Wedding album vs wedding book?

I did a shutterfly photobook for my epics. 27.99 on sale but normally 34.99. You get to play around and customize it.

Mix book is nice but I think there are sites out there that you can create almost the same album a photographer can do for you for much less...

I am paying to have one done because I am too busy and will never do it

I ordered an album from my photog and I made books for my parents and sister from Mpix. Honestly? Definitely get your album from the photog. The Mpix books came out fine, but just not as clear and nicely laid out as the real album.

Shutterfly!

I wouldn't necessarily use that website...that's just what I saw that gave me the idea.

@Pumpkin and Evelyn- how is the quality from shutterfly?

There's a big difference between albums and books. Albums use actual photographic paper - archival paper, archival inks, mounted on rigid pages and well bound. Besides the cost of the album itself (and you'd have a heart attack if you knew what album vendors charge us photographers!), you have to factor in the editing, retouching, and design time that is put into it. Most photographers who give you your images will likely be giving you proofs, and not fully retouched images, so the images themselves won't be exactly the same.

Books are press-printed - meaning they are not made of photographic paper, but basically inkjet. They are more magazine style pages - not rigid, usually somewhat glossy (although some vendors give you options for this). Binding is less substantial and covers are not always of the highest quality. There are a lot of book vendors available to consumers. Shutterfly paper can get a bit thin and wrinkle easily. Mpix ones...no.

(cont'd...)

(cont'd. from above). I've seen a lot of binding problems with the Mpix books - cracking at the covers. I would look into Photobook America - good quality, decent cover options, low prices.

I know not everyone can afford an album, but it's worth it if you can. They are made to last a lifetime - a press book just isn't going to do that. You might find it worth your while to find a photographer who uses album vendors which are less expensive than some others. Please understand, though...I don't know a single photographer who tries to gouge couples with album costs (although I'm sure they're out there). Album vendors make them expensive for us to begin with, but there's a lot of time spent on putting them together too, especially in the retouching of images to make your album and prints look their best.

I did one on Shutterfly and LOVE the end result! Why waste the money to have the Pro do it? Honestly, creating and customizing my book was half the fun! Everyone who has seen it loves it and several family members have asked me to order one for them as well

The pages on my Shutterfly book are actually quite thick. I chose the Hard-bound option and loved the end result.

I was in Best Buy when they were doing a promotional thing with shutterfly. The guy showed me a shutterfly photobooked. It was nice. The hard-bound was used in the one they showed me. Very sturdy and I agree with Julean, the pages were actually quite thick. I've played around with it before. It's pretty neat. You can pick different backgrounds, add text/captions, different layouts, etc. You can use their templates and graphics they have available or just upload your own or both.

I am however confused by Lisa's comment of "Most photographers who give you your images will likely be giving you proofs, and not fully retouched images, so the images themselves won't be exactly the same." -- as photographers have told me on WW in the past differently. From what I understand, all pictures are edited even if you just get a disc because it is still their work and they want their work to look the best it can.

I made a book for my mom as a mothers day gift and we all loved the quality of it. You can add all the pictures you want to it and you can share your book online with your family and friends. And they always have some kind of sale on them. Right now they are 40% off and I registered at target and they gave me a package with a target registry book and a $20 gift card for shutterfly free.

Kristina - if a photographer is fully editing 500 images, he or she will need several weeks of doing nothing else to do that. I mean FULLY editing - not just balancing the light, making slight tweaks, etc...which is what we do for proofs. There's a big difference between creating proofs and then going in to edit and retouch final images. For the images I use in an album, I spend anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour or more on each image to get it exactly right...anything from getting rid of zits and backfat to distracting things in the background, eliminate people or objects, switch heads in group shots, smooth out wrinkles in a dress, 'adjust' someone's double chin or underarm flab, custom colour toning...the list goes on and on. If a client just wants a disc of images, they're going to get proofs from me...and from most other photographers...unless they are spending a LOT more money to compensate for the time it takes to fully edit and retouch every image.

If you like the Shutterfly product, great. Compare it to other press books and you'll see what each one does best (covers, binding, printing, page quality, etc.). As I said before, don't expect it to last a lifetime - it won't - but for the price you pay, maybe that's just fine for you. As I suggested, take a look at Photobook America - I think that's one of the nicest press books around, and the prices are definitely reasonable.

It's easy for me to be biased - hey, I'm a photographer - but I don't think getting an album is a waste. A lot of people view it not only as an important record of their day, but as a work of art. Yes, they cost money. If you want one, terrific. If you don't, get what you do want.

The images that I would be using will be edited, high resolution and ready to print (per my contract). I understand that albums are beautiful, but how often do people pull them out at look at them? I would want to get the best quality book possible, perhaps coffee table style and have it out so that we could enjoy it.

I am a big scrapbooker, so I will be making mine. I cannot wait honestly because scrapbooking is a hobby I love. My photographer doesn't have an albums included in her package which is why I don't mind making mine anyway.

As part of our package with the photographer we will be getting an amazing album. If you haven't seen them they are amazing! Very pricey but, to me, extremely worth it. They are hardcover and are more like a coffee table book with hard pages than a soft-page magazine-type book. As it is part of our package I don't know how much this one costs but I know that when we were interviewing other photographers they quoted us $1600 for a wedding album. Still, to me this is important to have and is something I will be proud to show my grandchildren.

My Album was $1600 and the quality is amazing. The mpix and shutterfly books are fine, but are low quality and will not stand the test of time.

If you intend for your album to become a family heirloom then I would recommend getting a good book from you photographer. The shutterfly & snapfish albums will never stand the test of time.

I think that it depends on what you want: Do you want a flush mount album, that is really quality and holds up? Maybe go with your photographer (or find a vendor who does professional design and printing for a cheaper cost-- forgive the little plug for myself. ). Even being a designer myself, I ordered an album from my photographer because at the time I didn't have access to quality flush mount printing like I do now.

That being said, if you want more of a coffee-table style book I see no problem in using an online printer (or hiring an outside vendor to professionally design it and send it to print for you--shameless plug number 2. Yikes. Just wanted to let you know there are options out there!) I'd do lots of research. I know from experience that not all online book printers are equal. Some print fuzzy, some aren't great with color, some have shoddy binding... If you choose to DIY I would google for reviews, and compare lots of different companies before making your choice.