stacyreeves || photography

Note:  This blog has moved, and will soon be deleted.  Please visit the NEW blog at www.stacyreeves.com.

Although I try to meet with every client I book before they sign a contract, sometimes long distances or busy schedules make that pretty much impossible. To help make the process easier, I have compiles some photos and information about the albums I carry. Hopefully this will give those of you who have not been able to meet with me in person a chance to see the different styles of albums that we offer.

We offer three main styles of albums. The first, our premier line, is the Fine Art Album. The next is our Storybook Album, which is a more lightweight, cost-efficient album. Finally, we offer Luxury Proof Albums, great way to display the proofs from your wedding day.

Our album product lines and prices are subject to change at any time. For the most recent information on our albums, please contact me directly and I will be happy to send over our Album Catalog, or schedule a meeting so you can see our gorgeous albums in person.

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This is our standard Fine Art Album. This is the album that comes included in Packages II, III, and IV. The only difference between the packages is the number of pages included in the cost. However, you can always add additional pages to your album during the album design phase after the wedding. This album features a black leatherette cover with a 3×3 cameo image printed on professional photographic paper.

My favorite part about our Fine Art albums is the incredible amount of customization available. We offer 24 different leather cover options, ranging from classic black (in three different texture finishes) to our most popular pearl to shimmering metallics to the top-of-the-line dual-leathers (pictured in the collage to the right, third photo from the top on the right hand side). When you factor in the cameos, which can be printed at any size on photographic paper, metallic paper, or a chic metal plate (our favorite!), the customization options are literally limitless. We can also have your name and wedding date embossed on the cover or spine in a variety of fonts and ink colors.

There are a few things about these albums that I, as a photographer, especially love, that consumers may not notice. The first is the rounded edge on the pages and covers. Sharper edges tend to peel, bend, and wear down over time, especially if the album is dropped or bumped around. Rounded edges are much more durable, and will provide a clean, elegant look through decades of use.

Another factor is the thick pages. The album image is actually printed on long-lasting photographic paper, which is then mounted to black matboard. This treatment makes the pages so thick that they cannot bend, crease, or tear – perfect if you ever plan on having kids in the house! The thickness of the matboard varies depending on the number of pages, so that whether your album is 20 pages or 60 pages, it will still have the same basic look and shape.

Another great thing about these albums is that they lay completely flat at every point in the book.. here is proof!

This is extremely beneficial for durability, because human tendency is to want to push pages flat, so that we can see both pages fully. Unfortunately, that damages the pages and can lead to breakage over time. With these books, you can simple turn the pages and enjoy each spread at its fullest, with no gutter or seam in the middle to swallow up parts of the image and make them impossible to see.

Our Fine Art Albums start at $1400 for a 20-page 10×10 black leatherette book. However, most of our packages include an album this size or larger. Additional pages are $45/each ($90 per spread), and upgrades such as 12×12 books, premium leathers, and metal cameos are available for $200 each. Duplicate 8×8 albums are available for 50% of the initial album cost. All of our books have a lifetime guarantee on the workmanship and quality of the book. Fine Art Albums take approximately 4-6 weeks to arrive.

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Our next line of albums is our Storybook Albums. These books are perfect for engagement albums, bridal albums, guestbooks, or gifts for friends and family. These albums are thinner, and less durable, but also substantially cheaper (20-page photo-cover albums start at $450). These books are similar to children’s books, with a glossy photographic cover bonded to a thick, durable cardboard, and thin flexible pages available in either a matte or glossy finish.

A variety of other options are available with our Storybook Albums, including upgrades such as leatherette or leather covers, dust jackets, foil stamping on the cover and spine, protective slipcases, and display boxes which allow you to store the album in a beautiful box along with a DVD slideshow. Many of these upgrades are pictured in the collage below.

As these books are stitch-bound at the spine, they do not lay flat unless forced, and can be easily torn or bent. The is also some loss of image in the center of each spread, in the “gutter” of the book, so please keep this in mind when making design changes and requests. If you would like to avoid this, ask us about our “hinged pages” upgrade, which allows each spread to lay flat in the book.

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If you order one of our Fine Art or Storybook Albums, you also have the option of ordering a smaller, duplicate version of your main album, which we call Brag Books. The design of these books is identical to your primary album, but the smaller format allows the book to fit easily inside your purse (or in some cases, even in your pocket!) so that you can show off your stunning photos to everyone you see.

These pursebooks come in a variety of different styles, covers, and options. Some are basically smaller versions of our Storybook Albums, with photographic covers and thin pages. Our premium Brag Books have a linen cover and protective dust jacket, and thicker pages that are more difficult to bend or tear, making them much more durable and long-lasting. Brag Book sizes range from as little as 3×3 to as large as 8×8, and prices range from $75-500, depending on book size and upgrade options. Brag Books take approximately 5-8 weeks to arrive.

Brag Books are a fantastic way to show off your photos to anyone who will listen, but they are also especially popular as favors and thank-you gifts. If you’re looking for a great gift for your parents or your wedding party, a Brag Book is a wonderful way to thank them for everything they have done for you. These books are inexpensive, especially when ordered in bulk, and give your favorite people a chance to preserve the memories of the once-in-a-lifetime event that they shared with you.

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Finally, we have our Luxury Proofbooks. Although we choose to proof our images online only, for the convenience of everyone involved, if you prefer to have a printed set of all your images, the Luxury Proofbooks are a great way to catalog your images in a classy, display-worthy way.

Each image from your wedding (up to 500 images) will be printed on a 4×6 photographic print with an elegant keyline border. Each print has the image filename printed on the back, which will definitely come in handy when ordering images for prints or for the album design.

The prints will then be separated into categories (similar to the galleries in the online proofing), and bound into individual books (up to five books, 100 images each). These books have a linen cover available in a variety of colors, and have a monogramming option, as well. The books are then packaged in a custom-fit slipcase, bound with the same color linen.

Our Luxury Proofbooks are $650 for a full five-book set and take approximately 4-6 weeks to arrive. Individual books are available for $150 each.

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If you have any questions about our album lines, don’t hesitate to contact us, and we will be happy to provide you with more information!

Note:  This blog has moved, and will soon be deleted.  Please visit the NEW blog at www.stacyreeves.com.