One question a lot of prospective brides ask is whether they will receive a wedding photography CD with all the images on it. Many photographers provide one at the end of the wedding to the couple and then call it a day. The advantage to this is that the client has a copy of all the images from the wedding and can get a print made years later if they so choose. This sounds good in theory but there are some major drawbacks to doing this without having a number of questions answered first.
Sending electronic copies of photos
Suppose the bride wants to email 3 of her favorite images to her friends who are out of state. She opens the disk to send the files only to discover there are 1,400 images on the disk. She will now have to spend precious time trying to find these images out of the 1,400 on the disk. Another problem is that the images may not be sized correctly for email. The images are most likely full resolution images that are far too large to attach to emails. The bride will then have to resize the photos in an image editing program like Photoshop Elements.
Printing Photos
Now suppose the couple wants to send grandma an image or 2 from the wedding as prints. Again, some considerations need to be taken into account before having prints made. Should the couple take the disk to the nearest store and have prints made (again having to locate the file amongst the 1,400) or should they just print the photos themselves on their home printer? Custom photo labs do a wonderful job of printing and color match to the original file much better than mass production labs at the local discount chain. Most places can print a decent 4×6 but what if bigger enlargements are needed? Are custom adjustments needed such as cropping or contrast or lighting adjustments? Another question that needs to be answered is what should the enlargement be printed on? There are several great choices including canvas, metal, and traditional photo paper but each has its own purpose and unique look and feel. It helps to have an expert walk you through this process.
Albums
Many couples like having memory books or leather-bound albums made from the photos. If the photographer just gave them a disk full of images, this is something that can be done at a later date, but it requires an extensive knowledge of programs like Photoshop to design yourself or relying on a template from one of the album printers. Albums take 8-12 hours to design. Some people love doing this work themselves but most people don’t have the time or the patience to do this.
Customer Service
I don’t typically provide a CD of all the full resolution images unless it’s specifically purchased, and here’s why. To me, this is like going to a fancy restaurant, ordering an incredible looking dessert, and getting a recipe handed to you at the table. As you can imagine, you might have a perplexed expression on your face wondering what happened to the dessert you ordered. You went to the restaurant for the very reason you didn’t want to cook the meal yourself. This is my view with respect to image CDs. So what do I do instead of providing a CD with all the images on it to the client. Simple. I provide the services to the client that most don’t want to take the time to do themselves. I post the best 25-50 images on Facebook and provide a DVD slideshow of the wedding including short video clips. Now if the couple wants to email a friend a photo, there’s only 150 0r so images to cull through. I provide custom made prints that are printed at the highest quality labs after consulting with the client what type of look they want their finished product to have. I custom design albums and memory books and arrange the pictures in a logical order to tell the story of your wedding day. And, I do provide a CD of images if the client wants that extra security and peace of mind, but only after I have provided all of the other services first.
