wedding proof workflow

[philpereira]

Well, I did my first full wedding on Monday (I had previously done a wedding reception that a couple had locally after having already had a ceremony in Hawaii). It went pretty well, it was only 3 hours and I got about 200 shots. Anyway, I had a question for developing the proofs and how far I should go in enhancing the images before presenting to the couple for image selection. As of right now, I've adjusted the exposures and white balance for every image and have converted them from RAW and ran Noise Ninja on all of them (I needed ISO1600 on many shots). But how far do folks go in enhancing images? I can imagine one could quickly fall into editing every image, which becomes a bit pointless if people don't order prints. So do people generally do the bulk of the editing when orders are placed? Do you decide which shots become black and white during the proofing process? What about fixing things like the occasional off horizon, do you fix that for the proofs or before the image is sent for printing? At this point, I have a ton of time on my hands in terms of editing, so I could easily go through and fix every shot in a couple of hours; but if I happened to get more clients, unnecessary editing could interfere with getting things done in a timely manner. Anyway, it's a long question, but hopefully it'll generate some useful discussion on the workflow process.

[tim]

For proofs I only do RAW adjustments, to fix exposure, white ballance, horizons, etc. I don't bother with noise reduction because even ISO3200 looks perfect printed 6x4 or at preview sizes on the web. If I really stuff an important shot up and can fit it in photoshop i'll do a quick job of correcting it. I will use the saturation slider to make some shots B&W, sometimes I supply color and B&W, sometimes just what I like, and I tell the couple they can choose the effects on the photos they like. Sometimes I do a few photos with interesting effects to show them what's possible.

When they order prints I go through and make sure all the RAW adjustments are spot on, and do any effects they want. I also do a better job of B&W instead of just using desautrate (channel mixer or something).

[SuzyView]

Do you interview your clients before and ask how many pictures they want at the finish? You can offer packages that have a certain number of processed photos (b&W, enlargements, soft focus pictures, etc.). That way you know how many pictures you need to work on before you start. Most people want an album, framed enlargements and special effects, but you can make yourself nuts with the overload workflow. I have never done a wedding shoot that was easy. There's always something to do to make the photos better. Charge accordingly. And Good Luck! I only do 2 weddings max a year and that's hard enough.

SuzyView
10D, lots of stuff

[philpereira]

thanks for the feedback. i definitely need to try not to make the proofing process overly complicated. i'll just go through, make sure the formal shots are level, make sure the exposure is good, and I'll send them off to print. i just need to get myself out of my former mentality of messing with everything at once in PS.