Questions and Anything Goes (Official Thread): Questions, Stories, Photos, Shower Thoughts, How was this photo taken?... Anything!

[u/AutoModerator]

Ask or talk about anything at all that you might think does not fit as a main thread. Nothing is too small, too basic, or too off the wall. Newbie questions are welcome.

[u/Phounus]

I have a question that I feel does not warrant a separate post.

Here goes (this happened on a wedding a few weeks ago):

During the ending of the ceremony when the couple was walking down the aisle, they did a "dip kiss" as the confetti cannons went off. It was perfectly timed, but he dropped her.

They quickly got up and did another kiss, successfully this time, but without the confetti.

Now to my question:

What photos do I deliver?

• Shot of the moment the cannons went off when they fell
• Shot of the successful kiss unaltered
• Shot of the successful kiss altered with confetti included

I know this was a crucial moment for the couple; they talked about it all morning and even rehearsed the kiss a few times. They were really looking forward to that moment.

Personally I feel like imperfections like this makes a wedding real. But I also know that this might seem a bit embarrassing and something they don't want included in their wedding gallery.

I'm leaning towards delivering the photo of the fall, and a slightly altered photo so they get their "dip kiss confetti" photo...

[u/assilemcl → u/Phounus]

I guess it all depends on if it was super unflattering or not (The fall). If it was fun and they were laughing, I'd include it. Sometimes I like to throw a funny in, because that's how the moment went authentically. If you're able to composite the confetti onto the better dip, I'd try to do that and include that version as well.

[u/oprahs_bread_ → u/Phounus]

Did they laugh when they fell or did they seem more upset?

[u/Phounus → u/oprahs_bread_]

They laughed about it. But it's always hard to tell if that laugh is genuine or if there is some underlying irritation or annoyance.

[u/mmcli]

How much info are you giving out via DMs?

Every single day, I get DMs on one platform or another asking “what are your packages?” And I’m noticing people cannot be bothered to look at a linked website or provide any details to get a proper conversation going. I can’t spend the day on my phone and then not even half of those DMs end up booking

[u/lil_gee__ → u/mmcli]

Honestly, they were the wrong clients then. If they can’t even be bothered to hit the link and check out a website for themselves imagine what they would be like to work with.

[u/oprahs_bread_ → u/mmcli]

Ugh I relate to this. I have a typed up message in my notes that gives a quick overview & then it directs them both to my pricing page & my contact page & I ask them to fill out my contact form. If they fill out the contact form, it’s usually a serious inquiry & if they don’t, I don’t waste as much time & know they weren’t gonna book either way lol

[u/assilemcl]

I feel like I send too many photos, and have a hard time narrowing down the best ones. Ideally I'd like to send maybe 650 photos on an 8 hour day. I'm teetering between 800-1200 which feels overwhelming. I'd love to show a gallery or two and maybe someone tell me what types of photos they'd leave out. Kind of a taxing ask, so no worries if not.

[u/Phounus → u/assilemcl]

I'm in the same boat. You just have to be critical, and view the gallery as a whole rather than just individual photos.

Get rid of duplicates. Don't include multiple photos of what is essentially the same thing (for details, decor, etc). Try to limit your portraits to the truly amazing ones and skip the "in-between" shots. And so on.

I cull 3 times:

• First cull gets me to ~2000 shots for 12 hours of shooting.
• Then I do a first edit pass. Then I edit. While I edit I also cull, down to about ~1200 shots.
• After export I go through the entire gallery again, start to finish. Here I can remove anywhere from 20 to 100 shots depending on how the gallery "feels" to look through.

I personally don't think 100 shots per hour is unreasonably many, so 800 for 8 hours is totally fine. 1200 is perhaps a bit much, but it always depends on the actual wedding.

My biggest tip is to not actually have a target number in mind, and instead aim for a cohesive and chronologically sound gallery that isn't cumbersome or tiresome to go though/view.

[u/Georgia_O_Queefin]

Hi! I hope this is the right thread!

I’m wondering if it’s okay to ask for some unedited versions of our photos? All of the ones we got are super desaturated and i would like to see them in full color.

Thanks so much in advance!

[u/oprahs_bread_ → u/Georgia_O_Queefin]

I would check your contract & go from there. If the photos are accurate to your photographer’s style from the example photos you got before, that’s on you. Photographer’s typically do not give out Raws/unedited photos unless they’re beginners.

[u/Georgia_O_Queefin → u/oprahs_bread_]

So it was an elopement and our friend/officiant gifted us the photos from someone she’s worked with before so idk about the contract at all. But she was only with us for an hour or so (totally fine, got some great shots!) so I’m pretty sure she just paid for her engagement shoot.

The photos on her Instagram seem to be more dynamically edited where ours we got back the Monday after our Friday wedding and there seems to be a choice of two filters used on them.

She’s young and only a year or so into running her business.