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make your own album??

jmo5021jmo5021
First Comment
in Wedding Photography and Videography Forum
HI -
I'm about to sign the contract for my photographer, and if I decide now, I can get a large discount on photoalbums, prints etc.  I'm strongly considering making my own album, but I'm not sure if it's the best idea or not.  Has anyone done this (or know anyone who has)? If so...where and what was the cost? 

Thanks!
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Re: make your own album??

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    morainemommorainemom member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I made some very nice ones of my daughter's wedding at www.shutterfly.com

    They have sales and coupons all the time.  You can make several different sizes of books - and up to 102 pages (I believe).  There are also cover options such as hardcover, satin, paper, etc.

    I was very satisifed with the product and Shutterfly's service.
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    Lisa8888Lisa8888
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    The quality of your photographer's album will be superior to you making your own album. You will not be able to purchase the same type of album. If a shutterfly type album is OK with you, you can certainly do one. Are you good with laying out photos and adjusting exposure, etc with photos?
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    PeacefieldPeacefield member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    What Lisa said.  Assuming he offers good stuff, it's priced reasonably and affordably, you will never be able to put togerher something anywhere near as nice as what the photographer offers.  Part of the fun of a wedding album is taking out for your friends and family and have the gush about how beautiful it is.  That doesn't happen with Shutterfly level products and Costco printing; there resally is a dfference.
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    morainemommorainemom member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    @Lisa - hopefully she shouldn't have to adjust the exposure, etc. with the photos if her photographer gives her a disk with the edited photos.

    You can also find some companies who make the flushmount albums - Mpix has one and I know some of the brides on this board have used some other vendors to make professional albums.
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    misstsapinaymisstsapinay member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We're planning on making our own albums as well. Our photographer will be giving us nearly 12 hours of her day for a super reasonable cost, including photos at our engagement party, and our engagement photo session. For the wedding day, we're having her cover me getting ready, photos during the ceremony, photos after the ceremony, and photos during the reception of friends and family. The only thing is that she'll be giving us the photos on a disk, with written permission to get them printed, and we're going to use shutterfly to print our photos. I'm really excited to get this done, and I like that we'll be able to design and make the album ourselves. It's much more personal :) Shutterfly, Walmart, and SnapFish are great photo printing companies to use.
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    Lisa8888Lisa8888
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_photos-video_own-album-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:30Discussion:f417e0f7-cb3a-44cd-9687-583e9f029e8ePost:0dff2748-606b-4a1e-8dbd-8ff50666d11f">Re: make your own album??</a>:
    [QUOTE]@Lisa - hopefully she shouldn't have to adjust the exposure, etc. with the photos if her photographer gives her a disk with the edited photos. You can also find some companies who make the flushmount albums - Mpix has one and I know some of the brides on this board have used some other vendors to make professional albums.
    Posted by morainemom[/QUOTE]

    I'm very familiar with Mpix and their albums are not the same. They are nice but truly they are not the same. If the bride is happy with a Mpix album that's great.

    I would love to hear some feedback on other album vendors that people have used here.

    Most photographers will re-edit their photos depending on where they are to be printed. Some editing is personal preference. Some people prefer more vivid, higher saturation, etc. Photographers do not do extensive editing on digital files given out on disk. They only do that when they are having the particular photo printed. Proper editing is very timeconsuming.

    A friend of mine received their digital files and tried having a few printed. They looked blah. They were in focus and all but they could have passed off as a guest photo. I played around with them in photoshop and it made a world of difference. It also depends on how fussy you are. People have shown me their photos that they love and what I see is under or over exposed, white balance is off, etc.

    It all depends on what your expectations are.
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    fallbride1109fallbride1109 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I made a professional quality album for my husband's parents using Somerset.  I have a review in my married bio.  It was comparable to the album we received from our photographer--you could barely tell the difference.  That being said, it was $400--definitely not a Shutterfly photo book, but a high quality album.  But I did have the fun of making it myself and I was very pleased with it.

    The $50 photo books from Blurb, Shutterfly, etc. are not going to compare to the album you receive from a professional photographer or a professional quality album like the one I made.   I made a $50 Blurb book of our pictures for my mom for mother's day and it was just that--a nice $50 book that she loved, but if that was all I had for myself as the only remembrance of my wedding day, I would be very disappointed.
    Planning the Meal
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    morainemommorainemom member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Stephie - you are the poster I was thinking of!  Your album was lovely!

    Lisa - I'm curious.  Are you a professional photographer? 
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    Lisa8888Lisa8888
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_photos-video_own-album-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:30Discussion:f417e0f7-cb3a-44cd-9687-583e9f029e8ePost:bd49b824-16e3-4344-9999-6edd195be73f">Re: make your own album??</a>:
    [QUOTE]Stephie - you are the poster I was thinking of!  Your album was lovely! Lisa - I'm curious.  Are you a professional photographer? 
    Posted by morainemom[/QUOTE]

    Off and on I have been one. I have always been into photography even if it is just taking photos of my dogs.
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    jmo5021jmo5021
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Thanks for all of the info ladies!! It was all very helpful :)
    Stephie - your album looked great, now I'm really stumped haha.

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    fallbride1109fallbride1109 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Well I would compare the cost of making your own versus what you can get through your photographer's package and see which one is better.  But if you prefer to make your own, there are certainly some good options out there. 

    Planning the Meal
    With All the Trimmings
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    KnaijaQueenKnaijaQueen member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    If you're set on making your own, you may want to check out this article of this guy who reviewed 13 different photo books for quality, service, etc.,

    http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/97676/the-great-photo-book-round-up-review-who-makes-the-best-photo-books.html
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011

    I agree with Stephaniehall's post.  I am a photographer and I have done weddings where the bride and groom just wanted the photos. I have my own album service that I use and I have used a Shutterfly service. While the Shutterfly is reasonable in price and looks nice when you recieve it, it doesn't compare to an album that is done professionally or one that is create using a service.

    After putting the two side by side, the album by far looks way better than the book. I would put those books at a range a little better than a proof book for an event. They are good but they don't have the WOW factor the album has.

    But then again you have to think about budget as well.

    Hope my post helps.

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    Belle2BeBelle2Be member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Sign up for WHCC (white house custom color), you don't have to have a business licence or anything. That's who the pros print through, and who I'll be printing my albims etc through.
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    HaveAGoodDayHaveAGoodDay member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Another suggestion...

    Look at http://www.wedesignalbums.com.

    You to upload your images online or send a high resolution CD to them.  They will custom design an album for you.  Once you approve the design, it will be professionally printed and bound into an album. 

    There are many sizes and covers to choose from.  These are the same albums many photographers provide, but you don't have to be a photographer to use them.

    There is a telephone number so that you can call and actually talk to a real person if you have questions.

    Your album is printed and assembled in the U.S.A. and the turn around time is 2-3 weeks total.

    It is worth looking into.
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