The Internet has done a rather annoying job of trivializing the photo selection process. Culling images is a critical process in a photographer’s workflow that the client or model often wants to be a big part of. The majority of photographers I’ve asked address this by dumping all the photos into some sort of web-based proofing site and just send the link off to clients and let them make their choices.
There was a time where selecting images involved standing over a light table with a loupe. It was a time before I ever picked up a camera but it certainly provided a very interactive experience which is something I like to try to replicate when a client or model wishes to be part of the selection process. Sending a web proofing gallery over the Internet is about the worst possible way to create this experience; instead of a potentially collaborative process it becomes stifling to your own creative vision by handing over reigns completely to the model/client.
My Process For Proofing Images With Clients
Prep
I begin by doing all the grunt work after the shoot on my own. This involves transferring files from the memory card onto my computer, running a backup, and then importing them into Lightroom. An important aspect of this step is also instructing Lightroom to generate 1:1 previews of all the images so there aren’t any delays later when cycling through them. This process can often take quite a while even on decently fast computers.
Initial Cull
Next I go through the images on my own with the goal of removing any bad images that certainly won’t be selected. Images I’m typically looking to remove at this point are test shots that didn’t work out, shots where gear failed (such as a light failing to fire or autofocus being inaccurate), and shots where the model is doing something that isn’t necessarily flattering such as sneezing, talking, or blinking. I also make a point of removing any awkward poses at this step that could make the model self-conscious.
My Selections
Now that all the junk photos are removed I spend some time and go through the images looking to make picks. I cycle through the set flagging any images that I really like as picks in Lightroom.
Collaborative Cull
I set a meeting for the model/client to come visit me in my studio and we sit together and go through the entire set of photos that made it past the initial cull. I make a point of not pointing out which images were flagged during my selections. Instead, I simply have the client give me a holler anytime she/he sees an image they like which I also flag as a pick.
Collaborative Selections
At this point we likely will have a selection of 40 or 50 images flagged as picks that are mix from my selections and the collaborative cull which we then work to narrow down by discussing each image individually and how it compares to the other selections. By the end of this step I aim to have a final set of images to take into postproduction.
Why I Make Clients and Models Come Meet With Me
Clients and photographers often are looking for very different things when making selections. Neither is wrong but neither is necessarily right either. Models mostly focus on very personal quirks in the images. They often have certain aspects of their appearance that irritates them that they want to make sure isn’t visible in photos. These aspects often have little to do with the overall image itself but can be things that the model feels very strongly about. Irritants can range from a slight gap in teeth to the shape of the nose to little bulges or discolors in the skin. These issues almost certainly can be solved with a little work in Photoshop so should not be showstoppers that would prevent an otherwise sensational photo from being selected.
If selections are primarily left up to the client/model you will often end up with a rather narrow set of images that tend to be quite boring but flattering. However, when selections are solely up to the photographer they often end up being a bunch of selections that are photographically great but the model may dislike. The dialog of a collaborative selection process bridges that gap and allows for a selection of photos that are optimal for both parties.
Your Selection Process
So now that you know how I handle things with my clients/models, I’d love to hear about how you handle yours. Head down to the comments to tell me how your system is different and what aspects of it make it better.
I really like what you touched on with the model. I have had that same problem. They are looking for there quirks and we as a photo artist are looking at the over all image. Sitting down with the subject is a great idea. Has a lot easier to explain why you like the image in person instead of over email or txt.
I'm borrowing a little from Peter Hurley here: how many times have you seen the FedEx logo? do you see the arrow how about the spoon? this is great to tell a model before you show her/him any photos, the arrow and the spoon represents all the little quirks the model is dissatisfied with that most people don't even notice
Ok! I'm going to try this. I think this is like photo shoot therapy.
I don't do as much portraiture any more, but I still take time to get to know my subjects enough that I can cull ones they won't like. And they only see ones I am happy with.
I'd like to do it the way you do. Unfortunately it's hard to get the time to shoot let alone the time to get together and select images, so I go through the first few steps and upload a bunch of images (that I don't personally hate) online for them to select their top images. I then wash it against my favourites, and discuss the weakest selections of theirs (if there are any) with the intention of swapping them out for some of my favourites. That way, the images I edit largely make us both happy.
I agree that having your clients/models pick images from a web gallery is not the best service experience in an ideal world. However, the reality of spending an extra hour + after every shoot is just not an efficient business model in a competitive market. Most of my commercial clients have a few people involved in the selection process and don't want to wait for a personal meeting to make progress on a shoot on a tight deadline.
Your perspective on guiding models towards images "optimal for both parties." seems misguided to me. Models that hire me need my focus exclusively on their requirements and I recommend that the model get their agent or other representative involved in making the best choices for their book. For my own portfolio, I just make my own choices for my portfolio, edit them for me, and just provide them to my model as extras.
very much agree with your opinion.
Great article and advice of selecting collaboratively. Although its quite difficult to call the clients over to your studio (my house with a small office), due to my day job and theirs too. My biggest problem is sometime I shoot an image with a vision. (Underexpose on purpose etc), When I send the culled unedited proofs to client, they usually don't get it and reject it. So I am constantly battling, having the client choose the best 10-12 images or me choosing them. The former is what most clients and the latter is what I always want.
So I thought of a idea and would like to get advice on that. Lets say the client (family, senior portraits, etc) want 10 portraits. From the over 400-500 images I cull and choose maybe 30 images, and retouch them globally in lightroom. I then send the retouched 30 images to client to choose the best 10. Does that seem reasonable or it does not make sense from a business perspective. My paid assignments are usually 2-3 assignments per month due to my full-time job (and partly due to not advertising as much).
I think this method can work well for the type of work you are doing as the retouching process is relatively quick I suspect? I think how much time you generally spend in post production can be a driving factor here. For example, for me, to retouch 30 images to send to a client to choose from would be a 50 or 60 hour investment based on the type of work I do.
I certainly can see the challenge in showing a client unretouched images and have them react negatively to them. This can especially be true if there is a fairly radical chance between what an image looks like in camera and how it looks after editing. I think a direct, live dialogue, as I described in the article can mitigate this a lot more than sending a link that the client looks at with disappointment.
Thanks for your response Ryan. Certainly, a fully retouched image (color correction, FS, DB, coloring) takes me about 1 hour per image average. But it doesnt take very long to do a global retouch in lightroom without skin etc. But I would definitely try to sit with the client and do the selection process when possible. If not, then I would go the route of retouching the best 2x-3x images and give them those to choose from. :)
Thanks a lot for sharing Ryan, it was interesting! I am only starting my business (still working fulltime elsewhere) but I generally do the same - select the good ones and show to the client in order to finalize images for post.
However, with this line of behaviour I have had two opposite experiences: one instance where the client was liking almost every image in the shoot and the other where the client disliked almost every image! Funny but there is a lot of psychology involved here. Both clients, very beautiful ladies in fact, but the first was self-confident, and the other way too much self-anxious. Hence the reaction. In the end of the day, I found it easier to simply judge on my own and give them a bunch of processed pics. I just had to spend some more time in the post for the second lady;)
Bottom line: dialogue with client is very important but sometimes you just have to take the lead.
Also, I believe there should be difference in working with a pro model or a regular individual out there. In my cases above both were non-pros.
Question I have: Does this differ with paid work to non paid work? For example if the shoot is a collaboration, TFP based, does your number of images you deliver change?
Not generally, tbh, I mean some paid gigs have specific requirements for sure but I'm generally looking to go with the same process, regardless. The only real exception is headshot work where the agent of the client generally wants to select the images and they usually can't be bothered to come meet.
I like it. Wondering how much time the process takes.
Weddings can have hundreds of images and the bride can take hours even days looking over proofs when I send them. She also consults with family etc - how does that work in your world?
Well, for me I don't do weddings or any sort of event photography where the work is going to be at an extremely high volume. Furthermore, I am looking at retouching that is going to be several hours per images so the selection must be much pickier. Generally I shoot 600-800 in a shoot, I then get rid of about half of those in my initial cull so with the client the goal is mostly aiming to get 300-400 images down to 10 or so final selections.
That's why I love using Capture One's Pilot program. I'm small time, but I have been able to instantly send photos to creative directors in other countries while we collaborate on shoots. The ability to do that alone has helped me land some jobs because they didn't have the funds or time to send the art director.
There's a couple good discussions in Dylan Patrick's Facebook group about this.
I am a senior in High School and have begun doing senior portraits for some other seniors in my class, but have not yet found a good way to get them the images. After reading this I will have them look over them with me, but then how do I get them the images? Lately I've been using USB chips and they just give it back to me at school or something, but if theres a simpler way I'd love some tips for it. Thanks!
I generally use dropbox to pass final images to clients.
I think this is a great post. However I don't find this method applicable for everyone. It makes sense when working with emotion driven work. I do mostly events and real estate photography. I would like to have a web component where I can post and review images with clients. The communication could be live or in comments. The client should be able to click on a "Choose" box with the images they desire and make suggestions on an edit or crop (For example show less of a pool in front of a house). I expected this to be a part of Lightroom mobile, but unfortunately it is not. Does any one know if this exists?
Right with on this!!!
I send web galleries to models...and I give hard drives to commercial clients...
If they want me to hand hold them through their selection process... I'll add "Photo Editor/Art Director" to the final invoice and charge accordingly.
Speaking from the commercial side of things... I acknowledge weddings/portraits/engagements are a different animal...
Time is money, and while it's a nice notion to want to spend that time helping your client decide what they want... but to do it with the idea of getting your own motives through...is a great way to run yourself out of business.
It's a line that most commercial clients usually NEVER want crossed unless they ask...and most won't because a specifically scheduled hour with someone outside the firm takes more time and money than most companies want to spend.
I'm happy giving my clients my viewpoint pre-shoot, on set, and with my initial edit... after that... I step back unless they ask me (and ideally pay me) to step in.
I love this idea and would love to make it work for all the reasons you mention, but in order for it to be financially viable, I'd have to double my prices which I know my clientele can't/won't handle. So I do the usual web gallery dump of 80 to 100 images (down from 275-375 in a 1.5 hour session) and then ask the client to narrow it down to 8-12 and to book a virtual meeting for us to review the short list together over the phone when we can both be in front of our computers. My package includes two full retouches (all the proofs have had global edits and cropping done to them in LR, though I'm transitioning to Capture One). I'm also trying to shoot tethered more often (hence the move to C1 because LR is a bit unreliable in this regard) when I shoot in the studio so that we can review as we go (a la Peter Hurley). But, man, I am slow at culling, global editing, uploading, retouching, etc., etc. and every minute now counts. It is hard to keep the hours down so that my fee structure is profitable. I'm also trying to increase my volume (I really have no shortage of paid work -- there just isn't enough time) but I'm having a hard time keeping up and getting final retouches out in a timely manner. This is starting to sound like a cry for help!! :)
Anyway, just wanted to say I absolutely agree with you and would love to be able to implement this system ... but I'm not sure how to do it since clients just do not realize how much work goes on behind the scenes and they aren't willing to pay much more than I'm charging now, given that I am not the least expensive headshot photog in a pretty saturated market.