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12/04/2008 12:31:38 PM · #1 |
When wedding photographers deal with prints, are they brought to any particular lab? What are the things to look for in a good lab?
Second, when you put the prints in albums, do you buy the albums just anywhere? What about frames? If so how much do you spend? |
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12/04/2008 09:16:01 PM · #2 |
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12/04/2008 09:24:42 PM · #3 |
I've seen a lot of people starting just giving cd's and letting the bride/groom deal with prints themselves.
If you don't want to do that, MPIX is phenomenal for prints, don't know if that's what you are looking for, They have some interesting album options as well.
Hope that helps.
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12/05/2008 01:20:02 AM · #4 |
There are consumer labs (mpix, costco, etc) and pro labs (hh color, profilmet, whcc and others). Pro labs are different in that they will calibrate their printers daily - much tighter quality control. more products (prints, canvas, books, sports stuff, acrylics, statues, mugs, cards and more). They want you to succeed - if you don't sell then you don't buy anything from them.
You have to find a lab that fits your working style. I use a local one for most things - they're close, cheap, and fast. By keeping most of my business at one place they know me better and when I have a special need they are there to help. I use HH for books, wallets and sometimes albums.
There are hundreds of albums companies out there and they sell dozens of album types/styles, etc. It can be overwhelming on what to choose. So go to a few bridal shows and see what other photogs are offering for albums. Your potential clients will do this so you need to know if what you're offering is better, cheaper, bigger, junkier than the competion. I've seen photogs trying to sell mypublisher books for $500. Brides KNOW they cost $40 and the quality isn't as high as a pro lab will do for $60, as an example.
Do you want to offer coffee table books, slip in books, flush mount books?
Do you want to assemble it yourself or just choose a print and bind solution (you upload files and get back a finished album) Some will do the design too.
I hear great things about The Wedding Lab in baltimore md but iv'e not used them, yet anyway. I use GP albums out of chicago - nice folks, excellent quality, quick turnaround.
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12/05/2008 02:21:15 AM · #5 |
I am working from Japan. Unless I'm able to design and order prints in an album and have it shipped overseas, I'll have to find a way to do it here. Brides/Grooms don't know about Blurb or Mypublisher here in Japan, they don't do that.
The reason I ask is because I've been asked to do an upcoming wedding and I figure as far as quality goes (Composition, light, light and light) I'm confident in my work, so much so that I would be willing to hand it over for free if they felt I didn't give them what they expected. However, I've decided to take the extra jump and put together an actual package which would include prints.
Before my paid wedding, I have a wedding for a member of my church which I'm doing for free. They are not picky since they are working on a very very tight budget. This will be my practice run and I'm willing to spend some money on them as it will be my wedding gift to them. It's about really now about who to use, how much to expect to spend, how much to charge for the paid wedding.
I will upload photos of the free wedding I'm doing as an example of what I will have to offer, but that will be in January.
I wish we had a "Getting started" type thread for wedding photography, labs, basic packages, what to expect/not to expect. |
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