Do you show duplicates to the couple???

[CanonLaw]

So, I have a question about the number of proofs you show the couple. I am talking about the final images that they can purchase. I have done weddings for friends and family only, so I am no pro, but I tend to just shoot until I run out of card space (about 10GB for a full day) at the few I have done.

Out of the 900-1200 or so pictures, I give them about 200 but I have heard that good photographers only trash about 10% of their pictures. Now maybe I am just taking to many pictures, but many of them are duplicates so as to not have blinking, or other issues.

Anyways, to get to the point, I attended a friends wedding recently and was eagerly awaiting the online proofs from their $3000 wedding photographer to show up online. There were many many great shots....HOWEVER.... IMHO There was WAY to much repetitiveness in the images, and I have seen this before with other pros. She gave them 452 images to choose from, and so many of them were so similar. It was like they took 5 shots or so of something, and gave them all five, because they were all in focus, no blinking, etc.

Why do that? I don't know how the bride and groom felt, but I found it very tedious to look through 452 pictures and often see the same picture two or three times. To me it seems like if the picture is the same, give them just one. If it is the same pose at a different angle, then give them both in that case.

I just wanted to hear your thoughts on this. I realize there is no clear cut rule on this, but I just wanted to get a feel for how others in this biz do things. And yes, I just said biz. :)

[cdifoto]

If they're true duplicates, there's no sense showing them. I don't delete a photo just because it doesn't meet my own technical and aesthetic standards though. If it's OOF, definitely, but if it's slightly blurred or some such thing and it's the only one I happened to have of Grandma, or it's a great moment, etc, I'll let them see it.

[CanonLaw]

If they're true duplicates, there's no sense showing them. I don't delete a photo just because it doesn't meet my own technical and aesthetic standards though. If it's OOF, definitely, but if it's slightly blurred or some such thing and it's the only one I happened to have of Grandma, or it's a great moment, etc, I'll let them see it.

I agree with giving them the only one of grandma, even if its not that great, if its the only one.

What I am referring to though, are not true duplicates, but VERY VERY similar, like the photographer zoomed in a few mm or something, so to the couple, they probably couldn't tell the difference between the two.

[cdifoto]

I agree with giving them the only one of grandma, even if its not that great, if its the only one.

What I am referring to though, are not true duplicates, but VERY VERY similar, like the photographer zoomed in a few mm or something, so to the couple, they probably couldn't tell the difference between the two.

Sometimes there are nuances in the photo that makes what appears to be a duplicate not really a duplicate. If it's just a slight zoom difference, that's no different than cropping, so I'd tend to show one or the other.

If the facial expressions are even the slightest bit different, I'll show both, unless one expression is just straight up bad ie unflattering.

Having said that, I don't really have too many duplicates. Usually just the ceremony and boring group formals, and there's enough variation in the ceremony shots that they aren't true dupes or even that similar. Expressions change.

[Tumeg]

I am not a pro wedding photographer, I am only a second shooter\assistant, so I have no experience in showing proofs...
But, I would just go through the duplicates and pick the best one, if they are all up to par, then look at small details, such as the background, jewelry, hair, expressions, ect. that should narrow the duplicates down a bit more, then either pic your fav and show them, or have someone you know look at them and chose the one to show them (As a photographer, you look more at the technical, artistic side of the photo, but the bride+groom really only care about what they look like, and possibly even the sharpness\color)

[ssim]

If you know that you are going to only show around 200 images why the extra thousand images. Perhaps I got too particular when shooting film. I would shoot around 450 for a full day wedding and would show between 350-400. It was dependant on what the clients were after and what they were willing to pay for.

I don't do different at weddings in digital. I shoot what I know will be of interest to the client and I now might shoot around 600 on average. The less shots the less post processing. I don't shoot many duplicate poses unless it happens to be a large grouping where it is inevitable that someone will be looking elsewhere or have their eyes closed.

If I have images that I think are close enough to each other to be called a duplicate, I don't show them. It is a personal preference but I don't see the sense in showing something that you might have to look closely at the shot to find a small thing that might differentiate them.

[photoguy6405]

Sometimes there are nuances in the photo that makes what appears to be a duplicate not really a duplicate. If it's just a slight zoom difference, that's no different than cropping, so I'd tend to show one or the other.

If the facial expressions are even the slightest bit different, I'll show both, unless one expression is just straight up bad ie unflattering.

Having said that, I don't really have too many duplicates. Usually just the ceremony and boring group formals, and there's enough variation in the ceremony shots that they aren't true dupes or even that similar. Expressions change.

I am neither a lawyer nor a wedding photographer, but I'll add my thoughts from a customer point-of-view. I agree with what cdifoto says above. Sometimes there are slight nuances in facial expression or whatever that separates one photo from the others in the customer's eye. Personally, I would appreciate having the choice.

That doesn't mean that going to the extreme and showing 15 near-identical shots is a good idea, but picking out the 2-3 best I think is reasonable.

[MajesticMomentsPhoto]

I actually show all "Print quality" proofs sometimes as many as 300 depending on the size of the wedding.
I have received many extra print sales from the additional work, anything after 300 even on a large wedding and the couple do become frustrated trying to sort them out.
However near identical shots are usually reduced to the best 2-3, and they are usually of the group shots.

As you progress in this field you will find yourself shooting less, since the quality of your work will be better. The very first digital wedding I shot years ago I took 1200+ shots, now its down to a third of that.

Fern