Here’s how to zip through the thank-yous, the photo editing and every last detail on your must-do list.
By: Sharon NaylorPhoto Selection
When you have over 1,000 photos on your professional photographer’s online photo gallery, it can be overwhelming to choose your picks for your albums and portraits. Expect to spend 2-3 hours on the first pass (where you’re just looking), and 6-12 hours making your selects. Don’t stall and don’t stress. Here are the steps to making this task easier, quicker and more fun.
Photo Credit: Amyrae Photography
1. Make your shopping list: Your album, your parents’ albums, your portraits, portraits for parents, grandparents and bridal party members.
2. Pick the best time to work on this task together, whether it’s after work, in the evenings, weekend mornings or weekend evenings.
3. Agree to review photos section by section, not all of them at once. For instance, plan to view pre-wedding photos, then ceremony photos, post-ceremony portraits, cocktail party photos, then reception photos.
4. Print out pages numbered 1 to 100, 101 to 201 and so on. Go through each section of your online photo album to cross off numbers on all the photos you DON’T like. This narrows your contenders and makes your picks far easier during the next sessions. If you do see photos you love, star them on the site or circle them on your numbered list to look at later.
5. As you review each section, you can then compare similar shots side by side to make your final picks, and code them with A for your album, P for parents’ albums, F for framed photo, etc. Or use different colored highlighter pens to mark your printed photo numbers for your album, portraits, etc.
6. Organize photos sent by others. Friends and family will take plenty of photos at your wedding, and will send you their online galleries. Create a folder in your e-mail program where you’ll store the notifications and links to friends’ galleries, so that you can go through and order your favorites from those collections. Insider tip: Look for discount codes on retailmenot.com or from Shutterfly and other e-photo sites to get money-saving offers like 100 prints for free, 50% off or free shipping.
