Can I get my wedding photos on a DVD? In todays world of do-it-yourself technology, make your own invites, design your own service booklets, print your own photographs; this is a frequently asked question of professional wedding photographers. It may be in the name of saving a few dollars here and there in this climate of global uncertainty, or in the belief that the result will be just as good as a professional or just because people can.
In relation to wedding photography, whether in Perth, the South West or Margaret River, perhaps the question couples should be asking themselves is “why do we want our wedding photographs on a DVD, what will we do with them, what advantage is there to having the images on a DVD am I getting value from my wedding photographer?” Ask yourself how often you gather around the computer and look at photographs. Are your images on a DVD going to sit in a draw or on your computer, to be rarely viewed, while a custom made album with individually custom printed photographs, designed into a wedding album on a sideboard or coffee table will be flicked through and enjoyed on most occasions when friends and family visit.
What do you get when you get the images on a DVD?
What do you get when you get the images on a DVD? The majority of specialist wedding photographers will offer a DVD of your wedding images for a cost. There will probably be around 500 images from your wedding to view on the DVD. Will these images be the same quality as those in your wedding album? Not likely. Why? When you select your favourite wedding photographs for your wedding album, you will probably choose 100 odd images. For these favourite wedding images that are chosen for your wedding album, your specialist wedding photographer will print each individual image. Each image will be brought up on the computer, colour calibrated, cropped, darkened and lightened where needed, colour enhanced, soft focus applied, blemishes removed if requested, blood shot eyes repaired etc. This of course takes expertise and time. It’s possible to treat each of your favourite photographs like this because the professional photographer is printing just your favourite photographs, not 500 images with which you’re initially presented.
Depending on your photographer, you may be able to purchase a DVD of high resolution images, colour calibrated images that will print well to an A3 size. Will these images look like the wedding photographs in your wedding album? Not likely. Why? As mentioned previously it takes time to create the high quality images that go into an album or into a wall print. To spend this time on all 500 images would greatly increase the cost. How the images look (the colour, density and tone) once you print them will be markedly affected by the printer on which they are printed. For more detailed information on colour management and high resolution digital images see our Blog No. 3.
Are you getting value from our Specialist Wedding Photographer?
A great analogy was put to me the other day from a well respected Perth wedding photographer. It went something like this “when you go out for a meal, do you ask the chef for the recipe and the ingredients, then go home to cook the meal, expecting it to be just the same as the meal you would have sat down to in the restaurant?” The obvious answer is no, and the experience and end result would be vastly different to that you’d experience in the restaurant. This absolutely applies to wedding photography. When you choose a specialist wedding photographer you’re not just investing in high quality wedding photographs but the overall experience. Including how best to use lighting, which lens will give the desired affect to the image, how to pose you to look elegant, being on the ready for those candid moments, as well as being a wealth of information on timing and locations to use at different times. These are just a few of the intangible attributes of a specialist wedding photographer.
In short don’t be convinced that by getting your wedding images on a DVD that you are getting “something for nothing”. Professional photographers who want to continue working in their chosen profession for years to come must charge for their time, skill and expertise. It takes time, skill and expertise to produce high quality wedding photographs.
