WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY PRODUCTS

This a guide for the person shopping for a photographer on the types of photography products commonly available to choose from.


Albums

Although there are literally thousands of variations in wedding albums, there are three main categories: press-printed, matted, and flush mount.

Press printed books, often called "coffee table books", have images printed directly onto a double-sided, thin page. They are bound by either stitches or glue. They are very affordable, design is limited only by the gutter, less durable than a matted or flush mount album, and color accuracy is diminished due to the paper used.

Matted albums are characterized by true photographic prints that are slipped behind a covering with a hole to expose the print. They are more affordable than flush mount, very durable, have high color accuracy, and their design is limited by the size and position of exposed holes in the matte.

Flush mount albums have images printed on true photographic paper or a fine art paper, where each page is one-sided, and then glued to a cardboard substrate to add strength. They are very durable, design is limited only by the gutter (if at all), high color accuracy, and are the most expensive.

As for those variations, the items to look for are: album size, album format, cover type and quality, cover colors, page thickness, paper type and quality, protective coatings, engravings, album jackets, protective slipcases, vendor logos, square or round page corners, and adornments.

Prints

Photographs can be printed on many types of paper, but the most common for wedding photography are lustre, glossy, metallic, and canvas. Paper types are something best shown to you in person by your photographer, rather than reading about on the internet, but the type of paper used can sometimes have a dramatic impact.

Prints can be made either borderless, or with both simple and complex borders. They can be designed as a collage, have text added to them, etc. - everything that can be done with an album can be done with a print itself. They can be adhered to cardboard stock, styrofoam, or wrapped around wooden frames. There are many options for displaying your prints besides the traditional picture and frame.

Digital Files

Digital files, typically in the JPEG format, may be available for the unedited images (often referred to as digital negatives), photoshopped images, album designs, print designs, etc. A digital file's usefulness is determined by it's pixel dimensions, amount of JPEG compression, colorspace, and the presence of watermarks or protectection in a flash video file. Separately, because the image is covered under personal copyright, you will need a copyright release for your intended use.

If your intent is to re-print the image, you will need a digital file with the greatest pixel dimensions and least compression available. If your intent is for online display, an ipod, or digital picture frame, a reduced image size should be suitable.