I see this conundrum posted quite a bit, so I thought I would give my two cents. Take it as you will, and remember I’m no Gary Fong, I’m just a Travis with a blog.
It’s not a good idea to release all of the photos you take. Although, your clients may feel they have the right to all the photos since they are paying you. The question is completely understandable and reasonable for the client to ask. Why? Because your clients are not photographers, they don’t know it is a bad idea to see every photo you take.
How I explain to them they don’t want every photo.
I tell them that I am like a director of a movie. We shoot a scene several times to make sure we get it right. Would you want to see the same scene in a movie 40 times? Of course you wouldn’t, that would draw the movie out forever and eventually the really good scenes would get mixed up with the bad ones, and eventually you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. So it is my job as a photographer to edit out the shots that are not superb. I explain how I edit out the shots that are blurry, poorly exposed, duplicates and the photos that have bad facial expressions. By explaining this it helps the client understand why all the photos I take are not shown in the final presentation of images. It is a valid and completely understandable explanation that most client will agree with.
When I explain to them they don’t want every photo.
Every chance I get. I tell them this at the initial consultation, during the engagement shoot and any other time I can. Why? Because, believe it or not your clients have many other things to deal with and they may forget. So any time I feel it necessary to interject they will not be getting all the photos, I do. A well informed client is one who does not send you 10,000 emails, and one who know what to expect and what they are getting. Which in turn makes a happy client, and happy clients tell their friends how awesome their photographer was/is.
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3 Comments at "My Clients want “ALL” the Photos"
How timely! I just had this discussion with a client yesterday. They seem to think they might be missing out on something if they don’t see EVERY photo, but I was able to assure them that’s not the case.
Yes some clients feel that THEY should be the judge of WHAT is good. BUT, I explain that is what they are hiring me for. What they see in my albums and samples. So based on that, there should be no issues trusting my judgement for final image delivery.
If there is after explaining that to them, then maybe then need to find someone else.
I may have come up with a better idea. I now include 1000 proofs. Even though that’s really not everything, 1000 seems like a lot to them. A couple hundred are my photos (I don’t “spray and pray”; I only shoot a few hundred photos myself) and the rest are what the second shooter takes. I don’t edit my second shooter’s photos. I just make sure he’s on color and exposure so his PJ stuff looks close in-camera. This makes editing a breeze and makes the client happy knowing (thinking) she’s getting everything.
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