Photographer's Guide to Wedding Album Design and Sales, Second Edition

129 Pages·2008·10.65 MB·English

by  Bob Coates

P H O T O G R A P H E R ’ S G U I D E T O
Wedding Album
Design and Sales
Second Edition
BOB COATES
Amherst Media
®
PUBLISHEROFPHOTOGRAPHYBOOKS

Copyright©2008byBobCoates.
Allrightsreserved.
FrontandbackcoverphotographsbyBobCoates.
Publishedby:
AmherstMedia,Inc.
P.O.Box586
Buffalo,N.Y.14226
Fax:[phone]
www.AmherstMedia.com
Publisher:CraigAlesse
SeniorEditor/ProductionManager:MichellePerkins
AssistantEditor:BarbaraA.Lynch-Johnt
EditorialAssistance:JohnS.Loder,CareyA.Maines
ISBN-13:978-1-58428-235-8
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2007942658
PrintedinKorea.
10987654321
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, me-
chanical,photocopied,recordedorotherwise,withoutpriorwrittenconsentfromthepublisher.
Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the author’s experience and opinions. The
authorandpublisherwillnotbeheldliablefortheuseormisuseoftheinformationinthisbook.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..............................6 AlbumDesignandProduction .................29
AlbumProduction ...........................6 FinalThoughts ............................29
AlbumDesign ..............................9
AboutThisBook ............................9 4. BOB COATES .............................30
Marketing ................................30
1. AMANDA SUDIMACK .......................10 Consultations ..............................30
FilmorDigital? ............................10 Pricing ...................................31
ImageEditing .............................10 WorkingwithanAssistant ....................31
AlbumDesign .............................11 Workflow .................................33
AlbumTypesandProduction ..................13 AlbumDesign .............................33
AdditionalAlbumOpportunities ...............15 AlbumProduction ..........................34
SellingAlbums .............................15 FinalThoughts ............................35
FinalThoughts ............................16
2. YERVANT ...............................17
MarketingandCustomerService ...............17
EngagementPortraits .......................18
TheWeddingDay ..........................19
Workflow .................................20
Pricing ...................................21
AlbumDesign .............................21
AlbumProduction ..........................23
FinalThoughts ............................23
nt.
3. ANDY AND BRIAN MARCUS ..................24 Yerva
MarketingandCustomerService ...............24 by
n
g
Pricing ...................................25 esi
d
d
TheWeddingDay ..........................25 an
es
g
DeliveringtheImages .......................28 ma
I
TABLEOFCONTENTS3
5. JEFF AND KATHLEEN HAWKINS ...............36 nk.
Marketing ................................36 uissi
B
Advertising ...............................39 oe
J
by
TheConsultation ...........................39 h
p
a
PrivateTimeontheWeddingDay ..............40 ogr
ot
h
Workflow .................................40 P
AlbumDesignandProduction .................41
FinalThoughts ............................41
6. KEN SKLUTE .............................42
EngagementSessionandConsultation ...........42
SalesandMarketing .........................44
Pricing ...................................45
Workflow .................................45
AlbumProduction ..........................47
FinalThoughts ............................47
7. MICHAEL AYERS ..........................49
AttractingClients ...........................49
ConsultationandPricing .....................49
AlbumDesign .............................52
AlbumProduction ..........................52
PresentingtheAlbum .......................54
FinalThoughts ............................54
10. MARIE LABBANCZ ........................69
8. JOE BUISSINK ...........................55
Workflow .................................69
Marketing ................................55
Pricing ...................................71
SalesandCustomerService ...................57
AlbumDesign .............................72
Pricing ...................................59
Marketing ................................73
AlbumDesign .............................59
FinalThoughts ............................74
FinalThoughts ............................61
11. MARTIN SCHEMBRI .......................75
9. KEVIN AND CLARE KUBOTA ..................62
Marketing ................................75
WorkflowandProofing ......................62
ConsultationsandCustomerService ............75
AlbumDesign .............................64
EngagementPortraits .......................76
AlbumProductionandMarketing ..............65
Pricing ...................................76
Pricing ...................................67
TheWeddingDay ..........................78
AdditionalAlbums ..........................67
WorkflowandAlbumDesign ..................78
FinalThoughts ............................68
AlbumSales ...............................79
FinalThoughts ............................81
4PHOTOGRAPHER’SGUIDETOWEDDINGALBUMDESIGNANDSALES
12. CHARLES AND JENNIFER MARING ............82 15. SUSAN AND STEWART POWERS .............103
ExcellenceinPrinting .......................82 AttheWedding ...........................103
ConsultationandCustomerService .............82 Workflow ................................103
Pricing ...................................85 Proofing ................................104
AdditionalProducts .........................86 AlbumDesignandProduction ................106
Workflow .................................87 Pricing ..................................107
AlbumDesign .............................88 Marketing ...............................108
AlbumProduction ..........................88 OtherAlbumTypes ........................109
FinalThoughts ............................88 FinalThoughts ...........................109
13. BRIAN AND JUDITH SHINDLE ...............89 APPENDIX1
GettingStarted ............................90 ALBUM DESIGN OVERVIEW ...................110
LocationandFirstImpressions .................91 Covers ..................................110
Marketing ................................91 Slip-InBooks .............................110
CustomerService ...........................91 BoundBooks .............................111
Pricing ...................................92 Reversible .............................111
GiftCertificates ............................92 FlushMount ...........................112
Service(andSales)Opportunities ...............92 MagazineStyle .........................112
TheWedding ..............................93 PressBooks ............................113
Workflow .................................94 ImageBoxes .............................113
AlbumProduction ..........................95
ImageArchives ............................95
APPENDIX2
FinalThoughts ............................95 ALBUM DESIGN TERMS ......................114
TypesofAlbums ..........................114
14. JB AND DEETTE SALLEE ....................96 CoverDesignTreatments ....................115
SalesandPricing ...........................96 OtherBookParts ..........................116
TheWeddingDay ..........................96
Workflow .................................97
APPENDIX3
AlbumDesign .............................98 ALBUM MANUFACTURERS AND SUPPLIERS ........118
AlbumProduction .........................101 WeddingAlbumManufacturers ...............118
OtherAlbumTypes ........................101 WeddingAlbumSuppliers ...................121
FinalThoughts ...........................102
INDEX ..................................123
ImagesanddesignbyJBandDeEtteSallee.
Introduction
Change is inevitable—and it’s happening at an ever- availabletophotographers.Theadditionofpress-printed
quickeningpaceinthedigitalrealm.Onlyfiveyears albumshasaddedimmenselytothemix.
ago I was asking photographers about digital pho- Many photographers, if not most, are now using
tography and finding many stalwarts who “would never digital exclusively and printing their own images using
godigital.”Thesedays,it’sgettingharderandharderto
findanyonewhoisshootingfilm.Thosewhodoremain There has recently been
tendtobehybridshooterswhousebothfilmanddigital,
claimingtherighttoolfortherightjob. an explosion in the choices
that are available to photographers.
Album Production
Thatsamerapidpaceofchangehasoccurredinthepro-
duction of albums. Where there used to be a few major the latest ink-jet technologies. As a result, many photo
players and some smaller fringe album companies, there labs, in an effort to stay in business, have purchased
has recently been an explosion in the choices that are album-bindingequipmentandaddeddigitaldesignserv-
bri.
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h
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arti
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I
6PHOTOGRAPHER’SGUIDETOWEDDINGALBUMDESIGNANDSALES
Im
a
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e
s
a
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e
sig
n
b
y
B
ria
n
a
n
d
Ju
d
ith
S
h
in
d
le.
icestohelpmeetthedemandsoftoday’sphotographers. Yet, while there have never been more choices avail-
Some are, frankly, not so good—but many are setting able to photographers when it comes to album types,
the bar higher and higher in an effort to stave off new production methods, and finishing options, every inno-
competition. vation seems to be a double-edged sword. With all the
INTRODUCTION7
nt.
a
Yerv
by
n
g
esi
d
d
n
a
es
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a
m
I
choicesavailable,itcanbedifficulttosettleonanysingle tured linen paper and metallic and silk covers available
album company. Most album companies offer various from GraphiStudio offer another look that my clients
linessoyoucanhavedifferentproductsavailableforyour enjoyasanalternative.
clients, but each facet of each line has its strengths and NotonlyarethechoiceshereintheU.S.expanding,
weaknesses.Noonecompanyhasthebestofeverytypeof opportunities are growing worldwide. With digital files
album.Forexample,IstilluseLeatherCraftsmenformy noweasilytransferredviatheInternet,albumcompanies
traditionalbindingandflush-mountalbums,butthetex- fromAustralia,Japan,France,Britain,andItalyaremar-
8PHOTOGRAPHER’SGUIDETOWEDDINGALBUMDESIGNANDSALES
keting their services very aggressively to American pho- This book is more than a “place this picture here”
tographers. As a result, researching a complete list of guide.Checkoutthesephotographers’ideas.Takesome
albumcompaniesforthisbook(seeappendixthree)was inspiration from this photographer, a slice of guidance
harder than ever. At the recent PPA and WPPI conven- fromthatone,andtwistanideafromanother.Whenyou
tions the number of companies promoting album pro- haveharvestedallyoucanandmeldedtheideastogether,
ductionwasphenomenal.I’vedonemybesttobringyou youwillhaveaproductthatisuniquetoyourbusiness.
acomprehensivelistofwhat’scurrentlyavailableandwill When I decided that producing wedding albums was
apologize in advance for any that are missed—or, as will an artform that preserves the couple’s wedding memo-
inevitably be the case, the new start-ups or failures since ries, I started searching for information on how to pro-
thelistwascompiled.TheonlyconstantIpredictforthe ceed. I found none on the bookshelf, but got some tips
nextcoupleofyearswillbechange. fromotherphotographers.Igatheredmoreinformation
at trade shows, but it was rife with sales hype. While I
Album Design eventuallyfoundtheproductsandsystemsthatnowwork
Anotherareaofgrowthisinthenumberofalbumdesign forme,ittookyears.IhopethatthisneweditionofThe
houses and the software available for designing albums. Photographer’sGuidetoWeddingAlbumDesignandSales
Due to the especially volatile nature of this category, I will help make the process easier for you than it was for
haven’tattemptedtocompilealistoftheseservices.Just me—andthatitwillsaveyoubothtimeandmoney.
beawarethattherearelotsofoptions;you’llneedtodo
someresearchtodeterminewhatwillbestfityourneeds
andworkflow.IshouldalsonotethatIproduceinstruc-
tional wedding album design DVDs through Software
Cinema(www.software-cinema.com)thatteachyouhow
touseAdobePhotoshoptolayoutalbums.Threeother
photographersinthisbookalsoselltheirownalbumde-
signsoftware:YervantoffersPageGallery,MartinSchem-
brisellsYSI(YouSelectIt),andKevinKubotahascreated
AutoAlbum.Allareworthcheckingout.
About This Book
This book contains information from top professional
photographers who have been in the business for many
years and have found solutions that work for them.
Throughtheseinterviews,Ifoundthatalbumdesignac-
Im
tuallybeginswithmarketingandisshapedbysuchthings ag
e
s
as the interview with the bride and groom, the proof- an
d
d
presentationmethod,thealbumcompany,andmore.In esig
n
fact, as you read this book, you’ll see that every part of by
B
o
yourbusinesshelpstoshapeyouralbumdesign.Because bC
o
a
marketing and business ideas are so important, I started tes.
aphotographers’websiteandmonthlynewslettertoad-
dresstheseissues:www.successful-photographer.com.
INTRODUCTION9