1. About 2,000 photos are taken (incl 2nd shooter).
2. Client see and get about 300 edited digital photos (no proofing, no prints)...client gets non-exclusive rights to use photos.
3. JPGs are delivered via website and on USB. Actual product is edited digital images.
4. Never had a client specify number of required photos.
For 8 hour wedding/reception, assistant and I will take maybe 2-3K shots. I will deliver 400-500 fully edited images on a website and DVD. They don't see anything else. I specify 400-500 images for 8 hours in my wedding as TYPICAL but not guaranteed. This is SF bay area as well. Note I have only done 1/2 dozen weddings though.
Matthew SavilleRegistered Users, Retired ModPosts: 3,352Major grins
edited July 8, 2014
If I'm shooting for myself, which often means shooting solo, I shoot about 1200-1500 images, and deliver 400-800. I barely color correct them.
If I'm shooting for my studio, which often means 3 well-equipped photographers, in total we shoot 4-6K images and deliver about 800-1200 images with absolutely flawless color correction on every single one.
I can't exactly recommend the 2nd business model to any newcomers to the industry. The only way this business model is even remotely possible is to have an entire team of post-production people and others working as staff in the studio, to keep everything running smoothly.
For some reason, clients eat this up. And of course, all the vendors love us because we provide them with oodles of gorgeous venue detail photos that are produced flawlessly. It just seems like the norm for our area. Maybe in LA people like getting the paparazzi treatment, I dunno...
There seems to be a trend in the US of digital receipt of images, rather than a printed album. Many choose to print themselves, and combine into their own album, and some never print more than one or two. I personally don't mind, so as to limit the amount of resource consumption, but then again, I'm a treehugger who lives in a camper van full-time.
However, models like the one Matthew mentioned (the large business model) are likely contributing to the insane amount of photos problem, whereas they could simply back down that number of photos, still provide perfect color correction, and stay busy all the time...without putting the knife to the throat of independent shooters in the area. Basically, the studio's approach seems like the Wal-Mart theory...sell it in bulk, sell it cheaper per photo, feed the great American "give me more than I need" mentality. (That's not meant as an attack on you or the studio, Matthew, just an observation)
Right now, our wedding experience is still fairly limited. I can say that on my first solo wedding, I shot over 2,000 pics. I regretted it the moment I loaded them into Lightroom. However, at the same time, I was grateful, as I learned a LOT about indoor shooting, and had I not taken so many, I would've had a very very grumpy final set. lol
Total album choice edits was 60, and the client still wanted all of the leftovers (around 1900 pics). It was, indeed a royal pain in the ass. She took forever selecting her album choices (to be edited / corrected), and I worked myself silly culling the mess.
After that wedding, I reduced my pic count by half and had a much better time, as well as better results. I don't want to hassle with 12 shots of the best man and groom hugging. 3 shots will do fine. Same with the procession. 2 shots of each couple entering, then move on. No more 7fps "hope I got the good one" silliness.
There seems to be a trend in the US of digital receipt of images, rather than a printed album. Many choose to print themselves, and combine into their own album, and some never print more than one or two. I personally don't mind, so as to limit the amount of resource consumption, but then again, I'm a treehugger who lives in a camper van full-time.
However, models like the one Matthew mentioned (the large business model) are likely contributing to the insane amount of photos problem, whereas they could simply back down that number of photos, still provide perfect color correction, and stay busy all the time...without putting the knife to the throat of independent shooters in the area. Basically, the studio's approach seems like the Wal-Mart theory...sell it in bulk, sell it cheaper per photo, feed the great American "give me more than I need" mentality. (That's not meant as an attack on you or the studio, Matthew, just an observation)
Right now, our wedding experience is still fairly limited. I can say that on my first solo wedding, I shot over 2,000 pics. I regretted it the moment I loaded them into Lightroom. However, at the same time, I was grateful, as I learned a LOT about indoor shooting, and had I not taken so many, I would've had a very very grumpy final set. lol
Total album choice edits was 60, and the client still wanted all of the leftovers (around 1900 pics). It was, indeed a royal pain in the ass. She took forever selecting her album choices (to be edited / corrected), and I worked myself silly culling the mess.
After that wedding, I reduced my pic count by half and had a much better time, as well as better results. I don't want to hassle with 12 shots of the best man and groom hugging. 3 shots will do fine. Same with the procession. 2 shots of each couple entering, then move on. No more 7fps "hope I got the good one" silliness.
I think along the same lines. My business is mostly beach weddings that there isn't much fanfare and they usually last 1 hr for my coverage time. I don't make as much money as the all day weddings for sure but they are much more enjoyable. I will probably take about 200-300 shots and select about 40-80 for the proof gallery depending on how many posed couple shots we get in afterwords and how many family shots we do.
I had a recent engagements session where the couple selected 30 images from the set as their favorites but they also wanted all the pictures in the set. I edited their favorite 30 and sold them the others as is which just had basic edits applied in batch. They were fine with that. They were not shots that extra editing would benefit anyway.
From the way I shoot there are a few from each set where I shoot knowing what I want to do in post so they may not look good as is. I will spend more time on those before I put in the proof gallery because these are the money shots.
There seems to be a trend in the US of digital receipt of images, rather than a printed album. Many choose to print themselves, and combine into their own album, and some never print more than one or two. I personally don't mind, so as to limit the amount of resource consumption, but then again, I'm a treehugger who lives in a camper van full-time.
However, models like the one Matthew mentioned (the large business model) are likely contributing to the insane amount of photos problem, whereas they could simply back down that number of photos, still provide perfect color correction, and stay busy all the time...without putting the knife to the throat of independent shooters in the area. Basically, the studio's approach seems like the Wal-Mart theory...sell it in bulk, sell it cheaper per photo, feed the great American "give me more than I need" mentality. (That's not meant as an attack on you or the studio, Matthew, just an observation)
Right now, our wedding experience is still fairly limited. I can say that on my first solo wedding, I shot over 2,000 pics. I regretted it the moment I loaded them into Lightroom. However, at the same time, I was grateful, as I learned a LOT about indoor shooting, and had I not taken so many, I would've had a very very grumpy final set. lol
Total album choice edits was 60, and the client still wanted all of the leftovers (around 1900 pics). It was, indeed a royal pain in the ass. She took forever selecting her album choices (to be edited / corrected), and I worked myself silly culling the mess.
After that wedding, I reduced my pic count by half and had a much better time, as well as better results. I don't want to hassle with 12 shots of the best man and groom hugging. 3 shots will do fine. Same with the procession. 2 shots of each couple entering, then move on. No more 7fps "hope I got the good one" silliness.
So I don't let the client pick all the images for the album. I present the FINISHED gallery of 400-500 images and ask them to pick few MUST haves and then I do the album myself as it pleases me. There is no way I am presenting 2K+ unedited images to my clients.
So I don't let the client pick all the images for the album. I present the FINISHED gallery of 400-500 images and ask them to pick few MUST haves and then I do the album myself as it pleases me. There is no way I am presenting 2K+ unedited images to my clients.
So I don't let the client pick all the images for the album. I present the FINISHED gallery of 400-500 images and ask them to pick few MUST haves and then I do the album myself as it pleases me. There is no way I am presenting 2K+ unedited images to my clients.
agreed.
I take a way different approach.
Out of the few weddings i've shot, ~2k were shot, about 400 were expected by the couple. however, I process every shot I like, so in reality they get ~600-700. I know it is not the best model, and wastes a lot of time.. but i'm also nuts.
There seems to be a trend in the US of digital receipt of images, rather than a printed album. Many choose to print themselves, and combine into their own album, and some never print more than one or two. I personally don't mind, so as to limit the amount of resource consumption, but then again, I'm a treehugger who lives in a camper van full-time.
However, models like the one Matthew mentioned (the large business model) are likely contributing to the insane amount of photos problem, whereas they could simply back down that number of photos, still provide perfect color correction, and stay busy all the time...without putting the knife to the throat of independent shooters in the area. Basically, the studio's approach seems like the Wal-Mart theory...sell it in bulk, sell it cheaper per photo, feed the great American "give me more than I need" mentality. (That's not meant as an attack on you or the studio, Matthew, just an observation)
Right now, our wedding experience is still fairly limited. I can say that on my first solo wedding, I shot over 2,000 pics. I regretted it the moment I loaded them into Lightroom. However, at the same time, I was grateful, as I learned a LOT about indoor shooting, and had I not taken so many, I would've had a very very grumpy final set. lol
Total album choice edits was 60, and the client still wanted all of the leftovers (around 1900 pics). It was, indeed a royal pain in the ass. She took forever selecting her album choices (to be edited / corrected), and I worked myself silly culling the mess.
After that wedding, I reduced my pic count by half and had a much better time, as well as better results. I don't want to hassle with 12 shots of the best man and groom hugging. 3 shots will do fine. Same with the procession. 2 shots of each couple entering, then move on. No more 7fps "hope I got the good one" silliness.
No offense taken, and I totally agree. My wife and I live right in the thick of what you'd call this suburban, American "gimme more than I need!" mentality, and neither of us like it very much. We're certainly not gun-toting survivalists, but we do indeed dream of living in a cabin in the woods far away from noisy neighbors and consumerist greed.
Having said that, I can confirm that this is indeed a volume-based business model that does indeed succeed very well around here. Not only are we doing very well as a studio, we're charging a rather high-end price, and we do STILL get brides coming back to us for albums, the majority of the time. But yes, they do create their own books and canvases as well.
I would dislike this business model more, if I discovered that clients were just accepting delivery, and then letting their images sit on a disc / hard drive somewhere forever collecting dust. However at every single wedding I go to, my clients are displaying photo books and canvas prints that either they made themselves or ordered from my studio, and they're all raving about how much they loved the engagement photos and how much they can't wait to see the wedding photos. And after the wedding, they usually come in for an album, or send out a ThankYou card with a collage of their wedding photos, etc. etc.
The bottom line is that both business models work. Is the high-volume business model killing the solo business person? I doubt it, but it's definitely fueling consumerism and "supersize me!" in general, which I don't necessarily agree with.
I think along the same lines. My business is mostly beach weddings that there isn't much fanfare and they usually last 1 hr for my coverage time. I don't make as much money as the all day weddings for sure but they are much more enjoyable. I will probably take about 200-300 shots and select about 40-80 for the proof gallery depending on how many posed couple shots we get in afterwords and how many family shots we do.
I had a recent engagements session where the couple selected 30 images from the set as their favorites but they also wanted all the pictures in the set. I edited their favorite 30 and sold them the others as is which just had basic edits applied in batch. They were fine with that. They were not shots that extra editing would benefit anyway.
From the way I shoot there are a few from each set where I shoot knowing what I want to do in post so they may not look good as is. I will spend more time on those before I put in the proof gallery because these are the money shots.
There is simply a massive gamut of what a wedding day can involve, of course. A quick, private beach wedding with just a few guests will certainly only require the capture of a handful of images, and if the whole day is relatively slow-paced, the keeping & delivery of almost 100% of the shots.
Whenever I shoot a tiny beach / backyard wedding, I usually just delete a few images in-camera, and then deliver 50-75% of what I click. The 25-50% that get deleted are simply duplicate shots from key moments during the day where I am pushing the envelope of fast-aperture, low-light shooting, and I don't have time to pick the sharper image before moving on to covering the next moment.
I don't know about these low-volume shooters here, but I spend 75% -90% of my time shooting wide open at f/1.8 or f/2.8, and at ISO 3200. This means that there is simply no way for me to nail every single shot, especially in active, candid situations. So, while I certainly don't "spray and pray", I do indeed shoot 2-4 images just to ensure I get one that is perfect.
If you find yourself shooting in normal daylight conditions at regular apertures, this probably is much less of a problem.
It depends on the hours of coverage, but generally they get about 100 photos per hour in both B&W + colour. I have a documentary/candid approach and I like to ensure there's at least one photo of every guest. I then host everything on Smugmug so guests can help themselves to photos. It's a great way to market my business.
Comments
1. About 2,000 photos are taken (incl 2nd shooter).
2. Client see and get about 300 edited digital photos (no proofing, no prints)...client gets non-exclusive rights to use photos.
3. JPGs are delivered via website and on USB. Actual product is edited digital images.
4. Never had a client specify number of required photos.
facebook.com/robertchenphotography
14-24 24-70 70-200mm (vr2)
85 and 50 1.4
45 PC and sb910 x2
http://www.danielkimphotography.com
If I'm shooting for my studio, which often means 3 well-equipped photographers, in total we shoot 4-6K images and deliver about 800-1200 images with absolutely flawless color correction on every single one.
I can't exactly recommend the 2nd business model to any newcomers to the industry. The only way this business model is even remotely possible is to have an entire team of post-production people and others working as staff in the studio, to keep everything running smoothly.
For some reason, clients eat this up. And of course, all the vendors love us because we provide them with oodles of gorgeous venue detail photos that are produced flawlessly. It just seems like the norm for our area. Maybe in LA people like getting the paparazzi treatment, I dunno...
=Matt=
My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
However, models like the one Matthew mentioned (the large business model) are likely contributing to the insane amount of photos problem, whereas they could simply back down that number of photos, still provide perfect color correction, and stay busy all the time...without putting the knife to the throat of independent shooters in the area. Basically, the studio's approach seems like the Wal-Mart theory...sell it in bulk, sell it cheaper per photo, feed the great American "give me more than I need" mentality. (That's not meant as an attack on you or the studio, Matthew, just an observation)
Right now, our wedding experience is still fairly limited. I can say that on my first solo wedding, I shot over 2,000 pics. I regretted it the moment I loaded them into Lightroom. However, at the same time, I was grateful, as I learned a LOT about indoor shooting, and had I not taken so many, I would've had a very very grumpy final set. lol
Total album choice edits was 60, and the client still wanted all of the leftovers (around 1900 pics). It was, indeed a royal pain in the ass. She took forever selecting her album choices (to be edited / corrected), and I worked myself silly culling the mess.
After that wedding, I reduced my pic count by half and had a much better time, as well as better results. I don't want to hassle with 12 shots of the best man and groom hugging. 3 shots will do fine. Same with the procession. 2 shots of each couple entering, then move on. No more 7fps "hope I got the good one" silliness.
I think along the same lines. My business is mostly beach weddings that there isn't much fanfare and they usually last 1 hr for my coverage time. I don't make as much money as the all day weddings for sure but they are much more enjoyable. I will probably take about 200-300 shots and select about 40-80 for the proof gallery depending on how many posed couple shots we get in afterwords and how many family shots we do.
I had a recent engagements session where the couple selected 30 images from the set as their favorites but they also wanted all the pictures in the set. I edited their favorite 30 and sold them the others as is which just had basic edits applied in batch. They were fine with that. They were not shots that extra editing would benefit anyway.
From the way I shoot there are a few from each set where I shoot knowing what I want to do in post so they may not look good as is. I will spend more time on those before I put in the proof gallery because these are the money shots.
So I don't let the client pick all the images for the album. I present the FINISHED gallery of 400-500 images and ask them to pick few MUST haves and then I do the album myself as it pleases me. There is no way I am presenting 2K+ unedited images to my clients.
14-24 24-70 70-200mm (vr2)
85 and 50 1.4
45 PC and sb910 x2
http://www.danielkimphotography.com
I'm with you Qarik!
facebook.com/robertchenphotography
I take a way different approach.
Out of the few weddings i've shot, ~2k were shot, about 400 were expected by the couple. however, I process every shot I like, so in reality they get ~600-700. I know it is not the best model, and wastes a lot of time.. but i'm also nuts.
My Site
My Facebook
No offense taken, and I totally agree. My wife and I live right in the thick of what you'd call this suburban, American "gimme more than I need!" mentality, and neither of us like it very much. We're certainly not gun-toting survivalists, but we do indeed dream of living in a cabin in the woods far away from noisy neighbors and consumerist greed.
Having said that, I can confirm that this is indeed a volume-based business model that does indeed succeed very well around here. Not only are we doing very well as a studio, we're charging a rather high-end price, and we do STILL get brides coming back to us for albums, the majority of the time. But yes, they do create their own books and canvases as well.
I would dislike this business model more, if I discovered that clients were just accepting delivery, and then letting their images sit on a disc / hard drive somewhere forever collecting dust. However at every single wedding I go to, my clients are displaying photo books and canvas prints that either they made themselves or ordered from my studio, and they're all raving about how much they loved the engagement photos and how much they can't wait to see the wedding photos. And after the wedding, they usually come in for an album, or send out a ThankYou card with a collage of their wedding photos, etc. etc.
The bottom line is that both business models work. Is the high-volume business model killing the solo business person? I doubt it, but it's definitely fueling consumerism and "supersize me!" in general, which I don't necessarily agree with.
My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
There is simply a massive gamut of what a wedding day can involve, of course. A quick, private beach wedding with just a few guests will certainly only require the capture of a handful of images, and if the whole day is relatively slow-paced, the keeping & delivery of almost 100% of the shots.
Whenever I shoot a tiny beach / backyard wedding, I usually just delete a few images in-camera, and then deliver 50-75% of what I click. The 25-50% that get deleted are simply duplicate shots from key moments during the day where I am pushing the envelope of fast-aperture, low-light shooting, and I don't have time to pick the sharper image before moving on to covering the next moment.
I don't know about these low-volume shooters here, but I spend 75% -90% of my time shooting wide open at f/1.8 or f/2.8, and at ISO 3200. This means that there is simply no way for me to nail every single shot, especially in active, candid situations. So, while I certainly don't "spray and pray", I do indeed shoot 2-4 images just to ensure I get one that is perfect.
If you find yourself shooting in normal daylight conditions at regular apertures, this probably is much less of a problem.
=Matt=
My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
edited, digital files. usually just downloaded from smugmug site.
Las Cruces Photographer / Las Cruces Wedding Photographer
Other site
I deliver 2-3000 pictures about 5-6 days from wedding day.
Canon 5DIV | Canon EF 35 f1.4 L II | Canon 24-70 f2.8 L II | Canon 70-200 f2.8 L II IS | Canon 16-35 f4 L IS
It depends on the hours of coverage, but generally they get about 100 photos per hour in both B&W + colour. I have a documentary/candid approach and I like to ensure there's at least one photo of every guest. I then host everything on Smugmug so guests can help themselves to photos. It's a great way to market my business.
Christina Craft - FunkyTown Photography
portrait and wedding photographer Victoria BC
C-2529 Vancouver St, Victoria · 360-775-2539