The Best Wedding Album For You

Photos come to life when they are printed on a piece of paper. Nowadays we hardly print photos. We are mostly seeing photos on our digital devices be it a phone or tablet or PC or TVs. On all these mediums you see photos through a backlit panel but when you print it on paper it's a completely different story. Until or unless you are printing your photo on paper you really do not know what you are missing.

If you have started planning for your wedding, you will definitely consider getting a dream photobook. Without a wedding photo book, a wedding is incomplete. Photobooks come in many options and sizes. There are lots of options available in the market to choose from. It is important to know the details of these different types so that you can get the best album for you. Being a professional photographer for the last 11 years, the facts that I have earned, I will simplify it for you so that you can decide what is best for you. When you choose, there are a few associated things that you have to keep in mind. Let me explain these to you one by one.

Photo Selection

The selection of photos is the first thing when you decide to make an album. There is N number of ways you decide which photos will go for the print. When you are selecting photos from your wedding dump, sometimes you may find it very tedious because there are lots of photos and deciding which one to keep is not as easy as it seems. So, what? Here is the key! Divide your event into multiple smaller parts. Like:

Wedding: -

1. Wedding Day 1-

• Morning

• Evening

2. Wedding Day 2-

• Mehndi

• Sangeet

3. Wedding Day 3-

• Morning Rituals

• Groom Entry

• Bar Mala/Subha Dristi

• Sindoor dan

• Guest Photos

• Selfie-corner

There are many ways you can do it. Just do what is comfortable for you.

Now, transfer all the photos into the relevant folders. You may likely see multiple photos of the particular situation or scene. It is because as a photographer we always double-check that we get a shoot where everything is at its best. From those multiple photos select the one which has the best expressions, no distracting element(s) present(s), the background is clean. Always seek your photographer's help if you are not sure which one is best. At last discard all the unnecessary photos.

Number of pages

It is completely your call how many pages you want in your album. In a wedding album, you can start from 20 pages to up to 100 pages. There may be some more or fewer options available depending upon the printing company. Now the how to do the math? On a thumb rule, on a single page, you can place 1 to 4 images that look best. You will not want to put more than 4 photos on a single page because this will not look good. The most opt of page number is 50 but you can definitely choose your own.

Photo ratio

It is always advised that you keep a rough ratio in mind between candid photos: group photos. It will help to decide. For a wedding album, we go with the ratio of 3:1. You can define yours. A good ratio of different types of photos gives your album a good balance.

Types of page

In earlier times there used to be only two types of pages, glossy or matte but now with the advancement of tech. you have a lot more options to choose from. In India, you will get-

• Regular Glossy

• Regular Matte

• Lustre

• Pearl

• Velvet

• Metallic

• Non-tearable

• Textured paper

... the list goes on and last but not least there are the best and old school silver halide flash mount papers. To understand the paper, you must understand it. Except for the last one that is silver halide paper, all are digitally printed paper and after that, a lamination is applied onto it. In terms of longevity, no one can match silver halides. It is tested and trusted. Next comes the regular glossy/matte. The others are new in the market and we have to see. I personally wouldn't recommend you to go with pearl or velvet or metallic papers because they are very prone to damage. If you are not going for silver halide papers go for lustre or glossy. It is my personal favourite. Photos look stunning on it without any loss of details.

Now, silver halide is a completely different story. Photos are printed using the technique of sliver deposition on paper and the two papers are stacked back to back. Here detail is top-notch, the colour is fantastic and when you hold it, it is on a different level. It is very obvious that sliver halide paper costs much more than the other papers but it is a place where your expense is justified. So, if budget permits, definitely you should go with silver halide papers.

Apart from the lamination of paper, paper thickness is also a thing to consider. Paper comes in many thicknesses. Starting from 120 GSM to 300 GSM. I personally recommend you to opt for more than 200 GSM.

Size/dimension of the album

The popular sizes are 9X6, 14X10, 12X12, 15X12, 18X12, and 24X18 (in inches). I personally like square books, that is 12X12. It is a matter of perspective and I think photos printed on a square page with blank areas around it give the photo more dimension. There are various options you can collage photos on a page. The most popular size today is definitely 18X12 for its 3:2 ratio and you can definitely go for it. But, if you think it is too large for you, you can opt for 15X12 as well. Price does not vary a lot for the different sizes.

Album Cover Options

There are two types of albums available, softcover and hardcover, like books. You definitely understand what it is from the names. Now hardcover photo books hardcover-like or albums come in different options which varies according to different brands but majorly there are two types, photo cover and not photo cover. Photo cover albums are very popular for their customizability but if you want to give your albums a premium feel, go for non-photo covers.

Page layouts

Page layout is one of the most important topics and a lot can be told about it but I will make it simple and straight for you. Page layout is basically the designing of how multiple or a single photo is placed on a page and that can be done in two ways broadly. One is designed by arranging multiple photos in the form of a college and the other is by using graphics. We like the collage arrangement because it is the proper utilization of the page you are paying for. Graphics occupies space and thereby limiting the space for the photos and also gives your photo book a more like magazine feel which I personally do not like. It is completely your choice and you can design it the way you want.

Collage design

Collage design with space

Layout using graphics and text

Layout using graphics

Safekeeping

Now after all the hassle when you get the album in your hand, remember to do a few things and few things not. So that your dream photobook lasts long.

Do's-

• Handle it properly

• Always open it placing on a stable flat surface

• Turn pages gently

• Keep the pages clean with a dry cotton cloth

• When not seeing, keep it the way it comes to you

• Keep the album laying flat

Don'ts-

• Keep it in a moist place

• Keep it vertically

• Turn pages at the corners

• Clean it with any solution or water

---