I wanted to expand on my topic of Print Lab Comparisons and talk about Albums. We’ve already discussed the quality of images from non pro labs which you can view here.
I know many companies like Shutterfly offer amazing deals on Albums for as little as $60. It seems like a great deal, I know. If you think about any product that is consistently offered at a extreme low price, it could quite possibly mean that the product is of low quality. And when I say quite possibly, I mean, it usually is.
An example, a very close friend of mine spent thousands on her wedding photographer. They came out absolutely beautiful. She specifically asked for pricing with a DVD of images. She was advised (by a few of us) to get her album designed and printed by her wedding photographer. She decided to design her album, which took her weeks to get the right style she wanted. She thinks she spent about 5 hours adding the photos to the templates she bought. She decided to send her template to Shutterfly because she got a deal on an 10×10 Album. She wanted it to be bigger then that but she didn’t see spending more money on an Album. It arrived, she liked it, just satisfied enough that she gets to see her wedding photos in an album. I specifically remember her not being overly enthusiastic but her words were “Hey, at least I have some of my photos in one place.” Fast forward six months, after family members, friends and her and her husband opening and closing the book, some of the pages are falling out. Fast forward a year, now she’s kept the book on the shelf permanently because three pages fell out completely, five pages are hanging by a strand and one is wrinkled from someone spilling water on it. Now she’s going back to her photographer for a 40 page Album. Her Shutterfly album was only 20 pages and she wants a lot more photos in this one. She’s already spent around $125 and her time, and she feels she’s wasted the money and is slightly embarrassed that she has told people she doesn’t have an album of her wedding photos. Now, she’ll get an Album with double the amount of photos and she doesn’t even have to spend time designing it. Oh, and if someone has an accident, it won’t wrinkle up, because pro albums have water resistant pages! She regrets not spending the extra money in the first place and said she was embarrassed by the quality of the album that represented the most important day of her life.
I know of many other stories related to this that represent other non- pro labs and I sincerely hope that this hasn’t happened to you. If you’re one of my families, let me know and we will get a FAB album pronto!
Just as I stated before, after all the time, money and effort you’ve placed into a session or event. Don’t let a non-pro lab’s album degrade the quality of the images that were professionally photographed. Not to mention the work you did to create something for the photos whether it be your wedding details, an outfit, etc.
Contact us if you’d like to learn more about our Pro-Lab Album options 813.277.6275 or email [email protected]
Ashley Yvonne Photography, a Local Florida Photographer in the Tampa Bay area specializing in Family and Children Photography, Portraits, Water Birth and Newborn Photography.
