Easiest way to present proofs to wedding couple?

[umphotography]

I started delivering watermarked preview discs. Basically enough file so it can be viewed on a computer. Seems to make it a lot easier for the girls to go through and select the files they want for the albums and files that they will want for prints. We also shoot 1200-1500 images and our keeper rate is about 85% so im often sending a disc with 1100 shots. They are all cropped and color corrected.

I catch some heat from photographers for doing this. But ive found that many times what i think is good and what a client thinks is good are very different. Some of the stuff i would have trashed has wound up in albums. We deliver all files that we take to the client. I have no need for any of them. The files that they select for albums get final processing and then they are included with the rest of the files on the final disc.

[Jerph]

With weddings, the old way is to have all your usable shots color corrected by a lap and printed. Most serious studies still use this way, at least AFAIK. On the other hand, you'd save tons of money if you did it yourself and used a web service. It depends on what your clients are paying I suppose.

[Christopher Steven b]

You cull images that have folks blinking, that have an elbow jutting into the frame, that are simply test shots, that are basically duplicate, that register an awkward moment for the subject, that are OOF due to missed focus point, that you've re-shot because you opted for a larger dof, that show a pose that on second that just isn't as flattering as a later similar pose, those shots of that white-balance card you use-you cull these images and have 85% of your original images ? Consider me impressed, sir.

I give back about 35% of what I shoot.

Originally Posted by umphotography

I started delivering watermarked preview discs. Basically enough file so it can be viewed on a computer. Seems to make it a lot easier for the girls to go through and select the files they want for the albums and files that they will want for prints. We also shoot 1200-1500 images and our keeper rate is about 85% so im often sending a disc with 1100 shots. They are all cropped and color corrected.

I catch some heat from photographers for doing this. But ive found that many times what i think is good and what a client thinks is good are very different. Some of the stuff i would have trashed has wound up in albums. We deliver all files that we take to the client. I have no need for any of them. The files that they select for albums get final processing and then they are included with the rest of the files on the final disc.

[bigarchi]

yeah, i'm around 85% too after I cull.
drives me nuts because I want to get the number of images I hand over DOWN more.
though i'm glad that the decent shot ratio is relatively high though.

with what I think are good photos, the ratio is more like 8% though lol
but like Mike has said, brides often find some photos awesome, that I thought were almost trash, for whatever reasons..

[umphotography]

Originally Posted by Christopher Steven b

You cull images that have folks blinking, that have an elbow jutting into the frame, that are simply test shots, that are basically duplicate, that register an awkward moment for the subject, that are OOF due to missed focus point, that you've re-shot because you opted for a larger dof, that show a pose that on second that just isn't as flattering as a later similar pose, those shots of that white-balance card you use-you cull these images and have 85% of your original images ? Consider me impressed, sir.

I give back about 35% of what I shoot.

christopher.

last weekends wedding i downloaded 1387 and kept 1103...thats pretty average sometimes more, sometimes a bit less,,,But i cull while im shooting for stuff like light tests, And if i see some blinkies i will toss so if you factor that then im probably below 75-80% just like everyone else i suppose. We really try to get it right in camera, shoot with strobes outside, OCF for everything except reception and dressing room shots so that number of images that come back clean is high.

[Christopher Steven b]

Ah--understood, Mike. Or at least it's slightly more understandable for me !!

I generally give back about 300 photos for an 8-hour wedding; and I get pretty rave reviews back from my clients. They're in fact usually surprised that there are so many photos. I've never had someone request more photos. I feel like I'm absolutely able to tell the story of a wedding in 300 shots. I'm actually thinking of bringing this down to something like 200-250, though that really does require emphasis of a certain style of shooting that, e.g., doesn't favour a million group shots, every one of which I obviously return.

I'm totally sympathetic to the idea that we shouldn't just consider ourselves artists, and be, like, super super selective about what we shoot and give back. I guess I'm just more persuaded that I'm hired to provide a certain vision, and that that vision involves selection. As for the shots that are 'keepers' but failing to add to what I think is the story of the day--well, I'll just leave those kinds of shots to the guests, who probably do also have keeper rates similar to yours.

[snakeman55]

Originally Posted by Christopher Steven b

Ah--understood, Mike. Or at least it's slightly more understandable for me !!

I generally give back about 300 photos for an 8-hour wedding; and I get pretty rave reviews back from my clients. They're in fact usually surprised that there are so many photos. I've never had someone request more photos. I feel like I'm absolutely able to tell the story of a wedding in 300 shots. I'm actually thinking of bringing this down to something like 200-250, though that really does require emphasis of a certain style of shooting that, e.g., doesn't favour a million group shots, every one of which I obviously return.

I'm totally sympathetic to the idea that we shouldn't just consider ourselves artists, and be, like, super super selective about what we shoot and give back. I guess I'm just more persuaded that I'm hired to provide a certain vision, and that that vision involves selection. As for the shots that are 'keepers' but failing to add to what I think is the story of the day--well, I'll just leave those kinds of shots to the guests, who probably do also have keeper rates similar to yours.

Pretty much exactly how I feel on the subject.

[mosabi]

Is there a good program to use that you can cull these bad shots out of. I am viewing everything in raw.
I have DPP but am not fully acquainted with it. Just wanting a quick method to get the good images in a new folder so I can open them in LR and do the color balanced and what not.

Thanks

[Red Tie Photography]

Originally Posted by mosabi

Is there a good program to use that you can cull these bad shots out of. I am viewing everything in raw.
I have DPP but am not fully acquainted with it. Just wanting a quick method to get the good images in a new folder so I can open them in LR and do the color balanced and what not.

Thanks

I use photomechanic and I love it. Its quick and what I do all my culling with.

[frugivore]

Originally Posted by Red Tie Photography

I use photomechanic and I love it. Its quick and what I do all my culling with.

I've been using DPP's Quick Check tool for culling lately, as it is much faster than LR. Is there any benefit to using Photomechanic over DPP?

[mosabi]

I'll give photomechanic a look. Thanks Bryan!

[Red Tie Photography]

Originally Posted by frugivore

I've been using DPP's Quick Check tool for culling lately, as it is much faster than LR. Is there any benefit to using Photomechanic over DPP?

I dont use DPP's software, so I cant tell you. I am comfortable with PhotoMechanic and dont see reason to try anything else. I think they have a free trial if you are interested to see how it works.

[mosabi]

Just tried the trial of PhotoMechanic, works pretty slick. All I did was give the keep images a 1 rating (pink) and when I was finished there was an option to show all images I gave a rating of 1 to and save them to a different folder. I will probably be purchasing it soon.

[frugivore]

Originally Posted by mosabi

Just tried the trial of PhotoMechanic, works pretty slick. All I did was give the keep images a 1 rating (pink) and when I was finished there was an option to show all images I gave a rating of 1 to and save them to a different folder. I will probably be purchasing it soon.

Again, how is this any different than DPP which is free? I gotta check out PM tonight.

[G..]

Another vote for photomechanic - for me, it works quicker than LR.