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03/24/2006 03:28:30 PM · #1 |
First, the 'marketing' notes (how I got the job...skip this if you've heard it before)
A couple years ago, I got a digital camera (a Canon 300D). I took it to a street festival to get some practice shooting candids. A woman came up to me and asked what I was shooting for. I told her, "practice." She asked if she could see my shots. I asked her who she was. She said, "I'm in charge..."
I told her sure, and the next day I took her a CD of my best shots. She said she would give me a booth at the next festival if I would let her use the images on her website. I said sure, she used them, I got credits, and I got my booth.
A few weeks after the festival (last June), I got a call from a woman who picked up my business card while I was away from my booth. She said she liked what she saw, and she wanted to know if I did weddings. I told her I wanted to, and that I was getting ready to shoot my first one. I also told her that I didn't expect to be doing things the same way traditional wedding photographers do. She said that was fine, that she wasn't looking for a traditional wedding photographer. I shared with her my vision of focusing on capturing the life and spirit of the event, rather than spend all the time shooting standard faire. She said that was exactly what she was looking for, and that even though some things had to be done to make her step-mother happy, she was primarily interested in someone capturing the essence of their party. Basically, in the course of that phone call, she decided that I was going to shoot her wedding.
The 'Portrait'
Over the course of the summer, I honed my photojournalistic skills shooting for a number of local papers. I applied that experience to the first wedding I shot last August. By October, I was ready to tackle the portrait.
The shoot lasted a couple hours, and yielded a number of contenders. As luck would have it, the one selected was the last shot of the day...
The finished product was over the top. It was a 20x24" print, printed on canvas and mounted on art board, with a hand-brushed shellac finish. Looked just like a painting. When the step-mother cried upon seeing it, I told her that I obviously undercharged her. She agreed.
The 'Job'
The wedding was December 31, 2005. Yep, that's right--the reception was actually a New Years Eve party!!! We had met in early December to finalize the plans, so when I showed up, I had a real good idea as to what to expect. The best part was that everything was being held at the same place. For the most part, it came off exactly as planned. I got some shots before the ceremony and during it. If I had blinked, I would have missed it--it was barely 10 minutes from processional to recessional. The bride was serious about getting to the party.
The only variable was the formals. I had stressed that I didn't want to spend all night shooting them, and she had stressed that she didn't want to be doing it either. What she did was this: a week before the wedding, she made a list of all the shots and itemized who was going to be in them; she gave the list to her best friend who organized it by participants. The night of the wedding, her best friend acted as a drill sergeant, calling out the names of those who were to be shot. It wouldn't have worked any other way. The bride and groom were both from blended families, and they wanted every possible configuration shot. I ended up shooting nearly 30 different family portraits in about 45 minutes.
Once done with the portraits, the reception kicked in. I probably could have left around 9:30, but I ended up hanging around, shooting another hour and a half. I was having a good time, and decided to make the most of the opportunity to shoot. After all, how often do you really get to practice shooting other people? Even so, I still made it home in time to see the ball drop.
Post-Production
I knew this was going to be a monster. During the course of 5 hours, I managed to take about 700 frames. I quickly narrowed that down to about 500...
The thing was this: all she wanted was a coffee table book. She said she might want some prints to hang, and maybe some others might want some, but what she wanted was 'the book.' She had seen one done for a friend of hers, and she had decided that was it. Let me tell you, you have not experienced wedding post-production until you produce a book.
See, it's not enough to edit an image so that it can be printed. You have to edit it so that it can be printed, and included in the book. You have to organize your images so that the story can be told. You can't just thrown them into the book the way you would sequentially insert a set of glossies into an album. You have to lay out the pages. There are so, so, so many more variables involved...
...but, it is oh, so worth it!
I learned so much from this experience, and I really can't wait to do another one. I wound up with what will be about an 80 page, hardback, 9"x12" four-color glossy book containing 330+ hand-edited images. I primarily used Photoshop, but I also used FotoFusion for a lot of the collage work. I'm having it printed at MyPublisher, which has a 50% off coupon, meaning I'll get a copy for me for free. I think this will be a pretty good portfolio to be able to show the next time someone ask if I do weddings...
the book
Cheers,
Skip |
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03/24/2006 03:38:31 PM · #2 |
Very nice Skip! The book is beautiful with some great pictures and I love that you took the time to tell us the story. Thanks for sharing!
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03/24/2006 03:40:33 PM · #3 |
Forgot to ask... are you using Fotofusion to lay out your images? It kinda looks like it.
I've produced a couple of "albums" this way. Although the software that produces the book has its own templates, I tend to use the full page template, then build my own page from the ground up using Fotofusion.
Thanks again.
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03/24/2006 03:41:37 PM · #4 |
| Nice work skip, what kind of lighting equip. did you use ? |
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03/24/2006 03:41:57 PM · #5 |
| Wow, great stuff skip... Thanks for sharing! |
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03/24/2006 03:48:27 PM · #6 |
Good read Skip, how much did the books cost? I have my first wedding in July and the book sounds like a great idea.
Frank |
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03/24/2006 03:55:59 PM · #7 |
| I'm also interested to know your lighting (setup) Skip. Awesome work!!! |
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03/24/2006 04:00:02 PM · #8 |
Awesome Skip! I just did up a test book with Mypublisher yesterday (Okay so it took me more like 2 1/2 days). It was about 27 pages and 100 photos. We are thinking about using them for our portrait business. You've given me some great ideas on how to layout the pages that are more original then their templates. I'll have to try that Foto Fusion. Is it a download?
Have you used them before (mypublisher)? I'm wondering how the actual quality of the prints and the book are (Hence the test book).
Well done friend and, as always, thanks for sharing!
Jen |
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03/24/2006 04:09:16 PM · #9 |
Hey Skip thats great work, I really enjoyed looking at the book. Loved it.
Mike
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03/24/2006 04:53:22 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by jenesis:
Awesome Skip! I just did up a test book with Mypublisher yesterday (Okay so it took me more like 2 1/2 days). It was about 27 pages and 100 photos. We are thinking about using them for our portrait business. You've given me some great ideas on how to layout the pages that are more original then their templates. I'll have to try that Foto Fusion. Is it a download?
Have you used them before (mypublisher)? I'm wondering how the actual quality of the prints and the book are (Hence the test book).
Well done friend and, as always, thanks for sharing!
Jen |
Yes, you can get Fotofusion here: //www.lumapix.com
The books I've done were done with MyPublisher. The only thing I don't like about them is that they stick a page at the very end of the book that says it was printed by MyPublisher. I told them I would *pay* them to leave that page out. They said no, but I could use a razor blade and cut it out if I wanted. So far I haven't done that, but I really don't like having an advertisement for another company in a product I am selling to my customer.
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03/24/2006 05:09:26 PM · #11 |
| Thanks David, I had heard about the back page thing and was planning on cutting it out. But other than that the quality of them is good? I've also heard things like sometimes the blacks don't come out as true blacks.... |
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03/24/2006 05:39:54 PM · #12 |
| Skip the book is a great idea, and you have done a great job. Both on the photos (shooting and editing) and on compiling the book. I really like the photo on page one, great opening shot. One minor thing, I think is you could have a closing shot to end the theme similar to your opener. I think you may have given a lot of people(amateurs and pros) some good ideas. Hope none live near you and cut in on your future business. |
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03/24/2006 05:46:47 PM · #13 |
| I was fully expecting another round of wedding-shoot horror stories -- what a refreshing change! Great work, especially getting assistance for those formal family shots; I'd encourage everyone to adopt a version of that plan. |
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03/24/2006 06:16:24 PM · #14 |
Skip, I knew you would do a good job even before I saw them, but I was very impressed anyway! As usual, your writing and documenting of you experience is as wonderful and aesthetically pleasing as your photography.
My daughter will be getting married within the next 6-15 years. Save the date :)
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03/24/2006 06:40:28 PM · #15 |
Very cool. You probably did undercharge. You'll know for next time. I really liked how you did some of the dancing pictures with the blurriness (with background people stop motion).
You've come a long way. Congrats. |
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03/24/2006 06:58:33 PM · #16 |
wow...that was beautiful Skip....thank you for sharing
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03/24/2006 07:20:46 PM · #17 |
Oh hell yeah!!! This looks like it turned out really well!
We'll have to start calling you Skip "Fong" Rowland!!!!
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03/25/2006 08:04:58 AM · #18 |
heyah, all ya'lls, and thanks for the comments, etc! i've answered them in another thread, just so the details won't get buried.
you guys are the best buzz!!! |
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