I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I love books, how old ones feel with yellowing pages, and the smell of a used book store. Wedding albums should have a feel too, and this one does. It is substantial. When I picked it up for the first time I was surprised by it’s weight. It’s 44 page sides, where most of my albums are 30. This book makes me want to design them all as 40 to 50! It really tells the story of Tiff & Adam’s day.

Inside the pages are designed as full spreads.  This means when you open your album, the page lays flat with just a tiny seam in the middle, and the design goes all the way from left to right.  This book is 12×12, so each design is 24 inches wide by 12 inches high.

The leather is super luxurious, and there is something about the black. My sample album is dark brown, and I must admit I strongly prefer the black seeing them side by side. These albums come in funky black and white patterned slip cover cases. They are thick weave and I just think kind of neat.

I think a lot about the idea of a heirloom. Brides invest into their wedding photography because it is a day to remember forever, and the photos are to be passed down to children for generations.

Which leads me to the thought of tradition. Flushmounts and coffee table books are modern, which is great for some brides, but I’ve realized that personally I’d want something classic with a little touch of modern. (And one day I will get around to making my own wedding album!)

When I first started designing wedding albums,

I thought of matted albums as something dated. I recently started researching what today’s manufacturers sell, and there are some amazing matted albums that can be as classic as you want, or have lots of modern touches. I’ve narrowed my search down to three album companies, and can’t wait to decide so I can get a sample created.

Cypress Albums
These are beautiful, hand-crafted fine art albums. The covers are made of Japanese bookbinding fabrics. I have an adorable little box filled with the cover materials and ribbons. They are luxurious. Cypress makes boxes that I currently use for printed proofs. They make folios and dvd cases too, all out of the same fabrics. The books come either bound with ribbon or library style, and have real photos mounted in high end papers.

Photo Courtesy of Cypress Albums

Leather Craftsmen
Their 8500 series of albums won Professional Photographers Hot One award for this album. It’s minimalism is what draws me to the style. Where Cypress is a beautiful book that is a work of art in itself, the 8500 is about the photos that are in it. It’s a hard cover, board mounted prints, and can be designed with many options. As with all the options I’m considering you can add in panoramic pages printed edge to edge.

Albums Australia
I do not know a lot of United States photographers that use this Australian manufacturer, but the ones who do rave about them. Their Matrix album is the one I am considering. It is a very traditional matted album known to have impeccable quality. I am still researching the details on these.

I’ll weigh the business side of this decision of course (numbers and other aspects that I prefer not to think about but have to), but your thoughts (photographers, friends and brides) are always welcome too.

As a photographer, books are an important aspect to what I do.  I can not stand that I am a year behind on my personal photo album.  I want to feel my photos and have them in a book, not just on my computer.  I am usually adamant about having true photographs in your book, and not inkjet printing.  This new fine art book has finally shown me that an inkjet print, can be beautiful too.

This new book is coffee table style, with lay-flat pages.  There are a plentiful selection of cover options.  The one I just designed is green sea silk.  The pages are made of an indulgent textured felt paper.  The printing is beyond my expectations, and rich.  With the paper, it is completely different looking than a traditional photograph, but still retains true color.  The books come in sizes from 3×3 to 10×10.

These fine art books would make a great addition to any portrait collection, and brides could use them for a little pocket version of their large wedding album, or to give to their bridal party.

Are your products a green product?
Yes. Everything we make is a renewable source and is all natural.

Just announced today, is their new album, available to professional photographers. By 8am this morning I had setup my new professional account with them and fired off an email with lots of questions. As soon as I create a new wedding album design, I will be ordering a sample. I am so excited!

This photo is courtesy of Loktah’s website.

It comes in a variety of colors, all super soft leather. This one is smoldering brown. It’s pages are thick. It’s 12×12 leaving plenty of room for really big photos, or designs with lots of images. I designed this sample album using Kayla & Skyler’s wedding photos in Salem, Oregon.

And then there are Little Kisses… You can get 4×4 duplicates of these books that are fun to toss in your purse or give to your bridal party. They come with the same covers, thick pages, and photographic prints. Linen versions have just come out too. I need to get my hands on one of these.

If you read my blog often, you probably realize I get excited about albums. I photograph plenty of weddings where the bride and groom receive a high resolution dvd as their end product, without a book, but I just love when the couple wants a wedding album. Designing the pages and having something tangible to hold onto just makes me feel like the wedding photography is truly complete.

I almost forgot. They come in these fun pretty flowered linen bags!

I just thought after yesterday’s post a few wedding album layouts seemed like a good follow-up.

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Ecotrust is across from Jamison Square, which made for an interesting morning. I did something I don’t normally do when I have a business meeting. I brought my toddler along. I don’t know how some moms do it, having a business discussion and having the little one there. I’ve seen moms make it look easy, and thought I could pull it off. My energetic darling sitting on my lap lasted about a whole three minutes!

So we left Ecotrust and I think let’s go see the fountain at Jamison. My little one, Mackenzie, runs in. I can barely get her leggings and shoes off quick enough. I roll up my jeans, take off my blazer, and look around. At least I’m not the only one whose toddler is swimming in a diaper.

Thirty minutes of fun later, I realize the parking meter has definitely expired, so I grab my protesting daughter out of the water, walk down the street barefoot, with my baby (she now seems like a baby again) on my hip in a soaking wet diaper. I get to the car to find that I don’t even have the diaper bag with me! Luckily, there is a spare dipe in the Ergo and a towel loose in the trunk. I manage to change Mackenzie into a dry diaper in the trunk, and get her buckled back in her carseat for the trip home.

Business and Mama time – lesson learned. Keep them separate, as I have usually done. Considering, the meeting went fine and we had a blast playing in the Pearl. I am usually very prepared and give whoever I am with 100% of me, which certainly was not the case yesterday morning.

Back to the wedding album…

This green wedding album is from Wild Magnolia Design, in Santa Monica, California. It is handmade by a small sustainable company. The cover I choose for Ecotrust is a peace silk, accompanied by a handmade end orange/brown end paper. These albums come with different endpaper options, and a variety of covers, including hemp. The pages are made of thick recycled paper, and are archival.

I also just ordered a goodie box from Wild Magnolia Design. At first I thought, “well I’ve already found a green album maker” but the two companies make such completely different books I think offering them both will work well. The Wild Magnolia albums are printed on eco-friendly cotton paper, have peace silk or hemp hard covers, and are mounted similar in style to a traditional flushmount.

Speaking of flushmount albums, I still plan to offer a leather bound photographic printed flushmount album too, as well as coffee table books. While these are not very green, I have given this lots of thought and done some research. I have found a company that gets all their materials locally, manufactures in the US, and is responsible with their environmental practices. An album is something you order once and lasts many lifetimes. Considering this longevity, I feel it is a sustainable choice as well.

What I need to find now is a coffee table book maker (for casual albums and guestbooks) that uses recycled paper, and natural materials for covers!

As I’ve mentioned before, it is a goal of mine to make my business as green as possible.  A big part of that is living sustainably but I wanted to find a way to further incorporate this so I create a wedding package that is sustainable.

It includes unlimited wedding day photography and an engagement session. You will get a high resolution dvd of your digital negatives.  This means there is no reason to print photos that you do not want.  You will have an online gallery so your friends and family can easily view your photographs.  Instead of having to carry prints or a book to show your friends in person, you get an Ipod Touch loaded with your proofs.

Your favorite photo from either your engagement session or your wedding, will be printed as an 8×10 and framed by Portland’s Green House Framing.  They use reclaimed lumber to create the wood for their frames, and offer recycled mats from Twisted Limb Paperworks.

You will receive a sustainable wedding album.  These are handmade in the USA on recycled paper, and the whole process is done using wind-powered energy.  These books are 10 inches, have a custom image on the cover, and include 36 pages.

Five percent of the proceeds of this package will be donated to purchase carbon offset credits, which should be enough to offset the carbon footprint of most weddings.

Email me for more details.