‘The CD’ or a Finished Photo Collection?

Best as I can recall, following their wedding the couple would have a set of photographs to share with their family and friends. Often, the photos would be presented in an album of some sort and since the early 2000s, the presentation was more of a ‘magazine’ style or coffee-table book design. Hughes Photographics has been offering our ‘PhotoBook’, an elegant coffee-table book style book since 2003. The style of the book and layout designs have evolved over the years and the PhotoBook remains an effective method of putting together a collection of images from an event to enjoy and share with others. Who can’t remember the scene of someone pulling out their wedding album or book and re-live the special time and people in their lives?

“But, but… just because this is what was done back then, does not mean it is still a good approach.”

 Somethings work because they are a good idea. Seeing images on the screen are great, I get it… I do it all day long. But holding in one’s hands a book of beautifully prepared images, tastefully blended together has much more impact. Grouping collections of photos may be old school but it certainly is effective!

As a photo studio, we have adapted to changes and requests over time and have offered creative services (the on-site photography) and made available the high resolution files and left the remaining aspects of the process in the hands of the couple. They saved money but took on a very large portion of the production of a finished product. So what is the drawback or what can go wrong with this approach?

Lets use an analogy to explain what can go wrong. Would you purchase the parts of a car from a manufacturer and assemble them yourself? Probably not. You would want the process to be completed by those who are skilled in this field. This is not an ideal analogy as assembling a number of parts does not involve the creative input as does the design of multiple layouts of images used in the creation of a PhotoBook, but hopefully it gets across the idea.

A number of past clients have shared with me what they came up with from online ‘design services’. Eek! No retouching was applied, no image enhancement or creative input as to how the images are grouped. It was like a computer grouped together the unprepared images and that was it! Surely there are good sources for quality design services, but I’ve not found one. The actual book construction and materials are nothing special as well. It is regretful that couples have a none too impressive presentation of a great day in their lives. Was it worth the savings?

What is even more common is after the couple secures the image files, they get busy with their new life and do nothing with the photography. Perhaps a handful of 4×6 prints are made, but there is not a complete collection for current and future generations of the families to enjoy.

Being that the couple has hired a photographer, it is not a stretch to assume that the couple desires a nice photo based remembrance of their wedding. One option is to have your competent professional photographer handle the entire process, from start to finish. Ask for the image files used in the creation of your PhotoBook. You have a gorgeous presentation and the ability to share with family and friends individual photos. A win win situation!  Email the author, Scott and visit our website.