How do you show your proofs?

Gilly B

Gilly B

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Gillian
Edit My Images
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Having done another wedding yesterday, I am now faced with the difficult task of reviewing, rejecting and selecting the images good enough for showing as proofs.

I have up until now, presented the proofs traditionally in a proof album which is circulated amongst the family of the Bride and Groom with order forms for family members to purchase prints as well as the B&G choosing the ones for the album. However, yesterday I was approached by some guests to take photos of them and their families 'as they were all dressed up' .

Last night as I was waiting to take the final shots of the evening (first dance), guests were coming up and asking when they will be available to view on line and how can they order. I said I don't post them on line and that they would have to contact the B&G.

It wasn't until later on that I thought I might miss out on sales by continuing with this hard-copy proof system, and asked myself the question "should I make them available for on-line viewing"?

My only concern is that if I chose something like Photobox, then I would lose the quality control of the prints, and also would I be making any money on the after-sales if the guests order direct from Photobox?

Can you guys help me decide which route to take with your experiences and methods please. I truly value your input into my decision making which has proved invaluble to-date. :thinking: :shrug:
 
Check out the photobox pro galleries. They're free and sort of what you're looking for, in that they're fairly easy to set up & you set the markup prices. Photobox take a 10% commision, which is very reasonable.

The downsides are that there's only so much control you have (not enough for my liking, it annoys me that you can't set prices // products per-gallery) and that even with some playing about they still look fairly crap, and aren't exactly intuitive for people to browse & purchase from (I've had people not able to figure out how to buy stuff before now).

All in all, not ideal but fairly quick, easy and cheap. I don't have the web know how or money to sort out something more suited to the task, so it does the job for me. I still prefer hard proofs (not just for QC, I like to know who's bought what) but there are times when they're not as practical, lucrative or even viable as the web option.
 
Thanks Hoodi. I had an idea that is how it worked. The good thing about the hard-copy proofs is that you always have it back to show prospective couples how they are presented after the wedding.

I suppose I could try both ways.... Hmmmm.. I will see if anyone can come up with a better option. :popcorn:
 
Brains said:
If you have your own site then you could try something simple like the Lightroom gallery or Photoshop gallery options.

This has the benefit of being very quick to do.
Click to expand...

Really, I have a website linked to clikpic. I can only have a set amount of photographs on there as part of the subscription. I haven't got Lightroom. Photoshop Gallery...Hmmm.. I will check that out - thanks!
 
I thought you had to have a turnover of over £60K for a photobox pro gallery? Perhaps I'm wrong. IMO you can't beat JAlbum for creating free, easy to use web galleries. It can take a bit of work to set one up to take payments through but if you just want a quick one settingup for now and get them to fill in a form to orer you won't beat it in my opinion. there are a couple of JAlbum gallery styles (the styles are referred to as skins) which come ready set up for taking payment but you have to pay for those skins.

Google for JAlbum and see what you think.

Kev
 
Cheers Kev - I will go and look now Thanks :thumbs:
 
Kev Mills said:
I thought you had to have a turnover of over £60K for a photobox pro gallery? Perhaps I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

That's for the Photobox print button - which is essentially integrating photobox into your own website.
 
Macbook>Aperture>Slideshow>Projector

A CD is only supplied at a cost if they order a set of photographs.
 
Photobox is free and a piece of p to use, plus you set the prices and they do all the work and printing and delivery for you and you just get your profit.
 
Have a look at photomechanic by camera bits. It will show your raw files quicker than a quick thing, allow you to tag them and then ftp them as a webpage to your webspace quicker than you can jack robinson. If they don't require any editing then you can have them online so fast it's silly.

I use it now for all my work stuff as I don't process my images, somebody else does ;)
 
Ta for that Guys. Just got back from Cardiff with work - been staying in the Hilton since Monday.... It is rough at the top you know:D :lol:
 
Hi Gilly, I just did my first wedding (which I am just recovering from) but I 'don't plan to send out proofs at all, unless its specifically requested by the B&G which which it was'nt for this shoot.

I will be hosting them on my website which I have bolted on an e-commerce solution onto which cost about £150 to purchase and is very easy to setup.

It has a built in slideshow with music facility and from the galleries anyone can buy products from the wedding. The best thing though is it can be setup for ordering books of prints where the customer just add any image to their book. It will also create your images to size for the web galleries.

I use Photobox for my usual prints which I can prepare myself then upload for printing, so you are always in control.

By not selling online I think you could be missing out in alot of revenue.

I am sure clickpic can be setup to link to a PayPal account so you could put the proofs online and be able to take orders. I never went down the clickpic type of setup as I don't think they are flexible enough.

My site is www.imacimages.co.uk then click on galleries, this is the e-commerce app. (http://www.picturespro.com/pages/photography_shopping_cart/)

Oh and if guests come up and ask about the images, just give them a buisness card, one, the URL is on it so they may purchase something, and two , they now have your name for the future :thumbs:

just my two cents worth....

cheers
Iain
 
Thanks Iain.

I have just browsed your site. Much more professional than Clikpic. Trouble is that I have just renewed my subscription for another year with them. I am aware that Paypal can be linked to it, but for the amount of images I would like to post from this wedding will outstrip my allowance.

I must invest in a new website and will look what's available during this year.

I am printing these posts out to use as a reminder.

Thanks Gillian
 
HI gillian,
a company called peak imaging www.peak-imaging.com provides an online ordering service (polo). With full colour profile printing. I've never used the service before, but have used there printing service (with film and transparencies) which has excellent results.
nathan
 
Regards selling online, I've been doing it for a few years now and what I've learned is that you have to make your potential customer feel comfortable buying online. So looking professional and making the process as easy as possible is major. Don't get me wrong, i have'nt got it down pat yet either but you will find that you will get returning customers and I guess if you are going commercial then its about turning a profit as well. One of the hardest bits I found was being a buisness man and not only take photos.

another 2 cents worth ....

cheers
Iain
 
Thanks Iain. Your Wedding Shots are lovely as well:thumbs:
 
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