so online, in my gallery, and including the others only on the dvd as "extras". Seems like a good strategy in making sure the client sees the collection as I intend it. </p>

[aura_jane]

You should consider getting a HTML

mirror site or at least a mobile version.

I am almost always on my iPhone

when I am online, and I know a lot of

others are as well. If I were looking for

a photog and I pulled up a website that

told me I needed flash, I would go right

to the next one. Plus flash is not as

good for seo. I know it's not an answer

to your question, but I thought it might

help.