Five Things To Think About
When Asking For Wedding Photos to DVD

These days it's common for budget photographers to just burn your wedding photos to DVD. This is called called 'shoot and burn'.

Here are five things to consider if you're thinking about this kind of option:

1. Post-Production

Some shoot and burn photographers do literally just that. They shoot your wedding and burn the wedding photos to DVD. I.e. they don't do any photo-editing to your pictures. This undoubtedly means they won't be as good as they could be, as all digital photos benefit from even basic Photoshop work.

Some will do full post-production work, so you receive fully edited, professional quality photos.

2. Pro or Part-Time?

Offering 'all wedding photos to DVD' can be a sign of a part-time photographer. As in, an enthusiast that shoots weddings while still working a full-time job.

This has benefits and drawbacks.

For example, a part-time photographer is usually looking to supplement his income and fund new equipment purchases. So he should be cheaper.

But, he may not have any insurance or be able to offer as high a level of customer service as a professional.

Also...

Have you ever noticed how colours look different on your home computer than they do on your work computer?

That's colour management. If you're only receiving a wedding photo CD, it's crucial that your photographer has a professional quality monitor that is colour-calibrated. (This means the colours are set to an internationally recognised standard).

This may be beyond the scope of part-time photographers, so do ask.

3. Backing Up Files

When you receive all your wedding photos to DVD, you have sole responsibility of your photos.

So the first thing you should do is make back-ups. Here's how you should do that:

• Copy files to another DVD to keep at home - somewhere safe and secure like a fire-proof safe.

• Make a second DVD copy to keep somewhere other than your home, in case of burglary or destruction.

• Copy files to your computer hard drive. And to a back-up hard drive if you have one. (Which you should, as hard drives don't last forever!)

• Make prints of all of your photos and store them somewhere suitable like an album.

Does this seem a bit extreme? Well they are your wedding photos! :-)

4. High Street Quality Products Only

If you receive all your wedding photos on disc, you should so something with them!

Some ideas:

• photographic prints

• canvas wraps

• digital photo books

• framed photos

• wedding albums

Don't just let your wedding photos sit on a disc gathering dust! Show them off!

When all you have is photos on disc, you only have access to consumer quality products available on the high street.

One of the reasons photographer's products cost a lot is because they are from professional suppliers. They have a much higher quality and are only available to professional photographers.

This applies to everything on the list above.

So if you're the sort of person that likes things to be top quality, choose a photographer that uses pro suppliers. If you're on a budget, receiving a wedding photo CD and getting products made yourself is a cheaper option.

5. Copyright

Just because a photographer burns your wedding photos to DVD, it doesn't automatically mean you have full copyright over them.

Some photographers do offer this, and give you a letter granting you permission to do what you like with the files.

For others, photos on disc is just another means of delivery. You'll probably get granted license to make prints of the files, but ultimately the copyright ownership still belongs to the photographer.

If you're hiring a part-time photographer who doesn't rely on wedding photography for his main income, you'll probably be able to do whatever you like with the photos.

A professional is more likely to have restrictions, but that's because he has a name and reputation to uphold.

I'm personally willing to provide photos on disc (at a price!), so long as you invest in one of my bespoke handmade wedding albums.

This is because I believe in the power of wedding albums to take you on an emotional journey. I don't want the photos I take to only be displayed on a computer screen. Clicking 'next' every half a second doesn't do them justice.

And why would you want people to look at your photos in that way?

I'm sure you'd rather people took time to really look at your wedding photos. Pausing to reminisce and share stories. Slowly turning the pages of a beautifully crafted album.

It makes looking through your wedding photos a wonderful experience.

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