Lessons

Lesson Info

Post Wedding Workflow: The Album

So the next thing about telling stories, the album, um so so what we do is we is we pre design all of our albums, so we tell the couple were like, you know what? We're all a cart and how we do our things? We don't we don't include albums in our packages, we don't have packages, we're just all a car because I learned a long time ago that I personally don't want to be on the hook for people about their albums. I mean, like, we have albums that are still outstanding, like seven years, people haven't just they haven't come got get their order, their album yet, like, eventually that's going to come in, get us, you know? And then we're going so I don't want to be I don't know people on dh, it was just bad, like one year remember everybody, one of their album before christmas, and we had a like a thirteen thousand dollars album bill and like one one month because we had to like gillies album's done, you know, and it's like, I just can't we couldn't deal with it wasn't it wasn't a good situati...

on, so we finally decided to go all the card and then I just work for us. Like I know ben and erin like include their albums I think because they want everybody to have one and I'm like yeah you know so it's whatever works for you guys you know but um so we're all a card so therefore all of this stuff is like purchase after the wedding so what I what I've been doing now is because this album I love albums but I hate them like they are the bane of my existence because it's like there's so much work involved you guys don't have it you just shot on your first wedding you know but you've probably dealt with it a little bit it's like after twelve years being in the business and it's like you know people come back like and they're like oh, I'm going to get my album now six years later and you're like that's great and all but now I've got to do with this business situation where I have to be like sorry we have to charge you more and you know usual people are pretty cool about it but I don't want to be that guy you know so so what I do is I just we do all the card and I want to speed that process up a cz much as possible you know? So we just pre designed the album for them and they're allowed to make changes but at least that way I'm choosing like all the best photo goes right to put in the album and so, um and so and so and so therefore it's not that big of a deal because they convict on and choose you heard courtney, didn't you? Where? She's like he did it for us, and I think people actually like that, you know? And so I just kind of go through this, so I use fundi fundy he they were thankful not nice enough to send us some stuff. We got some some, some swag, right? But so I do. I use fungi album builder andi just got put on to it like not too long ago and oh, my god, it's saved my life saved my life. We would spend hours upon hours doing album designs, and we're not graphic designers, and it would be frustrating beyond belief I can do an album design now from start to finish choosing the images and designing it and probably what our would you say, right? Because you use it or less because you're better than I am about it. Probably it probably short guys I don't know about, and they have, like an auto album feature, I just use the auto album feature like I'm just like go for it and then I could tweak it but so so so this is the new year's eve wedding I showed you know, you know, this is their album design so I just kind of try and put it together where it makes the story right? So I started out again started out with a portrait I think it makes sense to me on the first page when somebody opens up same as a slideshow this is how I get a c today you know, right? And then and then you know, trying to make the story and so see how one side's so for instance, the reason I do I do a finals in a cart folder is because those three images on the right let's say the middle one was in color originally, you know, and it's like it's like or vice versa say like they're all in color and one of them was was in black and white if they're all in color when I design it that I can't just then go through later and just make all of those in color on that face it's not really spotty it's easier for me to design don't worry about where to place the black and whites and colors, right? Yeah that's a whole spread yeah, we just dio twelve by twelve albums from from renaissance don't talk about that, you know? And so anyway kind of cool whatever just kind of put it together those like full bleed pictures you know it's nothing fancy but you know it gets the job done you see those that's the spine in the middle that's what the book right so one black and white one color is ok for me in that instance you know and just kind of going through trying to pick pictures they're goingto like the people but also the ones that I like oftentimes I do pages like this but I just need to hit those people right they just want to see those people sometimes I'm like you know I want to make sure they're there so I just kind of do it but I do wanna page was a whole bunch of them so kind of feels like a little fun little collide like a better word collage you know just kind of going through I love doing albums because I love this like sequence down here it tells the story better right and when in one thing boom boom boom boom boom and do you need four pictures in your album of of her come down the aisle I think you do because it was a great moment and you and I can really feel that you know that's a big over the spine picture like it goes across the page right I call it a slicer same with that one you know just tryingto put it together that is l a the the flesh mount books because you can do with these huge full bleed right in the middle so when they opened up it's a twelve by twenty four inch picture don't you think it's kind of cool you know some details I love doing this all the time so instead of a bridal party picture I love doing this because it's kind like there's all your bridal party but it's more fun so that's if I get everybody though the problem is I might miss somebody you know but they're all there on that page right? And then it goes to them coming in you know, you know, a whole spread on the cake cutting an entire spread in the cake and I made that picture big right? Because I'm like I'm going to show the pictures I love big and so hopefully they'll be like, oh, he must like that picture you know? And oftentimes they don't change much which is really kind of cool but to gamble because I'm they didn't buy this so that so that that's why I love the fundi stuff cause I can do an album design is not that much time invested and they don't buy one then it's like, well well you know but but but if they do buy it, I am like months ahead of the game because I've already jump started the process for us you know makes sense you know how long it takes to uh for brides and grooms to pick two pictures for their album oh my god it's horrible and then when you get the images are like oh my god they chose all their own pictures of course they do because they don't know any different there just choosing the ones that the people you know they they get so frustrated they can't handle it they just whatever just put that in there you know? So you know stuff like this it's interesting how the album makes it changes how it makes the wedding feels so much different you know? So yeah just showing a lot of people I try and get a lot of people that are that are great photos that's a fun spread and you know and I didn't have my eyes take no credit for it kind of cool there's the new year's eve spread just two big pictures I'm actually in the next hour I'm going to do is just going to be simple is going to be one photo per page just a simple matted book you know, kind of I know I'm gonna see how it goes okay I'm excited about it because you don't feel like that you know cool stuff whatever you get the point right and then that's their final final page on the funnel on the end you know so so I think that that's really important and I think that that's kind of how I do it and I'm not a pro at it I'm not gonna win any album design awards at w p p I you know but I just don't really need it I don't want to put the effort into it with you um I'm not so sure it has a huge return on my investment time wise, but it might another great thing I used so just trying to be this process up I talked about potrero yesterday like I'm that all that stuff he does he has it thing out called photo press plug ins which is on dh he didn't you know I'm doing this by the way I just like him and I love this product basically it's an album approval software right so it's tze wordpress based and you just dump it into your blawg and you put the album design up there it's almost like album reviewer some something like that and the and the and your client can just go on and go through all the album pages and write notes and then change this photo that photo and then it's really simple so it's been really helpful and you know you know in that regard and then like I said, I use renaissance albums now I used to not for a really long time I actually used them you have that first wedding I showed with the fisheye shenanigans right? I actually used renaissance that long ago I try one of their books and I don't know why I think it was flushed mad at that time I didn't like the fleischman at that time or some like that so I stopped using them for some reason and then years you know you kind of get to a groove we also offer queensberry albums they're like really fancy and awesome you know and we only offer queen's way for a long time but quite frankly you know, the a lot of people just couldn't afford him they're just really high end you know and so but but we still do offer them because they're like amazing book I love those books but so so then I started I met ken who's, the owner of renaissance at the foundation conference one year because he was there with a booth and everything and it was just amazing he was such an amazingly nice guy total family guy great to work with and I'm like, you know what? I'm going to try him I'm gonna go for it and that's what's more important to me is I want to work with people that are awesome to work with and he's him and his company's really fantastic and honestly that's why we're back with them and I and I'm really been happy so far and then of course you know the fundi the fundi software I want to thank all those guys for being supportive of creative live and fundy throwing over some cool stuff for you guys. The audience isn't get out there doesn't get anything, but they get some. You got some sunglasses, sun block, yeah, and fund is great. We've had him in the studio here, actually to demo software. It's just wonderful stuff. So a couple of a couple of questions from the chat rooms that are really wonderfully on topic right now. Yeah, mm. Photo wants to know what percentage of your clients choose to purchase the album. Yeah, that's a hard question because I don't know if I was a good businessman, I know that I'll talk my head, wouldn't I? Um I would say I bet it's I bet it's around fifty fifty, maybe sixty percent. And then how? How mostly do you deliver your your photos to the clients? Like if the what of the other? The other fifty percent are getting. Prince yeah, what we do, we are constantly experimented with this, you know, like trying to see what's making a difference in terms of bookings and everything we finally have now gone, tio what what? They're what they're but what they get is they get eight hours of coverage to photographers and engagement session and they get four by six sized digital files right? So so so they can print up to four by six with them on dh that's nice because it's they have something if they can't afford anything else they actually have record of their images and they could make prints and they can or like their parents could make little albums to go take their bridge the bridge game or something like that but if they want like, you know, high res files or they want like enlargements are framed pieces of whatever we actually we actually don't dio canvas wraps anymore I used to do cameras perhaps and I'm done with that I'm trying to just like simplify things and just really really kind of you know make it classy I guess you know and not not that famous crabs aren't I just got tired of him, you know? So I want to frame everything and so framed prints all that kind of said that's all decided after the wedding and it's all available all our cart from them so basically that's what they get bacon and also taken by the higher ups files and a lot of pretty much everybody buys the high res files from us and when you're doing the albums they're looking at, you know you kind of work with them they say beforehand I want an album and then you design it and then is there approving process or yeah that's what that album proofing software sent it out to them just clear had to and that takes a long time too great they now it's in their court but at least you know the ball's in their court but at least we've like accelerated that process for them you know do you give them like edited one are just talking I just copy their cart so all the black and white and yeah if I have room way use like little thumb drives that's one reason raws making me angry cause now they don't if it on our thumb drives but if I have room I'll put the finals in there too I'll be like, hey there all in color or black and white what do you know what I mean if they're paying for them as well you know, do you have a water market? You don't know what you know not they're paying for right because that doesn't that doesn't make any sense to me, you know it's kind of like you've paid for the high reds files you've bought the copyright he was a cop right released and go for it I'm going to wrap this up in a nice little bow so I mentioned early on that I don't like weddings right all right, but I do like people but I'm actually actually do like weddings but I like weddings for what they've done for me right not only have has beena wedding photographer actually made me I have a better life right? Some people have always said like a wedding photographer you can suck the life out of you you know? But it actually made mine better because I can watch how people are and I could be like I want to be like those people I don't want to be like those people, right? So but what is also done for me is it is it is set me up with skills to take my photography anywhere I want to go with it right portrait you know, weddings can help be a training ground for anything portrait ce you could go into commercial work, you could do all kinds of stuff with this kind of attitude and so what we're doing is brandon has started brandon and I have started a new company very slow off the ground it's called untold untold documentary storytellers so we do this basically what we do for weddings, but we're doing it for like individuals, businesses nonprofit it's groups like brandon was that he was at a camp for autistic kids for a week doing a piece for them and so it's a multimedia company so it's like photos and audio and video all putting to tell stories for people and so what that's done is really helped me to start thinking about where my future is going to go and I really think that my journalism background is going to start to come back to me, you know, and what I want to show is this is my final thing I'm going to show and it's it's just a really it's a personal project that I've been working on, and I've been working on this personal project for probably three years and it's extremely hard to do, and I don't have a lot of time to commit to it, but I love it and it's really helping me too flex my photographic storytelling muscles, and I want to share it with you guys. So this is this is a story about maddie, maddie is a, um, individual that I got hooked up with, who is in the process of converting from being a male to a female so she's, a transgender individual and I have nothing about I wasn't like searching this out, I wasn't like, oh, I want to do a story on transgender know it just kind of fell in my lap, and I learned a lot about this, and I learned a lot about this disease, and I want to just kind of share an inspirational thing that, like, you know what? It's not on ly just wedding photography, you can really take thes skills and go beyond so this is a piece that I have shot and put together brandon put it together for me and it basically is just the first segment of maddie's story, so we're going to play that okay? A really young age I started looking in mirrors and so he's fascinated by him because it was like, you know why? How does this work? But I would look at myself and and I'd be like, who am I looking at? Basically, I didn't feel connected to the I was seeing it all it bothered me so much I started taking this big blanket just own it over the mirror I felt like the image was wrong for years I've thought about it and repressed it on and it just got to a point in life where I couldn't take things anymore and I decided that way I will really, truly be comfortable in love life is if I was able to make the transition from living as male to female gender identity dysphoria I really heard this for you myself I call it a disorder makes me sound crazy but I hid it I hid it really good nobody ever saw it coming ah, it was a picture of me and my dad my sister as someone around nine or ten I think and I was making this crazy face I personally saw that picture was not image of who I used to be but it was an image of somebody need maddie that can't have any of this filters for labels you know, my dad had us both in front of women just think was so so happy way were together for half years married for three and a half that friends for nineteen years eighteen years things were going good and then I went to work and e got sent home in the way that everybody gets sent home right before they get fired I think I made the statement you know it's okay when one door closes another opens and she said I think it's time for us to close our door this moment said really lonely in officer but in order for her to be able to heal through this I can't be there and I feel like I'm I'm destroying her wait my purpose they tell me there's gonna be a point when you're gonna be presented with fire and you're either gonna have to walk through the fire to get where you want or you're gonna turn running and decided it's not for you I feel almost like dehumanized what am I way treated by some people not human way no even the people that had issues with it at work and were giving me a hard time and making it hard I why didn't I complained because I didn't want them to lose their job I didn't want them to not be able to support their family and take care of their kids you will lose everything they have way and some of them I want to be understanding but they can't because they don't have anybody to explain it to him they don't have anybody you know I may be the only person that will go a ce faras I'm going that you'll ever meet did you ever now not even suicide is an option now you know it's it's like that you get that had this taste of life this they're gonna live it no is this power in photos you know and I think it's just really important teo to always remember that you know so thank you so so much and thank you too creative live for this experience it's just been incredible you thank you thank you seriously that was that was wonderful it was really great and it was awesome thank you too ryan my my producer you it's incredible he was found he's fantastic that was great on day one I think I asked you if you were going be doing something different and it's great to get a little you said jim wait till day three you know it was great to get a little taste of it so and I don't know I mean I don't know what's gonna happen you know but like you know we're trying to kind of go from there and make something work and tell and just go beyond tell stories yeah that's when the personal work is awesome and way definitely supported here you know we don't have a lot of time left and I went a little over so no you're gonna answer a lot of question no, you're totally fine no, I think we're finishing up so you guys I want to thank you out there on the internet really? For everything on this three day workshop you you helped support us by going into chat rooms, you know, asking great questions you went to facebook you put yourself out there to be asked questions so thank you to you I want to think you guys are in studio audience if you guys want to join us here in the studio we always encourage it. You can go to facebook sorry creative life dot com slash front row to join us here we have photo we coming loved have you guys out there but a big round of applause to tyler working I just wantto just and I again I like the emmys I'm trying like everybody but I just you know, all my all my friends and family that have been so supportive of me I just want to thank everybody so much for that especially my family and pam, my wife and my two boys for sticking with me through this, you know, so I'm going to be done. I'm going back home. We're going to be chilling out together, you know, so it's all good, but thank you guys so much and thank you again. It was a fantastic opportunity, thinking I had so much fun. No, thank you.