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I did a family portrait session last week and the client would like an album. I showed her some of the wedding albums I've designed and

she's not interested in a flush-mount (she thinks it's too expensive and I don't blame her).

I have no experience producing a small, simple album. Anyone have any advice? Would asukabook be good?

Thanks for any insights or advice!

I'm using Exposure Manager https://www.exposuremanager.com/

for order fulfillment and to make the prints I give to clients. They have password-

protected online proofing galleries, etc. just like Pictage. It's only $100 a year and the

prints are very reasonably priced.

I like to get my proofs from the same place where my clients will order their prints from

so I know *exactly* what the client will get. If there's anything wrong with a particular

proof I can adjust it and re-send before the clients see the proofs and place their order.

I just got my first two albums in from Finao and they are *gorgeous.* The photo reproduction

is great and they have lots of cover options. I'm really into how things feel to the touch and I

love their "komodo dragon" and "firefly" leathers.

I'm taking them to a bridal fair tomorrow -- i'll let you know what the client reaction is.

Some things just cannot be batch processed. Say a bride has a pimple on her forehead and a

big mosquito bite on her shoulder -- most of the day's images will need to be cloned. And I

think every image could benefit from at least a little dodging and burning.

I will investigate the backprinting option, David -- I'm with Exposure Manager and they offer

that, too. It's a good idea.

Thanks to everyone for your insights!

OK, thanks. I already batch images in Photoshop but I was just wondering if there's a

solution for retouching, etc. that cannot be batched.

I think your strategy is probably the best, Michelle -- do great quality work and charge for

the service of having every image look great.

Thanks again!

Hello everyone,

I'm using an online service to host my clients' proofs, take print orders, etc.

I want my clients to love their prints, so I do lots of post-processing work on every single "keeper" image

file before uploading to the service. I spend about 10 minutes per shot retouching, dodging, burning,

color correcting, etc. so I average about 7 shots per hour.

This is obviously insane. I'm looking at the upcoming wedding season and thinking that something has

got to change.

Should I just do a quick process on the proofs? What if someone sees the proof online and orders an

enlargement, and I haven't done any blemish correction -- or much of anything at all, for that matter? I

would feel terrible if someone got a less-than-first-quality print.

And yet it seems crazy to put as much work in on an image that no one buys as one that the couple wants

to blow up huge and hang over their fireplace.

How do you all manage this?

Many thanks for any insights.

I agree with Sam -- go to a big bridal show and look at what the photographers are

offering. If they aren't busy, you can even tell them you're a fellow photographer and that

you're educating yourself about different album options. This is a good way to get a

working photog's views on each album's pros and cons, rather than the company rep's

talking points. You can also watch the brides-to-be and see what they seem to like best.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how friendly and open the photographers are -- they

seem to realize there's plenty of work for all of us : ) Just be tactful and don't keep them

from talking with potential clients!

I'm new to all of this too, and I've learned a lot at bridal fairs this month.

Best of luck...

I went to a bridal fair earlier today b/c I was curious about this too. I saw one bride walk

up to a photographer and ask, "So what kinds of albums do you offer?" Albums seem to be

a big part of the sales pitch.

The best way to prepare for a bridal show is to go to one ahead of time. Look and listen

and introduce yourself to the photographers. I met many nice photographers today who

were more than willing to show off their albums, discuss labs, etc (when they weren't busy

with "paying customers" of course)!

Good luck!

I'm going with Finao. They offer a wide selection and their website explains/illustrates their

products pretty well.

You might try one pose where you leave his face out of the shot on purpose -- just use

him as a backdrop and focus on her! Obviously wouldn't work for more than a couple of

shots, but I think his dark suit would set off her dress and it would emphasize how big he

is and how small she is.

It's things like this that make life beautiful, and as someone above said, they probably like

the difference : )

Best of luck!

What do you all think about Monona Terrace? I've never tried shooting in there but those

huge windows offer a stunning view of the lake. (take a strobe or two to balance the light)

And I second the opinion that the indoor rainforest at Olbrich is fun to visit. But it is STEAMY

in there!!! Your lens will fog up, guaranteed. Best to arrive way earlier than the couple to let

your camera acclimate.

Best of luck!

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.

I have a newer MacBook and yes, we downloaded the most current profile for our Epson

premium glossy paper. At first we assumed we should turn off the printer's color

management and let Photoshop manage the color, but it seems to perform a bit better

letting the printer manage the color with the "Epson vivid" setting (turning photoshop

management off).

As for what the prints look like, when we go to View > Proof colors and select our paper, a

grey film seems to move over the photo on the monitor. We print it out and sure enough

that's what it looks like. Dull. Disappointing. Grey.

And yet the digitaldog file prints great -- nice whites, nice contrast, gorgeous. As long as

we don't try to open it in Photoshop we're fine. If we do, we have the same problem! So

the problem is not the printer. I think somehow it's in photoshop, or photoshop's

interpretation of the printer/paper profile.

Thanks for any advice.

I'm a reasonably intelligent person. My husband is a computer genius. I'm trying to start a photography

business (straightforward portraiture, no Joey-Lawrence-type post-processing) and we invested $1000 in

CS3, a Huey Pro, and an Epson 1800.

Despite hours, days, WEEKS of effort (and tons of paper and ink!) we cannot get a decent print.

We knew this wouldn't be easy, but we didn't expect it to be IMPOSSIBLE.

We calibrated the monitor with the Huey.

We made a print of the digitaldog test file.

We followed the directions on computer-darkroom.com to the letter.

We have searched the Adobe users forum and this forum and we have very methodically tried every

combination of tips and tricks we could find.

Our goal is to get a print that looks better than the almost-acceptable prints we get out of Picasa (the

FREE image program from Google) using no color management at all. So far we have not been successful! I

can't believe that a free program does a better job than Photoshop, but that's what experience has taught

us.

We're so incredibly discouraged. Does anyone have any advice for us?