Pixels just don’t compare to ink. There’s something about being able to TOUCH a photo in an album, batteries not needed.
After the big day, images on Facebook won’t be the only way you’ll want to remember your wedding day. While it’s amazing to see your images on the plethora of devices, there’s something TIMELESS about holding a book, turning page by page, telling a story in pictures the way any important story should be told. The album is the final presentation of the art and story of your wedding passed down from generation to generation. Some call it a storybook. I call it a brag-worth wedding album.
It’s important to think about what you want in your wedding photos. Sure you want to have great photos to begin with. Afterwords, however, you may not want an entire wall filled with 20 images just from one day. And the cost to frame and time to hang and be a burden. If kids come around, chances are many of your wedding images will be replaced by family portraits. Which is why I highly recommend a wedding album as they best way to view and share your wedding images. Not just for now. Decades later, too.
I give my brag-worthy albums the serious attention clients deserve. Why?
The final album, matters. After the flowers died, the music forgotten, the food eaten, and the dress is back in box this album remains. Representing years of dreaming for the parents (and many brides), months of planning for the bride and groom, and weeks of work for vendors involved, the album represents the culmination of all the effort from those involved on a day that truly matters.
It leaves a lasting impression. This is what the client remembers. No different than a difficult surgery, actually. Even IF everything if the surgery, for example, went perfect, if last few stitches were not done as perfect, the patient will never forget the large scar. As a wedding photographer, we have the power to make the final impression of their wedding experience dreamy and can deliver perfect package with a bow. THAT’S what clients want to remember! I want the entire wedding experience to be fun, enjoyable, and memorable including picking out favorite images and getting the email shipping notification on it’s arrival (hint: there’s always a special surprise inside).
Extra polish. All album images receive extra artistic polish. There’s no batch-processing here. Like mom’s homemade lasagna, it takes a ton of extra time, but the results are worth it. This includes with artistic merit to include traditional darkroom techniques like adjusting for contrast, dodging and burning, and appropriate cropping. In addition, including removing annoyances like stray hairs, minor blemishes (the ones that fade after 3 weeks). Digital negatives are shipped when the albums ship, that way all the edited images that make it into the album you will also get on your thumb drive drive for archiving and sharing.
Add the secret recipe. What’s the secret sauce? I call it “sharpening for output.” This wraps up years of technical expertise, understanding of printing, and seeing final images, critiquing, and refining. The reason this is important is when you take a 40,000,000 pixels from the PhaseOne and condense them 10% to a smaller printing size like on a detail spread, certain algorithms need to be run to ensure the images looks as good as it would in print. This means the recipe for sharpening for the blog would be different than printing a large 40×60 print at 200dpi. Most photographers skip this, but I feel the extra effort you can appreciate in the final print.
Each album features custom designed layouts. With two rounds of free edits, I want you to be 100% happy with you final album. Most clients have no problem making their final edits in 2 revisions. After that there’s a $150 charge for design time.
I keep a consistency with my albums, regardless of the weather on the wedding day, the cost of a wedding dress or flowers, or prestige of venue. All my albums come from Italy at a place called Graphistudio. I’ve worked with them since 2007 and believe they offer an amazing product balance with value. Their US headquarters is 20 min drive from my home in Minneapolis. Here are a few of the friendly faces behind the scenes at Graphistudios (Garrett Nudd stopped by for an amazing presentation):
I’ve learned hard lessons when it comes to the album design process. And I’ve learned from my ways. Brides & grooms love having their images completed on a timely process and albums ready to share sooner than later. Completed albums shared in a timely, consistent basis is a true sign of a professional wedding photographer. Within the last 12 months, all my albums have been delivered with an on average time of 9 weeks. For example:
Chris & Hannah’s album (finalized 3 weeks after wedding)
Keri & Brendan’s album (album finalized 18 days after wedding)
Cat & Tim’s album (album finalized 5 weeks after wedding)
What’s the secret? First, managing client expectations is soooo important. No one likes surprises about hidden fine print. During the booking meeting before the wedding, I tell all my clients that MY CHALLENGE is to create lots of amazing images on their wedding day. THEIR CHALLENGE is to choose which they want to keep in the album. Many clients tell me this isn’t an easy process because, “there are so many awesome images.” That’s a good problem to have, I say. Most clients use gift money from the wedding to purchase a larger album or parents gift albums.
Second, I keep my options simple for albums, avoiding the plethora of options which can lead to “analysis paralysis” for clients. I offer two shapes (vertical rectangle and square) and three sizes (small 8” x 12”, medium 9.5” x 13”, or large 16” x 20”). I average about 2-4 images per spread with several panoramic spreads for epic shots. I also have options for upgrading to an embossed leather cover with slipcase. That’s it.
To help clients understand the wedding album design process, I’ve outlined the workflow below.
Typical Wedding Album Workflow
Week 1-2. Blog & full slideshow completed, and images are uploaded into a private online gallery for viewing by friends and family.
Week 2-3. Album pre-design completed. Client receives email PDF containing images designed on a page suitable for printing. This gives them an immediate first impression of how their images might look in a book, which is important since they are emotionally excited about the images and wedding day. I design the first draft to include the best possible design including creative portraits, real moments, and important details. If clients want initial input, I am happy to offer that if they choose their favorites and I design around that. Usually, they find this to be a bit difficult and would rather us make the final design considerations.
Week 3-5. After the couple returns from their honeymoon, we Skype and make all the changes together. It’s important that all the key decision makers are present, all revisions made “in person.” Describing changes like “swap the middle image on the right side of spread 15 with image #256″ can be extremely tedious. I realize clients aren’t all trained as designers, which is why I make recommendations to first whittle down the number of spreads they want to keep, then swap images next, then add more images if need be. This usually takes care of 90% of changes. I make all the changes in real-time during our Skype session (or in person) and then the couple receives the fully edited changes via PDF RIGHT THEN! They love the instant gratification of seeing it come together with their final input, which I think is very important and minimizes that nagging feeling of having “one more wedding thing to check off our list.”
Month 1. Their final design hits studio production where all images are polished, exported, and uploaded to Italy. Production takes 6-8 weeks depending on the time of year. Most of the time this only takes about 3-4 weeks, but shipping & QA/QC times can vary. My holiday deadline is Nov 1 to guarantee receipt by Dec 20.
Month 3. All assets are in clients hands. This includes albums and digital negatives. Done and done.
The key to this timeline is managing expectation and sticking to deadlines. After all, brides love sharing with their friends their completed wedding album. Most if their friends are SHOCKED at the quick turn-around. This keeps everyone excited and happy!
To give you an idea of what my completed wedding albums look like, on the left is my most popular album sized 9.5” x 13” with a standard metal cover along with two smaller parent albums (which were a surprise for the couple!). This album with 30 spreads (60 pages) and two 8”x12” parent albums comes standard with my platinum collection from Chris and Hannah’s wedding in June:
Clean, crisp, refined, sharp. This isn’t your grandmother’s wedding album.
Ridged pages feature an additional lamination that minimizes finger prints and spills. That way you don’t have to handle your album with white linen gloves. The bride and groom loved their images so much, they decided to upgrade additional album spreads. This album features 47 spreads (94 pages), which represents a typical upgrade. One of the reason I choose Graphistudio albums is that I can print and bind up to 120 pages (60 spreads) without having to split the album into two volumes. Most album companies are limited to print to 40 spreads (80 pages).
Opening spread showcases the sense of humor of the couple and detail spreads are even better than a magazine spread, especially with metallic paper!
Primary album opened to showcase a sequence of images from a First Look, with the matching parent albums features the same images, on a smaller scale.
While this isn’t science like the stuff in high school textbooks, at least the binding won’t crack thanks to seamless binding which still allows the pages to lay flat. Magic.
Light can be magical on a wedding day. Those gems can also be reflected in the wedding album, too. Pre-visualizing imagery when shooting for album design opens creative doors to include artistic flair:
Another layer of meaning visualized in wedding album design, a reflected layer.
Every artist should sign their work.
Once the primary album is complete, clone designed albums on a smaller scale make a great gift ideas, especially for parents and grandparents. The smaller albums feature the same patent-flush binding system to minimize spine cracking, but with the option of a hardback or paper cover.
The mini-albums (smaller than 2”x2”) are cute, even cuter than a button (quarter for scale):
Left to Right: 4”x 5” mini-album, 2” x 2” mini-album, 3.5” x 2.5” mini-album, and 6” x 8” parent album.
Clients receive both their engagement and wedding images on these spiffy USB thumb shipping in a customized aluminum case. This is a way better solution than mailing CDs or DVDs, which can easily break in the mail or scratch. If you are annoyed when your favorite mix CD from college gets scratched, you won’t want the same to happen with your wedding images. Bonus: PCs, TVs, and even Mac minis can read them no problem.
As an option, clients can choose a custom-sized briefcase which makes it easy to carry and store. And they can be locked safe just in case a toddler wants to see what is inside.
As an added bonus to any of my clients, if something every happens to your album, I am happy to get a new one re-printed at my wholesale cost. If there is a fire in the house, please don’t run back in to save your wedding album. Grab that favorite mix CD instead.
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