Pre and post wedding day questions

[veryrandom]

Ok, so having been a second shooter on several weddings and currently trying to gather info and experience to hopefully make the transition to primary photographer i just have a few questions.

So a couple picks you to do their wedding, i understand you then have a meeting or meetings with them leading up to the wedding, what is discusses in these meetings? how many should you have or does it even matter?

So you do all of that and you show up to the wedding and you take the photos and all goes well and the wedding is over, what happens afterwards? Obviously you edited the pictures (i have done this using lightroom for the primary photographer i assisted last time) and then i sent them back to her so she could let the couple choose the ones i wanted. After that it is all a bit of a mystery to me.

Well that in fact is the mystery, how does one show the hundreds of images to a couple so they can choose? What are the accepted methods? How long should it take? And once the chosen pictures are chosen what do you simply pop them on a CD/in a album and bobs your uncle?

Am sure these are all very silly questions but i am curious and i badly want to learn so any inside info would be great!

Thanks!

[slugger]

Hello!
I think you will find that different photographers do things differently. There are some on here that have a strong business background...and are really good at explaining things and I am not one of them.
So I can tell you what I do. Encourage a face to face meeting, for many reasons. I like to know what they look like...which helps me to plan for posing and visualizing the shots I hope to get. I also feel that it is important for them to get a feel for me and my personality, and vice versa. If our personalities don't click, then we shouldn't be working together on an event like this..essentially because the photos will suck. It's also a good time for them to view, touch, feel, sample albums,prints and wall art that I offer. It's also easier to have a comfortable conversation back and forth about what they have planned, things they may not have thought about, and things they need to do. I Bring a litle questionnaire that I jot notes down on during our conversation. I sort of walk through the entire day with them to see what they are planning, and what I will be doing at each point in time, and we are able to create a timeline of how the day should go.

I touch base about a month before as a lot of planning has been done since our initial visit, then again about a week before. I don't meet in person again.

About a week after the wedding, the photos are edited and uploaded and I send them an email with the link and pricing for friends and family that may be interested in ordering. (you can check other threads for different hosting sites for you to use).

I will probably get heat for this - but I am a stay at home mom of 2 so I really like to do as little work as possible...so I provide the disc of images with all my wedding packages. So after photos are uploaded and the couple does not have any editing requests, I put them to disc, mail it off, and I'm done. Unless they have ordered an album....which at that point I do the design and layout, set up a meeting, show them the album, if they like it as is, then I give it to them (or order it if it's a flush mount). THEN I'm done.

[veryrandom]

Thanks Slugger thats pretty helpful! Sure am just starting out so am sure am asking many silly questions that many wedding photographers are rolling their eyes at!

For example, i have a couple who has expressed interested in me photographing their wedding, next August. Would I be encouraging a face to face meet up with them soon (next few weeks/months?) And then another one closer to the wedding?

I like the idea of the questionaire, seems very helpful and a good way of covering all important points. I know the basic things to ask, where is it, what shots do you want, who do you definitely want shots of, what times are things happening at etc. But is there anything else that would be a good idea to have on the questionaire? What would be the standard questions?

Im offering images on a disc with the option of ordering a storybook album so what would be the recommended way of showing the couple the album to see if it was suitable?

Thanks again for all the help! If anyone else has any info too feel free to chime in!

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by veryrandom

So a couple picks you to do their wedding, i understand you then have a meeting or meetings with them leading up to the wedding, what is discusses in these meetings? how many should you have or does it even matter?

It's entirely up to you how you manage the communication side of things. When I was figuring out how to handle this, I wanted to make things as easy as possible. There's really only one thing that can't be figured out over email, and that's how well you'll get on with the couple.

I usually have one meeting, and it's before the contract is signed. The meetings usually feel pretty impotent because I provide a shed-load of information on the initial inquiry, but they generally want one to see that I'm not a wierdo, and I want to make sure of the same... as well as to make sure that they're the kind of couple I want to work with.. the decision goes both way.

The benefit to using email predominantly is that you have everything you've discussed in black and white, rather than trying to recall conversations. Ultimately however, I just don't have time to have multiple meetings with people. We're all busy people.

Originally Posted by veryrandom

So you do all of that and you show up to the wedding and you take the photos and all goes well and the wedding is over, what happens afterwards? Obviously you edited the pictures (i have done this using lightroom for the primary photographer i assisted last time) and then i sent them back to her so she could let the couple choose the ones i wanted. After that it is all a bit of a mystery to me.

Inside of 24 hours, I post around a dozen shots for them, and inside of 48 hours, a slideshow of approx 200 images goes up, followed by their viewing/ordering gallery, which is slightly larger than the selection in the portfolio. So within 48 hours they have the slideshow to shar, and can start ordering prints. In the next day or so I work on another batch of mostly candids and alternates, and the DVD is mailed out usually within 5 days.

At that point, I'm done with 95% of the clients. Any print sales are handled through zenfolio, and I collect the residuals, and if they want a photobook, I ask for their shot-inclusion list. If I can persuade them to do their own books, however, I do that. Too time consuming.

Originally Posted by veryrandom

Well that in fact is the mystery, how does one show the hundreds of images to a couple so they can choose? What are the accepted methods? How long should it take? And once the chosen pictures are chosen what do you simply pop them on a CD/in a album and bobs your uncle?

They don't get any choice with me. There was a good thread about Proofing hanging around a short while ago.

[slugger]

You will want to book the meeting now, it's a good way to have them sign your contract to hold their date....that is if you are ready to photograph a wedding

My "questionnaire" isn't really interview style, but more guideline for me to keep the conversation flowing on the direction I would like their wedding day to flow. I also like to know where and how they met, which loosens them up, gets them to smile, and builds rapport so they feel comfortable with me. If I'm not doing an engagement shoot, I also like to ask how he proposed...if I am doing a shoot...I wait until then to ask that question, it can evoke some emotion to help with the photo shoot.

As far as albums, you need samples. Real samples they can look at and touch. I show these during the first meeting and then offer a promotional price if they write it into their contract.

[veryrandom]

Once again thank you all for the info and tips!
Its the online gallery i seem to be having trouble with, as this is how i plan to show the proofs. Is there a generally recommended one or is it each to their own? And do you usually have to pay?
Sorry for being such a dunce but you've been great so far with the help!

[slugger]

Search through all the threads here in the earning with photography forum and you will find several that are all about photo proofing sites

[veryrandom]

Found zenfolio! And cobbled together a little wedding site with proofing and all. It still needs a bit of fine tuning but am pretty pleased with it. thanks to all for your help and advice! Have a look at the site if you want

KathySilkePhotography