Working with Clients to Create the Album

One question I often get from brides, and occassionally also from grooms, is how do the photos that go into the albums get chosen.

I use magazine style albums that are 15-spreads (30 pages if thought of in book terms). The photos used are chosen by the couple. I have them choose 60-65 images for the album and 2 images for the cover as photos are printed on the front and back. Sometimes they will choose more but list ones they cannot decide between and then tell me to choose one or the other for them.

I design the album to tell the story of the day, in some ways like building a photo story for the newspaper. I also have the couple tell me which photos to not include, for example I am often photographing the bridal party getting ready and perhaps a bride only wants photos of herself with her dress on for the album, whereas some like photos of the getting ready preparation.




The reason for having the couple list photos they do not want included is occassionally I will also have to include one or two photos to fully develop the flow of the story and/or page, and I like to know which photos ahead of time the couple do not want included for any reason. In this spread, the middle photo of Peter walking his daughter, Molly, up the aisle was one that I chose.



By letting the couple choose the photos for the album they are both part of the creative process and help me create a keepsake made of their favorite specific moments of the day.