Hey Pro's, What Pics Should I Include???

digitalQ

Hello -

I'm a hobbyist / amateur.

I have recently shot a formal party event. I'm having trouble deciding which photos to include in a viewable gallery for my client.

I have been trying to move away from the amateur drive to put up all 900 pictures from a "vacation" and limiting to only the top 10 or so... Does this apply to client work as well such as a party?

For example, if I shot 400 pics at an event and 200 of them are good exposure and well composed, but not the "top 10-20" do I show my client all 200 images from the party? After all, how do I know if they do or do not want a picture of a certain person?

Am I blurring the concept of "my gallery best" and a clients results?

Thank you...

cmason

i am no pro, but when doing similar for (unpaying thus why I am not pro) people, I find that the photos they like and those I like are often dramatically different. If you pull out the ones you like, your customer may find none they like.

You may want to create a 'best' gallery, then perhaps have other galleries with all your photos (those worth keeping anyway), grouped by event/table/room.

Ferguson

cmason wrote:

iI find that the photos they like and those I like are often dramatically different.

I find the same thing, and some such as my wife often like really horrible quality shots -- out of focus, bad exposure, etc. -- because they have something that interests her.

But frankly I am a heavy editor as well, I just do not want people to see the bottom of the pile.

Jamfore

selling out
I agree with these guys. I have an really awful shot of fall color and I sell it all the time. Its not one that I would choose but it sells. You never know what people will like. I still would not show the bottom of the barrell but you have to think about the client a little. If your at a craft fair you can sell some of the lesser quality photos just fine. If your at a wedding I definately would not show the poor quality photos. Keep in mind people like action, story as well as the posed shots.

kangamangus

A phrase I came across a little while ago:

"Don't show someone your SHI_ !!"

You never know when the person viewing your work is a critic.
They may recommend you to others, they may NOT recommend you to others!

At the same time you don't want to boil down your pot of images to a small number, especially if it is from a large event.

I will feel the client out, it will change from client to client.

I may provide them with the images that are so so,
stating to them that these are clearly not my best work but I thought you should see some of them.

Dave Clee

Well first, this should of come up in the questions before they hired me to shoot the event. How many are they expecting to see ? Are they expecting to see proofs from which they can select the 20 - 30 best of the bunch ?
Are you selling prints to them ?

If this is an online gallery which has the potential to be shown to other potential customers, I would ONLY put the ones that I thought passed my selection process.

I would recommend no more than 20 - 50 photos uploaded. Having to wade thru 200 shots online is a bit of a chore.

Cheers

Dave

Scott_Quier

This is such an easy one - tell the story. Keep the selection to 4 and 5 star photos to avoid showing you garbage, but the clients are expecting to see themselves ... and so are the guests. To sell event photos, you need to have shots of the people doing the buying. Think about it from the guests' perspective ... if you were a guest, would you buy a photo of me? There you go...

Alleh Lindquist

Just show the best images. If it was for print sales I would limit it to less than 75 or it makes it to hard for clients to shift through all the photos, if you are providing a disk include a few more.