Album Creation - How Involved Is Your Client?

Llywellyn

I've mentioned elsewhere that I have my first paid portrait gig coming up very soon. Thanks to the mounds of information on here, I was able to offer a variety of end products, including an album, which the client definitely wants. :clap

As I was setting out my deadline schedule (I'm an editor in the publishing world, so I live by backing out deadlines--keeps me sane!...and on schedule :wink), I had included at one point a date for sending a digital proof of the album to the client for approval. I did this because I was already doing it for the birth announcement card (I am not sending that to print without having the mother check I got the information right) and because...I work in publishing. That's how we work. You don't go to press without getting sign-off from the client that the file is good to go.

But from a photographer/business standpoint, I realize this could invite a heap of trouble--and time--for myself and for the client who, I realize, is asking me to do this because she doesn't want/have time to.

So what do you do? Do you send a digital proof of an album before going to press? Or do you only let the client choose the photos they want in the album and deliver a final product without any further involvement from them?

urbanaries

For portrait books, I put all images in the gallery (30-40, typically) in a layout and I don't get their input on the design. If they want to exclude a photo they will speak up. I let them choose a cover image if they want, but I typically recommend one.

For weddings, I give them a choice. If they want to pick the photos, they understand this adds a lot of time to the process. If they want things to go quicker, they just let me choose. I do get client signoff on layout pages for wedding albums, by showing them layouts like this.

HTH

Llywellyn

urbanaries wrote:

For portrait books, I put all images in the gallery (30-40, typically) in a layout and I don't get their input on the design. If they want to exclude a photo they will speak up. I let them choose a cover image if they want, but I typically recommend one.

For weddings, I give them a choice. If they want to pick the photos, they understand this adds a lot of time to the process. If they want things to go quicker, they just let me choose. I do get client signoff on layout pages for wedding albums, by showing them layouts like this.

HTH

That does help. Thank you, Lynne.

Follow-up question: for a portrait book, what if you have more than 40 images for them to choose from? I'm limiting the album to no more than 40, but if I end up salvaging more than that for the gallery she's ordering from, is there an easy way for her to indicate which ones are for album only? (There will be on gallery from which she will order prints and select those for her album.)

I'm really nervous about this part as I've had people indicate an image they liked or wanted to buy (framed, which meant I needed to order the print and frame it to deliver it) only to find our image numbers weren't synching up. For example, they indicate image "26" in a gallery, but the 26 in the layout on their computer isn't the same 26 when I view the site on my computer. The only thing I could think of in the meantime was to have her indicate the image number from the URL itself, but that's just so painstaking...

I haven't figured out yet why this image unsynching happens, as the layout doesn't change for me when I visit a gallery from several different computers (not logged in). Very puzzling.

urbanaries

I've not experienced that issue, but in that case I recommend they put a comment under photos they want? Not quick, but reliable.

Llywellyn

urbanaries wrote:

I've not experienced that issue, but in that case I recommend they put a comment under photos they want? Not quick, but reliable.

I hadn't even thought of using comments! That's brilliant!!

Goes to show that overthinking a problem can actually make things worse (or it does with me, my mind works very strangely...).

Thank you again.

heatherfeather

Llywellyn I have actually had the file synch problem more than one time. The way I combat it is have them open the file info box and then read me the actual file name and it makes it so there is no possibility of a mistake. You also do not have to close the info box to switch from photo to photo, so that saves time.
The comment idea does work, but gosh darn it- its annoying to have to constantly do that spam dealie. And sometimes it doesn't work the first time you type in the code thing so it is even more frustrating. Not a real fix, but a bandaid, anyway.

When I do books, I have them pick the pictures with me while having bridge open. I mark the files with say... purple, then use the filter to sort and then import to my book creating software. It only takes just long enough to look at all the pictures. Plus it is kind of fun to hear their squeals about your fantastic photos in person.
Lots of ways to skin that cat, I imagine.

Llywellyn

heatherfeather wrote:

Llywellyn I have actually had the file synch problem more than one time. The way I combat it is have them open the file info box and then read me the actual file name and it makes it so there is no possibility of a mistake. ...
The comment idea does work, but gosh darn it- its annoying to have to constantly do that spam dealie.

When I do books, I have them pick the pictures with me while having bridge open. I mark the files with say... purple, then use the filter to sort and then import to my book creating software. It only takes just long enough to look at all the pictures. Plus it is kind of fun to hear their squeals about your fantastic photos in person.

I'm trying to figure out if it's the "sort" option I choose that futzes with the synching thing. I'll keep testing variations to hopefully stop this from happening.

I've never had comments live on a gallery before and just set up a private one to test it out. You're right, having to enter that spam code will get obnoxious after a while. Even having someone enter a password-protected gallery doesn't get rid of that. Annoying, but a reasonable band-aid, like you say.

Your approach sounds way fun (and ego boosting), but I don't think I'll be able to pull it off in time.

Indicating file names sounds the most failsafe for my immediate need.

Thanks so much for your ideas!

Felicia

What about using the Filenames option in Customize Gallery on Smugmug? Basically, if you select that option and haven't written any captions under the photo, it will automatically use the filename as the caption. It looks like this under Look and Feel under Customize Gallery:

filenames: ?Yes: No:for photos without captions, show the filename instead of nothing?

Llywellyn

Felicia wrote:

What about using the Filenames option in Customize Gallery on Smugmug? Basically, if you select that option and haven't written any captions under the photo, it will automatically use the filename as the caption. It looks like this under Look and Feel under Customize Gallery:

filenames: ?Yes: No:for photos without captions, show the filename instead of nothing?

Thanks, Felicia! After Heather's comment, I planned on doing just that. Would never have thought of it before asking here, though. I love this place.