IF YOU RECEIVE A LINK FROM A PHOTOGRAPHER TO DOWNLOAD IMAGES - DO IT THAT F*CKING SECOND!!!
One of the tasks my clients have to do for their website to be designed is send me images of their events, weddings, and work to fill their pages and their portfolio galleries. Some of my clients are like: BAM!!! There you go!!!! And others ... well, it takes longer because they don't have the images ready to share. I've said before MANY MANY times: images are EVERYTHING - you need images of your work to show off what you are able to do! We work in a very visual industry and if you aren't a photographer then you depend on photographers to show off whatever it is you create.
A lot of my clients who aren't photographers tell me it's like pulling teeth to get any of the images from their events and weddings ... So, if you do have a photographer who is gracious enough to share a DOWNLOAD LINK for images from a wedding you were a part of?
DOWNLOAD THEM THAT F*CKING SECOND AND THEN DO THIS:
If you get a link (without even asking for it!!!) from a photographer then you should go buy a lottery ticket that very day because you have been blessed!! If you get a link from a photographer after asking for it without them being annoyed with you then you have found yourself a photographer worth referring and using ALWAYS because they are true team players! And, photographers feel free to throw those tomatoes, but have you ever considered that if you do pass around the images (even though it means waaaaaay more work for you) to the participating vendors they will be WAY MORE likely to refer you to their clients??? Just sayin' ... ok, back to what I would do if I was sent a link to download images of my weddings and events:
Go to Costco and buy a 2 terabyte external hard-drive to host every image you receive. They are super cheap there and when you are in this industry you will need all this space!!
Plug it in and name it: ALL MY WEDDINGS AND EVENTS
Find all the images you already do have that you've collected over the years and figure out which year they were from
Inside the hard-drive create folders first by year: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Then inside the year folders create sub-folders named like this: bride_groom_photographer_venue
Inside ^^ those folders add the high-res images that you received from those weddings
Voila!!! You now have an organizational way to keep your work easy to locate! If you have corporate events, weddings, and styled shoots I would go one step further: inside the 'year' folder I would create sub-folders called: weddings, corporate events, styled shoots ... and then follow step #5 above.
Now, the key here is that every time you receive a download link from a photographer you DO NOT WAIT ... these puppies expire!!! You need to make it your mission to download each link when you receive it and then send a HUGE THANK YOU email to that photographer ... and maybe even send them chocolate ;)
Heather, I think I can remember the venue and photographer without naming the folders this way ... Ok, yay for you!! But if you ever hire an amazing website designer (like myself) who cares about your website being optimized or if you hire someone who will blog for you and you need an easy way to get them the info with the images, then it's already done for you!
Now, if you have received images from a photographer it is your job to BE RESPECTFUL of their photos ... I shared a list of things you DO NOT DO TO PHOTOS and you should definitely read it ^^
All in all, the thing you want to avoid is emailing a photographer who has already sent you images once and asking for them. If they sent them once and you didn't download them and now you are in a mad rush and NEED YOUR PHOTOS NOW, NOW, NOW(!!!!!!) then that is super f*cking irritating. They gave you an opportunity and you didn't take it.
So, put this plan into action and you will soon have a bank of your amazing weddings, events, and styled shoots all in once place and you will feel much calmer ;)
NOW ... if you need images from a photographer and they never offered them .... here is how I would email about it:
Dear, photographer << actually put their FIRST NAME here
This is Heather from The Editor's Touch and we worked on blank and blank's wedding together at name the venue last month and year. It was one of my favorite weddings and the images you took that day were amazing!! I especially loved the photos you captured of the table décor which I was so lucky to have a hand in designing! I know how busy you are and I hate to add another task to your list, but is there any chance you'd be willing to share a link to download the images from that day? I'd love to promote you on social media and also add these to my website.
I will, of course, credit you with a text credit and a link where possible! I'm so excited to work with you again! Thank you in advance!
^^ some variation of this email is what a photographer should receive when you are asking for photos. Remind them of the couple's name, the venue, and the month and year of the wedding! Don't expect them to remember which wedding you worked on together. BE NICE!! Remind them that you know how hard they work and how much they have on their plate. And then wait ONE WEEK before you ping them again if you don't hear back.
XO~ Heather
