POLL.. Photographs for Bride & Groom

[digitalmemories4]

Please add your response to this poll.

I would like to hear from Brides (how many photos they expect) and Photographers (how many photos they take & how many photos they acutually turn over to Bride).

Even though I'm a Digital Photographer I take at least 400 photos. Usually my husband (my lovely assistant/photographer) takes the same amount. We do all the "standard" requested photos and many "mood" photos that really make the difference! The bride has the opportunity to purchase the cd with all (the good, bad & not so good) photos so she can have al the negatives. When I make up our "Memories Montage" (a DVD of approx. 300 photos, 3-D transitions & music) I use almost 50% formal shots and 50% "mood" shots to make it more personal.

I'm just courious as to how many photos others photographers take and exactly how many photos brides expect. I realize most photographers go by their "list", I do also, but do you ever add photos to your list during a wedding or do you "stick to your list"?

I just attended a wedding of a an acquintance whos photographers limited his photos to 5 rolls of film (125 picutures) for "unlimited time covereage". To me that wouldn't even cover the bride getting ready! But he stated that he doesn't "waste" his film on "candid" shots.

What is YOUR policy?

[robindepaula]

I am still currently shooting film. I will usually shoot anywhere from 10-13 rolls of 36 exposure film during 4 hours of coverage. Double that for brides that coose my unlimited coverage packages. Even though my packages say they will get so many proofs in their album, I usually do not stick to that, and the couple will get all the photos that I've taken! They are very happy that I didn't limit my photo taking to only formals!

I'm about to go digital very soon, so that I can take unlimited photographs for every event that I shoot!

Robin :lol:

[DW PHOTOGRAPHY]

My film packages are set up by the proofs (200, 300, 400 etc.) and I give them all proofs back after they are developed.

My digital packages are set up by the hour with unlimited coverage. Usually I do not go below 2 hours, this allows time for pre and post ceremony coverage. If the couple has a reception I will stay a lot longer and I tell my clients to go with no less than 8 hours if they have a reception with dancing etc.

My clients are very happy with the way I set up my packages. I do change my packages to fit the couple though.

When brides ask me how many photos do I take, I tell them that I take a photo for ever minute. With that in mind we are only looking at about 2 rolls per hour, and as we all know there is not always something going on. Sometimes you will take a lot of photos, then there will be times when you are doing nothing. I have based all my packages on this via their 4, 5 and 8 hour limits. It has worked well for us, as a photo for every minute sounds good and most brides get 300+ from their wedding.

[neeni13]

Well I was fortunate enough to know someone that did photography professionally( Does the local football layouts) He had never done a wedding per se. But all he charged me for were the film and the developement and I got all 600 prints and negatives. Again, by no means is that normal not to charge for his labor. It is who you know. :roll: and that worked for me. I was pleased with all 600 pictures too. Now I had to get me own album to put them in and get sizes and more prints myself but that was ok. :D

[831Photography]

I don't think that we have taken less than 500 images at a full wedding yet. (We have had a few "Portrait Only" weddings and those don't have as many "moments" to catch because we are usually just there for about 3 hours for formal portraits/ceremony)

We are all digital here in our studio. I would say that our average is about 700-800 images per wedding. We offer a proof magazine that has 20 images per page and includes all of the images from the wedding. Couples seem to really like having them all. They also get all of their pictures on our website in their own private gallery.

Going digital really allowed us to shoot they way we like. Capturing every look and moment that we can soak up. And our brides seem to love it too!

Steph

[ndsimm]

on average, I shoot about 300 shots and the most I've ever done at a wedding was about 450 because there were so many creative photo ops. I also give the bride everything I shoot even though my packages show a certain number of prints. I have a list only to keep me organized and to keep me from forgetting the "necessary" shots, but I am always shooting candids because that tells the story of the day IMO

[robindepaula]

Now that I've gone digital, I've taken as many as 750 photos at one ceremony/reception. For very small affairs I've taken as little as 150. It really just depends on the particular event as to how many I take.

If the couple go with my packages they get 200 proofs or a magazine style album (their choice). If they go with Ala'Carte pricing by the hour - they get a 4x6 image of everything that I take.

Robin

[jbeale]

I'm in the "photojournalistic" or "shoot whatever happens" school so I get as many shots as I reasonably can; my last wedding was over 800. I have a shot list but that's a small fraction of my total since the majority of them are candids. In this style you need more shots in order to get good results as people are not paying attention to the photographer or posing. Perhaps needless to say, I'm using digital.

Last time I was booked from 3-9 pm but one item on the list, the bouquet toss happened after 10 pm. Good thing I decided to stay late!

[Brooke_Photo]

I agree with what was just said... Steven and I never place a number on the number of images created at a wedding. If there is a photo to be taken, we take it. Obviously the number of hours, guests & rituals will contribute to the number of images created. We shoot digitally and therefore we shoot until we are happy the job is done.

As far as how many images do the couples receive, I suppose that depends how you look at it. Our packages all include online proofing & a spiral bound proof magazine -- so they get to see everything (well we edit out the ones with eyes closed or food in the mouth, etc). So in effect they get to see everything we take that is good.

Then they can purchase whatever prints they want. And as far as how many prints go into their album -- well that depends upon the type of album they decide to purchase and how big of an album it is. A big coffee table style album can have 95-120 images....and traditional album can have 24-50 images. So again depends on their personal tastes & budget.

[DW PHOTOGRAPHY]

What kind (brand) of Albums do you use?

[Brooke_Photo]

We use Renaissance for our traditional album. We use the Leather Craftsman flush mount album. And for coffee table albums we sell GraphiStudio & the Renaissance Soho Book.

:)

[joanne]

After 14 years in the wedding photography industry, I am still shooting in film. I take about 180-280 pics dependant on size and style of wedding, and I find that that is plenty for the bride and groom to choose from, if you give them too many images, it tends to make the great ones you took not look so good. If you took 700 to achieve 50-60 worth putting into a album it doesnt make them appreciate the great shots you got. I really think too many pics is overwhelming for the bride and groom, plus it is very painful for friends and family to view them all.

[usahgrad]

Being on the picture end instead of the camera end, I like the idea of a picture per minute. That makes sense. I don't see the use in having hundreds of pictures, but then I want enough to be able to remember the day when I'm 150 and can't remember what my own name is. I would expect about 100-300 pictures.

[MountzPhoto]

I usually take any where between 500-800, giving the bride 250-300 of those. I think that's plenty! Considering my wedding album only had about 50.

[WebLady]

When I use to be a wedding photographer (less than a year ago) I would normally shoot approx 300 images. I took 2 or 3 of every pose/shot wherever I could. (Some times like at the ceremony/reception there was only time to get one)

I would go through them take out any that may not have turned out or those where the bride or groom may have blinked and such.

The bride would get to view all of them and choice the ones for the album and package they chose. The average album/package I sold included approx 50 or so pictures. Most brides would add to that when they saw the pictures. The average album I did had 100 or so pictures in it ... it tells the story nicely that way.

~ WebLady :)