What to know about Wedding Negatives
If a photographer gave you a disk full of your wedding photographers, would you know what to do with them?
Everyday it seems like I get asked by couples if they can get their negatives from their wedding. I say yes, they pay the requested fee and I hand them over 600-700 hi-res jpg files to them, but wonder if they even know what to do with them.
I know that digital cameras are not new and people use them for face book, myspace, and so many other online uses, but do they print them? As a professional I know where to go to get prints that are going to last 30 plus years, but do my clients.
There are plenty of online services that offer prints-
Snapfish
York Photo
A list of other Photo Printers
Are they printed with longevity in mind?
Is it quality paper?
Are they touched up?
Can you edit the images?
Professional Photographers across the country all vary on what they consider negatives. Some edit them, some resize them, some even logo them. Its difficult to know unless you ask.
Do you have the time to edit your own wedding photography?
When you hire a professional photographer they take the time to do most of the work. The best images are touched up images printed on archival paper and spray coated to protect against ultraviolet light. When left in the bride and grooms hands it is easy to miss critical steps in order to save 50 cents. Not realizing its going to affect the overall quality of the prints.
Why purchase a Wedding Album
Why would a wedding couple want to spend thousands of dollars on a wedding photography only to have a disc of wedding photographs that need to be touched up, color balanced?
Why pay a professional photographer to create a beautiful storybook album when you can do it yourself online for a couple of hundred dollars?
It all comes down to how much time and experience you have to work on your family's history.
After a couple picks out their wedding photographs it takes us on average 20-30 hours over a 2 month time period per wedding to create the album. I can only imagine how much time some photographers take to create their albums who only create 4-5 albums per year. Then when its time to print the album their are hundreds of companies that produce similar products. Unfortunately most do not time test their product. They sell a cheaper product that might not last as long as it is needed. In this case what are their albums going to look like in 30-40 years when its time to pass on the family heirloom to the next generation.
I always ask our brides how much time they have before they make their negative only purchase. I feel its important to preserve their memories, and most couples don't realize how much time and what goes into preserving their memories forever.
If you only receive a disk of images, what will you do to preserve your history?
If you have any questions about how to preserve your history please contact me to help you do what's best for your wedding photographs
|
