Presenting images to client/ public...

[justlearning]

How many pictures of a wedding would be normal? It seems that if you gave someone 400 to 700 to choose from they would never be able to make up their mind of what they wanted?

[JerBear]

Depends on the event, time spent and what the clients are looking for.

You're right, give them to many to choose from and you open a can of worms...

I know some photographers that will shoot well over a thousand images at a wedding, shoot every time the bride blinks...... I on the other hand shoot to tell a story of the day. Shoot bride prep, groom prep, ceremony, formals, reception and try to get those moments that will trigger their memories of the beautiful day. How many shots will that take? Who knows, who cares? We are shooting digital now and there is no extra costs to taking extra shots. It allows you to "try something new" If it works out great, if not, so?

When we shot medium film format, we had strict guidelines for coverage, each shot was $. We knew what sold and what ended up in the can, so shot to that end. Limited us on those "fun" photos that no one ever buys, but like to see.

Good shooting

JM

[justlearning]

You are absolutely right about being able to shoot to your hearts content, even if they don't turn out and people don't ever get to see them they would have no way of knowing.

I just know that when people are looking for a wedding photographer they want to know that they are going to get their moneys worth. To tell them they are going to get good coverage wouldn't be good enough. What's good to me may not be good to them. A lot of them are looking for some kind of a number to maybe compare with what another photographer has told them.

I know it would depend on what they what and really how big of a wedding they are having. Just say some one told they would provide them with at least 500 pictures to choose from and another one said they would provide them with a thousand and another one said they would provide them with only 250 which one do you think they would take?

I know it sounds stupid but I was just trying to get an idea of what people where looking for out there these days that's all.

[JerBear]

Let me be clear, yes you should have some sort of range of photos that you offer for your particular package, to give them a fair idea of what they will end up with.

But, you should also be aware that "Joe Photo" down the street is offering double what you are. So what do you do?

Well, one, you should know competition. What are their packages, pricing? Is their work less than, as good or better than yours? A little detective work will be in order to get all of this. A phantom shopper is one way.

2) Now that you are knowledgeable about the competition you can design your business plan accordingly. You do have a business plan, don't you?

3) Educate your clients when you sit down with them. With your knowledge of the competition, you can answer almost all of the questions that come up regarding comparisons in pricing, coverage and customer service.

4) Finally, Show them your work! Ask them, do you want a lot of so so photos or do you want excellent quality work? Events are a ONE TIME chance, do they want to save a couple of bucks that bad?

As they say "The cheap comes out very expensive"

Good Luck

JM

[justlearning]

Thanks JerBear, I know you are right! The main thing is that you know your competition and your work should be able to speak for itself!

I am just trying to learn as much as I can and these forums are wonderful. It is so nice having people like yourself that actually know what their doing to ask questions to. I have learned so much in just the few weeks that I have been reading on here it is amazing...thanks to everyone that has been so helpful with all of your thoughts.

[JerBear]

You sound like you are on your way....

Just KNOW your competition inside out, and have a business plan

Good Luck

JM

[It's Perfect?]

Your right. You never know what a customer is going to like but you don't want anything but your best work out there. I am already running into this and I barely started my business. I did a shoot and without warning the client was using them on their blog. Luckily they were some of my best but what if they weren't. I found the rule of thumb is if it's not your best don't let the public see it with your watermark. If the client really likes a shot you don't let it go, who cares. If they wanted a snapshot they got it.

Originally Posted by chalkie7

lol...just going through this dilemma myself too. I had a studio day a few weeks ago with 8 clients booked in. Rather than expecting them to choose on the day (which I had done before - not a good idea!), I decided to upload a selection of the shots to a client-only area of my web-site. I uploaded between 40 and 60 shots per client. Then 5 of them asked if they could see even more from the shoot, so I obliged by supplying them with re-sized / watermarked pictures on cd. This had several affects:-

1) i think i sold more from some of the sessions than I would have, as the clients did pick some shots that were not real winners in my eyes.
2) several of these shots appeared on social networking sites within hours without my consent!
3) it certainly slowed the whole process down....3 weeks on and I have 2 of the clients still to make their final selection.

I'm still looking for the right balance!

[Daoist58]

So I'm curious - if you have no target number for the amount of proofs you are going to offer the client, how do you construct your contract? what are you promising to deliver if it's entirely up to you as to how many images you show your client? What if they are expecting to see 60 proofs and you offer them 25? what if they come back and say, "There are no pictures of Uncle Harry here!"

[justlearning]

I am in the Atlanta area and there are a lot of everything around here....even "Portrait" studios, you know the kind that you can get a package with 15 sheets of pictures for only $9.95? Something that I don't want to be! I don't even know how they can print those stone like picture for that much?

I want to be able to offer my clients (if I ever get there) something different. I know there are several other very good photographers (and yes they are very good) right around my area as well so I will have plenty of competition to deal with, that's why I need to find a way to be even better or find something that would make them come to me.

I am not really in that big of a hurry and reading these forums has given me some real good ideas.

[Sharon]

This can be tough at times, but I think I agree that if a photo isn't your best work it doesn't belong in your portfolio or in the hands of a client. The goal is to get the best shot possible, to capture a moment or something unique. I agree it may be difficult to not allow clients to see all the shots you take, 'cause yes perhaps they may be sentimental to a client. However I believe the client is paying you for your best work. If you try to show clients all the photos, or spend time processinig mediocre photos you're simply wasting your own time, and your clients time and time is money. As much as I like to try and do it all, my husband is constantly encouraging me about the bottom line, which is the more time I spend processing, the less money per hour I make, the less time I have for other sessions, and of course the less time I am able to spend with my family. I love photography, but if you are doing photography as a business you can not afford to waste your time on shots that simply don't make the cut.