How To Choose Your Wedding Photographer – Part 4

Albums, Prints & Optional Extras

The vast majority of my couples have “digital only” packages. That means that everything is delivered digitally. I don’t put a time limit on how long your wedding gallery will be accessible online. It’ll definitely be at least 1 year, but I’ve got galleries going back as far as 2015 still online. Which is really handy, you can log-in whenever you get the urge and see your wedding photos. Download individual images (or the whole gallery) and share them with friends and family.

But… There’s also a risk that after the initial few months of excitement you never really look at your photos. You say you’re going to choose your favourites and get them printed and put up on the wall, but you never do. They stay on a hard drive or a gallery that you slowly forget about. Meaning you don’t get to enjoy your photos as you should.

And I’m guilty of this too. I’m terrible for taking my camera to a family event, taking a load of photos, I’ll download them… And that’s it. I do nothing with them for weeks, months, or maybe even ever. It’s for these reasons I think we all should print more photos!

I come from a graphic design & printing background, so I’ll admit it… I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to prints. Only the very best fine art paper will do. Personally, I like a matt finish but I can see the appeal of gloss when it comes to prints.

If you’d like the very best prints head to The Print Space, and if you’ve got money to burn get one of their custom-made frames too! A good middle ground option is ordering through your gallery. I wouldn’t normally recommend free or budget services but if it gets more people printing photos I’m all for it. So, there are websites out there that give away free prints every month. The imaginatively named Free Prints is one that springs to mind. I’ve used them and they’re actually pretty decent for small prints.

Should we have a wedding album?

I’m also a huge fan of wedding albums. I think everyone should have one… I once walked into a Bride’s dressing room on the morning of her wedding, she was sat on the bed looking through her parents wedding album with her Mum. That was one of the first weddings I ever shot and that moment has stayed with me ever since.

Ours lives under the sofa, so it’s easily accessible and we can grab it on the way out of the house in the event of a fire. We’ve sat down and looked through it with our daughter on many occasions, and it almost always comes out every anniversary.

I use Folio Albums – one of the very best album companies in the world. Folio albums are based in Yorkshire and produce the most beautiful handmade wedding albums, with a huge choice of personalisation options too. They have amazing attention to detail, brilliant customer service and fantastic eco-credentials too!

I wouldn’t recommend cutting corners or going down the budget route when it comes to wedding albums. If you’re considering buying an album, find out who the manufacture is and do your homework. Take a look at their website and ask to see samples. Look at the spine and make sure the pages are well secured. Look at the thickness of the pages and if they’ve been bound straight. Another tip is to check that the layout is centered, for example, the border (if there is one) on the right hand page is the same as the left hand page.

Other than Folio I also recommend Red Tree & Queensbury. There are other highend suppliers, but I’ve not seen their albums in the flesh.

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Do we need a USB for our photos?

USB drives are a popular included item on most photographers packages. I don’t really think there’s much point in them though. You can buy a USB drive for less than a fiver now, and I can gaurantee that your photographer is paying more than that for a fancy branded USB drive.

If you’re making a keepsake box then it might be nice to have your images saved on a fancy USB drive. However, my philosophy is that your wedding is all about you – so I wouldn’t give you a generic branded USB. I’d want it be personalised to you, which of course, adds to the cost again.

Folio Albums offer USB Portfolios, which include cover personalisation, and include mounted photos too. They also offer print boxes that include a USB, mounted prints and a photo display stand too.

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What about a wedding slideshow?

Some photographers will include a slideshow of your finished wedding photos, which is actually quite a nice way to view your photos. They’re normally set to music too.

With my Photofilms, I’ve taken this idea one step further though. I combine my photography with audio recorded throughout your wedding. My Photofilms bring a whole new dimension to wedding photography. And a whole new meaning to the term “wedding slideshow”! These completely original photofilms allow me to show so much more of your personalities and tell the story of your wedding in a entirely new way.

“We love every bit of it. For people like us who wanted to hear people’s voices during the important bits, but didn’t want a full videographer it’s perfect!”

– Clare & Carl

Silent Movies

I also am able to create Silent Wedding Movies too. These are a fast paced, high octane way to relive your wedding day. They’re made up from every photograph I take, converted to black and white and turned into a 10 – 15 minute film. Here’s one I made earlier…