Wedding photographer prints workflow....

[Raist3d]

I shot my first wedding the other weekend, and I had some questions for those with experience what is what you have found works for you. I have currently a bunch of RAW photos, and I am going to select/process them. Once that is done the question comes about printing/selling.

Here are the alternatives that I have in mind, and I would love the feedback I can get on them- if you have other ideas that have worked for you by all means mention them. Thanks to all in advance.

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- Upload the photos to a service that allows you to put galleries together, and then clients can come in, look at the photos, order them and they get processed/sent by that service to them.

- Same as above, but you print them and process the orders. The service allows you to put the gallery together, have credit card processing and keeps the clients orders for you but you must print them/ship them.

- You simply do verbal/voice/e-mail/written agreements between you and the client, to deliver X amount of photos of A, B, C. You print them. If you do this one, what is the most efficient way you have found to have the photos available to the client so they can select what they want to print? Contact sheets?

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On "if you are printing them"- Do you-

- print them yourself- your own printer (Epson/Canon/what have you)
- Or you order them at Costco
- or you order them at another X external place?

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Any other ideas? Advice appreciated.

[hotrod4x5]

In the past, I have used an online gallery shopping cart that collected the money via paypal and I fulfilled the orders using my lab of choice, currently either Bayphoto or MPIX. I don't have access to that gallery anymore (they raised the price beyond reason), so now I am also looking for an online gallery. I know how to use Jalbum, and it is free, and links to paypal for orders, so I might just use that for now.

[DustinFinn]

For galleries I use smugmug.com where I have (still working on) galleries that are then sent to clients for viewing and ordering.

SmugMug has been great and in the past 3 years only 2 orders were really late but nothing else.
A SmugMug pro account costs 150$ and allows you to upsell photos, they process CreditCards, take their percentage and bank the rest for you...

I tried pictage, and although the service is absolutely excellent, the cost associated is just too much for me warrent...

SmugMug also allows you to modify your "site" with them so that it can look more like you're own. (I am still working on this).

I spent a year fulfilling orders manually and I just couldnt get my head around it - I rather be shooting and editing and checking orders, prints, shipping and dealing with the order process...

[m.b.]

Raist3d,

Check out the Online Proofing and Sales options available in the Wedding Resources forum. There are lots of them out there...

[Raist3d]

I will check the noted forum. I think what I am going to do is give Exposure Manager a trial run for the bulk of the photo print needs (4x6's, 8x10's), have the presentation wedding book done either through the Apple store- Aperture with the option of the large and small coffee table books, or have the option of a book custom made by me printing with my new printer, and then specialty 12x18's in canvas or such also printed by me (I just got the new Epson R2880).

- Raist

[evoryware]

few threads already up regarding related things:
Preview Book question?

here's one.