Album design software is offered by many album companies and third parties. As a KISS wedding book customer I decided to look into their S.W.A.T. Designer to enhance my post-wedding workflow, specifically album design. S.W.A.T. stands for Simple Wedding Album Tool – let’s hope it’s simple!

One of the biggest challenges wedding photographers face is designing an album. There are many solutions to this including hiring your own album designer, outsourcing to a third party, or doing it yourself. But let’s be honest, most photographers I know just want to take pictures, album design tends to be an afterthought. Not to mention that outsourcing design is expensive, or if you do it yourself it can be time consuming. True, some photographers have a system or workflow full of templates and actions but for those that do not, a simple album design tool would be a godsend. That’s where the SWAT Designer comes in.

Here’s a sample that I am currently working on:

I’ve used their beta program once so far and I must say that I am impressed.

PROS–

• Clean user interface and intuitive to use.
• Template layouts available.
• Auto-build feature is a great time saver.
• Sharing with the client and ordering their KISS Wedding Book is a mouse click away.
• Clients can leave notes or comments about any changes or approve the design on the spot.
• Cloud-based app makes it available to you anywhere you have an internet connection, works well on my iPhone too.

My brides love these Mini Books. They are affordable and convenient to carry with you.  These 4×4 leather books make great gifts for parents, wedding party members, or just for you to carry around for bragging rights!  These little affordable books are only available in square format and come in different colors – white, black, brown, red, blue, pink, and green.  Contact me for more info about how to order!

So what are some tips to bring peace of mind to your wedding photography investment?  One thing would be to choose the best photographer for the job.  Here are some steps to do that…

THE LAST THING YOU SHOULD WORRY ABOUT ON YOUR WEDDING DAY IS THE PHOTOGRAPHER

A wedding can be an important part of ones family history, and the wedding album is a keepsake for generations to enjoy.  With so many photographers to choose from, trusting that responsibility to an experienced, responsible, and professional photographer is even more important today than ever before.  The photos are the real tangible things that preserve your wedding day after all is said and done.  Most wedding planners will agree that if you find a photographer you absolutely want to cover your wedding, do what you can to have them document your wedding day.  It’s about having peace of mind at the beginning, middle, and end of the day!  The last thing I want my clients to worry about is photography.

REFERRALS, REFERRALS, REFERRALS!

There is no denying that wedding photography today is not the same it was 5 or 10 years ago.  More and more couples today are placing higher value and higher expectations on their wedding photographers.  My clients do and so do the clients of several of my colleagues.  For one thing there are more of us (wedding photographers) than ever before, especially in large city-regions like Southern California or the Washington DC and Baltimore regions.  With the influx of photography “businesses” growing exponentially in numbers every year, competition is fierce.  It’s no wonder that engaged couples are becoming more overwhelmed with the number of photographers to choose from and the number of referrals they get from their friends.  There are hundreds, if not thousands of wedding photographers in my DC metro area alone.  I personally have met a good number of them.  There’s still no denying that getting referrals from your friends or your wedding planner is the way to go.

CLOSE THE GAP OF UNCERTAINTY

Nothing beats seeing and loving the work of an actual photographer that shot an actual wedding you attended before you even hire them (I get a lot of my business that way actually).  The reason is that you already have a sense of how they work and what they’re all about.  The gap of uncertainty is always there when a bride-to-be is searching for the right photographer.  But when they have a sense of who the photographer is because they watched them work, it makes things so much easier for everyone, especially the bride.  Or if you happen to have watched their intro video on their website, then that’s another way to close the gap.  Several of my brides were confident in choosing me because of my video alone!

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

Now that you’ve chosen your photographer, it’s time to discuss fees.  This can bring a bride to a stressful point in the wedding planning – among many stressful points – the investment in photography.  And like any smart spender a bride will have to ask herself “why?”  A few months ago Evan Reitmeyer of MyDeejay asked me that same question, “Armin, why is wedding photography is so expensive?” There’s no short answer to this. It’s like asking BMW, “BMW, why are your ‘M’ cars so expensive?” Or asking Apple, “Apple, why are Macs more expensive than some comparable PC’s?”  We could go on all day about brand, value, and customer service. But we don’t have all day, so let me sum it up with some reassuring words like I did for Evan…

“The value of wedding photographs preserves important memories that can span generations. Cliche, but so very true. Those that understand the high value of wedding photography also understand the pressure and responsibility placed on the wedding photographer to document and create these important memories for their client. There’s no “take-two” on the set here folks. Weddings happen in real-time. Selecting the right photographer should be on the top of a bride’s list. Many wedding planners recommend to NOT skimp on your wedding photographer and prepare to invest in the one you really want.

There is more to it than just showing up and taking pictures at a wedding. Wedding photography today has evolved to a higher standard, almost an art form requiring the right equipment and skill set. Not only is it a physically and mentally demanding job on the day-of, but there are behind-the-scenes work going on before and after the wedding day the client does not see. It’s not unlike hiring an attorney to represent you in court. You’re not just paying him/her to show up on your court date right? You’re paying them for their level of expertise, education, the resources they have access to, and the time and labor put into building your case and executing the mission before and after the court date. It’s a professional service business, very similar to a smooth running photography business.”

I deliver a brand of peace of mind to my clients throughout the entire experience.  The last thing I want them to worry about is photography.  The clients I cater too have a high hopes and set high standards for their wedding, the photography is no exception.

Your one-of-a-kind storybook album is the true document of how you felt on your wedding day. It is handmade with the finest materials and craftsmanship. It is custom designed and delivered with your digital images. Your albums are professionally printed, a work of art that’s been enhanced and processed to exact standards. Your album is a family heirloom that will last hundreds of years with proper care for generations to share. Visit the Featured Album gallery in my website’s Portfolio section to see some samples and design layouts.

THE PROCESS

The album design process is very simple. Your package includes a 20 page wedding album available in 6 different leather covers.  Or you may upgrade to a custom luxury handcrafted album where you can choose everything from the cover photo to the slip case for storage – additional costs will apply.  I select the storytelling images with your approval, we do the rest. Clients typically create an online folder of their favorite images inside their online gallery. These images can help drive the design process. Once you approve the design and layout, the files are sent to the album company for printing and binding.

PARENT (FAMILY) ALBUMS

Parent albums have become extremely popular with my clients and are the same design layout as the primary album. They come in smaller sizes such as 8×12 or 8×8 depending on the size of the primary album.

Albums can still be a mystery to some people. Contact me for a consultation so I can show you a few samples to touch and feel for yourself. In the meantime, enjoy this short video tour of a couple of my sample wedding albums.

A little color can go a long way. In this case, it’s a 10×10 sultry blue leather bound wedding album and a 8×8 brown linen bound coffee table book. One of my favorite companies, Kiss Wedding Books, delivers simple and elegant books that my clients really love. Their new linen books are outstanding.

In January 2010 I hope to take delivery of a very elegant white Leather Craftsman album with copper gilding and copper liner. It will have both the traditional matted prints and digital flush pages. I cannot wait to show it to you!

In the meantime, enjoy some quick snapshots…

Wedding parent books, or family books as some call it, continue to grow in popularity after the wedding day is over. Both the couples and the parents are seeing the value in these keepsakes. My parent book sales have increased over the past 60 days. Wedding parent/family books can be purchased from me a-la-carte or included in your initial package to save money. The design is identical to the primary book design, but smaller in size (e.g., 8×12, 8×8). These hard cover books typically come with a dust jacket. Covers identical to the primary book are available upon request. If you think you or your parents, or anyone else, would want one I recommend adding it to your package when you book your wedding date with me. This will increase the value of your package saving you $$$ in the long run.

People often wonder what an actual wedding or an album design might look like. Here’s a sneak peek at a 17 spread/34 page album design in square book format. The process is simple – the client can either let me & my designer choose the images for the design or they can create a “favorites” folder of images in their online gallery that I can use for some or all of the design. In this slideshow each slide is a spread, or two pages if you imagine the gutter of the book down the middle of the spread. This slideshow has music, but you can turn it off using the icon on the bottom left. If you’re having trouble viewing, try refreshing your browser. Enjoy!

When my album designer Grace Chou and I were checking out a trade show in Vegas we came across Graphi. GraphiStudio products were some of her favorites at the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International in Las Vegas earlier this year (WPPI). Because my clients expect high quality products along with the level of service I deliver, I’m always choosing products that’s aligned with my brand experience. GraphiStudio meets my requirements and the quality and presentation of the books always impresses my clients. Depending on what my clients prefer, sometimes I’ll use GraphiStudio or KISS wedding books. I also offer luxury albums by Leather Craftsmen, but I’m also very interested in trying PictoBooks this year.  Luxury albums step things up by offering a multitude of unique and elegant enhancements, print & bind choices, and a higher level of customization.

Here are a couple of Graphi books I received lately…