First Coffee Table Book, Comments Please

Just finished my first book project. Thinking about my photography in this format was a bit challenging and so any constructive criticism would be most welcome.

One thing I did learn was that having shot all of the images for individual viewing, I found myself with not enough “wide views” to tell the story on a full page spread. Something I will need to think about when shooting a project going forward. I am also experimenting with “the written word” to capture the feelings of a client when they look at the book years later.

http://spiritdog.smugmug.com/gallery/6825888_nZPg7

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http://www.spiritdogphotography.com/

should Elliot arrived on (a) Fall day.....................

George

It's a nice book. But the thing that jumped out at me -- is that it looks like a template selection guide. There is no coherent design look -- the spreads are all over the place.

Next time, you might want to approach the book design as a graphic artist would. Limit yourself to a small set of complementary colors -- try to have some consistency and continuity in the look from page to page -- which may include everything from shape to color, to the color of pinstripe around images. Try some more creative use of type style and layout. These are some of the things that differentiate a scrapbook from a truly professional book.

Best,
Paul
http://upstatephotographers.com

Good advice from the responders. I'd also recommend hiring a good proofreader. In addition to the missing "a" already noted, there is an error in spelling on the same page. You wrote "His smiles never waining...", where it should be "waning".

Proofreading is much more difficult than most people think.

Marion

Thanks for the input and I could not agree more by the way. I think part of my probem was that this was an "after the fact book" and not a known project from the start. Picking up some books on design is a must to move forward. That and a good proof reader......

Thanks again for the input
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http://www.spiritdogphotography.com/

I usually don't make it through many of the albums displayed here, but I found myself hanging on to see what was next. I think what you have visually displayed is very very strong. I love the one of the little boy playing with a red car, inside the head light of the red car. So for your images you get an A.

Now for the writing - it sucks. It reads like those terrible cards you get from friends when they don't know what else to do. I'm trying to think what I would do. For starters, I would give the parent homework asking them to write things. So they would receive a document, with lots of headings like - "What were you thinking and feeling when your son or daughter was born? Are there special memories from their birth? What was the first day of school like for them and you?

You get the idea. I think a book with parental input into much of the written material will be much stronger over the years and decades rather than poetic fluff. You might need a heavy hand in editing what they have written, some of it won't be that strong in grammar, etc So if the parents don't have written skills, then you are allowed to resort to fluff, but try not to if you can.

My suggestion will increase what you charge for your album as it will be more work on your part, but I think it will have more impact on your customer.
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Merry Christmas all & a Happy New Year.
Rationally I have no hope, irrationally I believe in miracles.
Joni Mitchell

Joni,

Thanks for the input. I am kidding myself if I think my writing skills are going hit the bestseller list, so your point is well taken. I am not sure the Parents will do much better. Given this, I wonder what type of premium clients will pay? I think writing adds real value and a little bit can go a long way. The question is cost vs. quality. My target market is young children and capturing a moment in time that they will never remember. So I have two goals.

1. Satisfy the Parents in the here and now. Believe it or not the Hallmark cr$%p has actually gone over well with the average parent review. Then again most people are happy with bad photography so as a professional I agree it needs to be stepped up a notch or two or three……. perhaps humor is the way to go???

2. Let a child know in say twenty or thirty years what it was like to be very young and how their parents felt at the time. Even as a teenager, such a book might be a way to span the great divide. I can see the marketing pitch right now “talk to your kids in the future when they hate you and won’t listen” LOL.

I think there is something here I just need to find a balance and level of quality that makes it work without taking the price through the roof.

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http://www.spiritdogphotography.com/

You will get positive feedback from many as they are the same people who buy those sappy cards. How about a compromise as you suggest, some submissions from parents and the fluffy poetic stuff.

As a parent, if I were to purchase your album with my child in it, I'd read the fluff once then only look at the pictures in the future. You don't need to be excellent in writing to correct others, or even add bits yourself - you just need courage.... lol!
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Merry Christmas all & a Happy New Year.
Rationally I have no hope, irrationally I believe in miracles.
Joni Mitchell