Example photo	Description	Price range  (approximate)	Description
This album above is over 20 years old! We are demonstrating how a high quality album like this beautifully protects and displays its images over the years. The photos above were taken during our first year of shooting weddings professionally.	Classic albums	$500 - 2000	Outstanding quality albums with pages that accept normal enlargements (such as 8x10's) inserted or mounted into matted pages. Your choice of capacity from 12 to 60 enlargements. Simple to design and trouble free because each page holds one picture. Leather, linen, synthetic, acrylic, wood, or metal covers available in a variety of colors and styles. Best in class durability:  This style has stood the test of time and is the most easily repaired if your future 2-year old causes damage. The album at left survived a lifetime of handling during Doug's bridal fair exhibits and looks like new even though it's over 20 years old. Its 8x10 enlargements are photo lacquer protected. This older style page has brass bindings. More current designs use leather covered library bindings instead of shiny brass. Numerous page styles (mats or flush mount) are available.
The sample parent album is about 20 years old and is a lower end product using 4x5 inch photos. This album has physical damage from unusually rough handling, but its lacquer protected photos remain in great condition.	Parent albums	$150 and up	Parent albums are the same as "normal" albums but usually have fewer images and smaller sized prints. Example at left uses 4x5 inch prints which are protected by photo lacquer. A spilled glass of red Hawaiian Punch didn't affect the lacquer photos. But it did stain the paper-based, lower end mat. (Ask to see this example in person! We left it unrepaired to demonstrate how effectively photo lacquer protection works.) Photo-lacquered prints are more expensive than regular prints but may be worth the difference in cost.
	Electronic albums: hand held	$100 and up	Traditional meets high tech! Image at left: We loaded some cool candid reception photos onto a Palm Treo cell phone. Today's cell phone screens are beautiful and ideal for showing wedding photos at the spur of the moment. Great screens are on the iPod, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Palm, Android phone or Microsoft Zune & iPod. If your device is ever lost, no worries, copies can be loaded onto your replacement phone or iPod. (At left: actual unretouched photo, not a simulated image.)
	Electronic albums:  Electronic photo frames	$100 - 500	Display your wedding photos in slide show format. We will copy your favorite photos onto memory cards compatible with the BEST frames. We know which manufacturers have the best screens so please consult us before buying an electronic frame. If money is no object Kodak has invented the industry leading OLED screen with a $1,000 price tag even though it's only 8 inches wide. Its image quality is breathtaking and can be viewed from any angle. (The device at left is a discontinued model, newer digital frames have higher resolution. Actual image, not simulated.)
	Professional archival digital backups of your wedding photos	$450 for two sets, $650 for three sets. Each set contains copies on three different media types (currently we are using portable hard drives, plus high quality optical discs, plus flash memory cards.)	Our archival backup "albums" are really 2 or 3 sets of digital copies for the client to store at multiple locations. This is the best in class solution for preserving digital files for long periods of time. This concept is used every day NASA, the CIA and Big Business. Experts recommend the use of two or three DIFFERENT TYPES of storage products so if one kind fails over time, or becomes lost or damaged, another type is normally still OK. The ideal is to keep one copy at a relative's house, another in a bank safety deposit box, etc. Three diverse sets would survive a fire, flood, burglary, technical failure or nuclear war! Manufacturers "claim" long life for their digital products, but nobody really knows if the claims will be accurate. That's why we value using several different types and brands of storage media.
	Flush mount albums: upscale	$600 - 2000	Genuine photographic enlargements permamently bound in custom albums of 12 to 160 prints. Very high quality cover materials available including leather, linen, acrylic, metal, wood. The better upscale albums' flush mount photos will be protected against damage using photo grade lacquer or invisible plastic coating on picture surfaces. This keeps photos looking new by protecting against fingerprints, scratches, and moisture. Some album manufacturers enable custom background images (such as a light toned, black and white wedding photo) over which a "normal" photo is overlaid.
	Flush mount albums:  standard	$200 - 600	Flush mount albums use genuine photographic enlargements permamently bound into custom albums Capacity of 12 to 120 prints. Various cover materials available. Flush mount means no physical mats or edges are needed on pages. Flush mount albums usually employ a permanent book-type binding designed to lay flat when open.
	Parent albums: flush mount style	$125 and up	Same as regular flush mount albums but usually smaller size. Parent albums are available in any style including flush mount, classic, or coffee table. Either upscale or standard quality grades.
	Coffee table albums:  upscale	$600 - 2000	Custom album cover materials include leather, linen, acrylic, metal. The highest end albums use artistically designed photo combinations of varying layouts with custom background images. Higher end albums always have lacquer protected pages to resist damage.
	Coffee table albums:  low cost	$40 - 100	This type of album is ordered directly by the client - through Creative Memories, Ritz Camera, Shutterfly, Best Buy, Kodak, etc. This is a fun, and affordable way to produce cute albums by uploading our high resolution JPG photos. Our copyright release policy gives you the right to do tihs. Many attractive page layout graphic styles are available. Usually printed through a type of Xerox or color laser printing. They look nice but don't have quite as much detail as photographic prints. Their thinner pages are easily damaged, but the low cost means you can take albums around work to show off and won't worry about losing an expensive album.
	Scrapbook albums (Creative Memories, etc.)	$60 - 200	Creative Memories has a reputation for high quality materials and has great album design software. Even better, their consultants will personally hold your hand through the album design and ordering process. Order directly from a Creative Memories representative. Independent scrapbook stores are another possible source but I am not familiar with whether they offer album design software.

 

Which poses would I select for a basic album? \ The choice is yours of course. Below are 20 suggested poses that could form the basis of a great "formal" album using either 5x7 or 8x10 enlargements. Albums are custom designed for any length, so this list is just to get you thinking. 1. Bride getting ready 2. Bride coming up the aisle (processional)  3. Ceremony: vows 4. Ceremony: rings 5. Ceremony: first kiss 6. Ceremony: recessional of the bride and groom 7. Bride portrait full length 8. Bride portrait closer up or soft focus 9. Groom portrait 10. Bride and groom full length 11. Bride and groom closer up or soft focus 12. Wedding party group photo 13. Bride's family group photo 14. Groom's family group photo 15. Bride and groom with pastor or officiant 16. Limousine shot or bride & groom entering reception 17. First dance 18. Father daughter dance 19. Cake cutting 20. Boquet toss   How many pictures should be in an album? You can use as few as a dozen enlargements in a classic formal album. Or as many as 60. Enlargements can be 8x10 or 5x7 size. You can tell the basic story of a wedding with a small number of images -- ceremony, vows, portraits, cake cutting. So if you want to keep it simple you certainly can. See below for a suggested list of basic poses. Flush mount and Coffee Table style albums can fit more images on each page than traditional style albums. They do this by shrinking images down in size. You can actually put up to six images on a page using some creative layouts.   The pleasures of having two albums If it's hard to choose which shots to leave out, relax. You don't have to stuff everything into one album. You can have a second "candid" album too. Perhaps an informal album with a couple of hundred 4x6 photos. Many customers now have a second album in digital form instead of using paper prints. We can put pictures on CD - DVD discs, on an iPod or iPad, on a PC, on a photo sharing website like Flickr or Smugmug or Facebook, or on a personal website. Just be sure to keep your digital disks stored safely. Because electronic devices like iPod's eventually will wear out. At that time you can copy pictures from your backup discs onto a newer device. Electronic albums let you zoom in to see details, they can be looked at or shared on the spur of the moment, and are low in cost.     How long do pictures last in an album? Photographic prints in good albums no longer fade! They should easily last 100 years if treated carefully (avoid excessive heat). Don't store photo products in the tops of closets (because heat rises) or in car trunks.   Photos exposed to the light (in frames, on desks & walls) will eventually fade because ultraviolet light, and visible light too, affect the inks and chemicals in them. So make sure you keep a backup copy of any favorite photos that are displayed. Faded or damaged photos could be reprinted like-new from your digital backup disks.   About those digital images --- Can any computer read them? Yes. We use only common file formats that are understood by ALL versions of Microsoft Windows and ALL versions of Apple computers including the new iPad. Our digital formats will remain compatible with computers and photo labs for a very, very, very long time.       Price Quotes Exact album prices will be quoted at time of order. Prices vary by manufacturer, features and quality level, length and design elements. In the "old days" wedding photographers assembled their own albums in studio. This is rarely done today due to the many variations in materials and technologies used to produce albums. It's impossible for a local studio to profitably stock these variations in color, styles and materials. Almost all photographers including ourselves, now order albums (including assembly and design) through a handful of outside manufacturers who specialize in this process. Since most photographic products and all computer products are now made overseas (thank you, Congress) future international issues could affect prices. ric     This web page updated June 2010