u/XOMaddsPhoto

Hybrid wedding photographers, I need your workflow advice!

I've been incorporating a couple rolls of 35mm and/or 120 film into wedding days and I LOVE it, but I feel like I still haven't quite found my rhythm with shooting film alongside digital.

For those of you who regularly shoot both, how do you manage it throughout the wedding day without feeling like you're constantly thinking about which camera you should be grabbing?

Do you have certain parts of the day you intentionally shoot on film? Certain moments you always shoot on both? Do you keep your film camera on you all day or intentionally grab it at certain times?

And what little systems have you figured out that make the whole thing feel more seamless?

I know I'm probably overthinking it, but right now adding even a couple rolls feels like one more thing my brain is trying to keep track of on an already busy wedding day. 😂

I'd love to hear what your actual wedding-day workflow looks like and any tips you wish you knew when you first started shooting hybrid.

Are wedding photographers still going around to every table during dinner for table photos?

I feel like this used to be such a standard wedding thing, but I'm curious how many photographers are still doing it.

Something I've noticed on calls is that I hear parents ask about table photos WAY more often than I hear couples ask for them. Couples do not care or don't want photos of people stuffing their faces...

If you do them, why? Is it something you recommend because it makes sure almost every guest is documented? Do your couples actually want them, or is it usually coming from parents?

And if you DON'T do them anymore, what do you tell couples or parents when they ask?

When someone really wants photos with every table, I've started suggesting making a game out of it instead. Something like a "table race" where the couple runs from table to table trying to get a photo with everyone before a song ends, or a musical chairs style version where the guests come to them.

It still accomplishes the goal of getting photos with everyone, but it turns it into something fun for the couple and guests instead of spending a big chunk of dinner walking around taking traditional table photos.

Do you suggest something similar? Or have you found another way to make sure guests are photographed?

I'm really curious what everyone is advising couples these days and whether traditional table photos are still something people value or if it's more of a tradition parents remember from weddings in the past.

I’ve photographed 400+ weddings, and at this point I usually feel like I can spot a red flag pretty quickly. I got humbled LOL.

The consultation was perfect. She was nice, knew what she wanted, didn’t flinch at my pricing, and booked a smaller 4-hour micro wedding package on what would normally have been a day off for me. Nothing felt off. Should have been super low-key

The first little thing was having to remind her about her questionnaire, but honestly, that happens sometimes. She took care of it that weekend so that was not horrible...

The timeline call was where I should have listened to my gut. She showed me the vibe she wanted for portraits, and I explained that the courthouse close to the church had that look. She got frustrated and said the courthouse didn’t have any meaning to her anyway, so we changed the plan and decided to do ALL portraits at the church instead. (Adding a small park after if time permitted)

Wedding day comes, and the ceremony runs 45 minutes over.

About 10 minutes into bride and groom portraits, she tells me she’s ready to leave and go to dinner. They weren’t having a reception, so portraits were essentially the end of my coverage. We had a second park location planned if there was time, but she didn’t even want to continue portraits at the church. Bummer cause they photographed amazing!

Then came the complimentary album.

I designed it and sent her the proof to approve or make any changes before it went to print. She was frustrated that she had to approve it and said she shouldn’t have to tell me how to build her album. Within 20 min. She declined the album entirely, asked me to order her a single 4x6 so she could see the print quality, and said she’d just make her own album because she didn’t understand why albums were so complicated. (for reference, she was younger, so it was not so much of the expecting old-school albums that you put prints in. SHe then tole me she was mad she did not get a proper portrait session during the wedding. (They also did not have a planner or anything).

I show and discuss all of this one calls, emails, and a client portal.

The whole experience actually changed my business. We live in an area with a LOT of elopements and micro weddings, so I used to offer 4–6 hour coverage pretty regularly. After this, I removed those packages. Weddings now start at 8 hours. There’s just too little room when something runs 45 minutes behind.

So, fellow longtime wedding photographers:

what red flag makes you actually fire a client after they’ve already booked? And has one wedding ever made you permanently change a package or policy?

We just moved into a new house in the TB area and I’m thinking about planting star jasmine along one entire section of our backyard fence for some greenery/privacy.

Before I commit to buying a bunch of plants, I’d love to hear from anyone in the Tampa Bay area who already has it established.

How has it done with our heat and full sun? How long did yours take to really fill in? And if you’ve grown it along a fence, would you do it again?

Bonus points if you have photos of what yours looks like!

We just moved into a new house in the Clearwater area and I’m thinking about planting star jasmine along one entire section of our backyard fence for some greenery/privacy.

Before I commit to buying a bunch of plants, I’d love to hear from anyone in the Tampa Bay area who already has it established.

How has it done with our heat and full sun? How long did yours take to really fill in? And if you’ve grown it along a fence, would you do it again?

Bonus points if you have photos of what yours looks like!

I use Photoshop all the time for photography (about 20 years of experience with PS), but somehow I’ve never actually made a GIF in it.

I have a series of images from a shoot that I want to turn into a simple looping GIF. Nothing fancy, basically just the images playing in sequence.

I started looking at the Timeline/Frame Animation options and realized I I feel like I never get this down pat... or make it easy

What’s the easiest workflow for this? Do you load all the images as layers and convert them to frames? And is there anything I should know about sizing/export settings so the final GIF doesn’t look terrible or end up with a massive file size?

Would love to hear how people who actually do this regularly handle it.

I use Photoshop all the time for photography (15+ years of PS experience) , but somehow I’ve never gotten the hang of it when it comes to making a GIF in it.

I have a series of images from a shoot that I want to turn into a simple looping GIF. Nothing fancy, basically just the images playing in sequence.

I started looking at the Timeline/Frame Animation options and I feel like I have to re watch tutorial after tutorial and nothing makes it overly simple

What’s the easiest workflow for this? Do you load all the images as layers and convert them to frames? And is there anything I should know about sizing/export settings so the final GIF doesn’t look terrible or end up with a massive file size?

Would love to hear how people who actually do this regularly handle it.