Jean Smith does it again!  
 
We're approaching 200 albums designed for talented Detroit wedding photographer Jean Smith in the past 12 years and have featured over 15 of our favorites on this blog.  
 
We. Cannot. Get. Enough.  
 
Jean can do no wrong. She photographs every single wedding day so flawlessly and her composition, use of light, and documentary story-telling skills always impress.  
 
The album designs we are able to create with Jean's work are definitely stand-outs. Take a look at the first spread below, for instance. We love the mix of black and white and color images, the tight and wide compositions, and how each image stands so beautifully on its own yet fits so cohesively together with the others as a unit on this filmstrip spread.

Here are a few of our other favorites from this gorgeous design:

To see the design in full, click through the slideshow: 
 
 
 
Thank you, Jean, for trusting us all these years!

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Design by: Kari (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

Today's featured album design is one we created for talented Florida wedding photographer Ailyn La Torre. Over the past 4 years we've designed nearly 50 album designs for Ailyn and each one has been such a treat to create! Her clean, bright, modern and classic photography style lends itself so well to telling the story of a wedding day on the pages of an album.  
 
Ailyn used our Hands-off Service on this design, which really streamlined the revision process, allowing us to communicate directly with her clients, saving her from being the "middleman".  
 
From the bride's stunning Isabel O'Neil gown to the picturesque outdoor palm-lined venue, this wedding day was so beautiful! It was our honor to design an heirloom album for the couple to cherish for generations to come! 
 
Here are few of our favorite spreads from this stunning design: 

To see the design in full, click through the slideshow: 
 
 
 
Thank you, Ailyn, for trusting us with your beautiful images!

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Design by: Shannon (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

We get questions all the time from photographers (especially those who are just starting to offer albums to their clients) about which album companies we recommend. Choosing an album company for printing and binding can be a daunting task. After all, there are more than 100 out there to choose from -- all with numerous album styles and options. It's completely overwhelming -- where does one even START!? 
 
There are two suggestions I have for finding a good album company to partner with: 
 
1 -- Ask other photographers who are further along in their journey who they would recommend. Chances are, they've got some experience with a number of companies and can tell you some pros and cons about each that might end up saving you valuable time and money. 
 
2 -- Do some research at trade shows. Trade shows like WPPI are a great place to touch, feel, and compare various products like albums. I believe I counted over 20 album companies represented on the WPPI trade show floor. Because albums are so tactile, it's helpful to be able to see and touch them in order to get a sense for their quality and whether or not they will appeal to you. 
 
When you are talking with other photographers or with representatives from various album companies at a trade show, there are two things I would be on the look-out for when it comes to album companies:

By and far, these are the top two things I look for in an album company. I want to offer my clients a good quality product that will stand the test of time, and I want a hassle-free experience when I place my album orders. Oftentimes you can assess the quality of an album by handling it at a trade show, but the only way I've found to get a sense of what kind of customer service I can expect from a company before using them is to talk with their current or past clients. That's where talking with other photographers who have tried out various companies comes into play. From my experience, photographers are usually more than happy to either rave about their favorite company, or out a company for sub-par service. 
 
Since I fall into the category of the aforementioned photographers, I'm happy to share with you the two companies that I have used for my albums: 
 
Align Legacy Books (Pictured Above) 
Queensberry  
 
 
Queensberry has amazing quality and customer service. But it comes with a price. And I'm a little biased about our books we offer here at Align, but I think it's telling that I also offer them to my high end photography clients and they LOVE them! They are more moderately priced than Queensberry, so more accessible to more of my clients. I love being able to offer two very different types of albums. Click here to see a full blog post featuring my Queensberry and Align Legacy Book Sample albums! You can even click through the full designs at that link! 
 
I think it's also helpful to see which album companies are most popular among Align clients. We've created a Resource List for the Top 10 Most Popular Album Companies used by Align clients, along with testimonials from photographers who use each of them. Also included on the list is a general idea of what each company charges for a standard 10x10 album. You can download it for FREE today by clicking here and signing up for an account with Align -- no order necessary! Or if you already have an existing Align account and want a copy of this resource guide, you're welcome to email us for a copy.

I hope you've found this helpful! If you are reading this post and have a favorite company, please share why you love them in the comments below!

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Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

Oh my goodness! Wait until you see the portraits on the Delaware beach in today's featured album design!!  
 
Delaware wedding photographer Christopher Ginn captured the love, fun and beauty of this wedding day in such a stunning way! And you know we are suckers for some simple backgrounds -- which a beach wedding always affords! These serene images produce such clean spreads in which the subjects pop off the page. They are perfect in album designs! 
 
Christopher used our Hands-off Service which really streamlined the proofing and revision process, allowing us to communicate directly with his clients to make sure the design turned out perfect for them. 
 
We couldn't love this design more! Here are a few of our favorite spreads:

To see the design in full, click through the slideshow: 
 
 
 
Thank you, Christopher, for trusting us with your clients and images!

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Design by: Rachel (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

We've worked with Mobile, Alabama wedding photographer Elizabeth Gelineau for over 8 years on close to 80 album design so far. Her photography is consistently beautiful and she is such a joy to work with!  
 
Elizabeth has worked with the same preferred designer -- Denise -- for many years and that has allowed Denise to really master Elizabeth's preferred design style which includes narrow spacing, some white space, and ensuring images are not too small on the page. She also likes when we are able to dedicate one spread to a full bleed portrait of the bride and groom like this first one from today's featured album below! 
 
Elizabeth used our Hands-off Service which allowed us to communicate directly with her client throughout the revision process, freeing Elizabeth up from being the "middle-man". This album design turned out SO beautifully! Here are a few of our favorite spreads:

To see the design in full, click through the slideshow: 
 
 
 
Thank you, Elizabeth, for trusting us with your clients and your gorgeous images!

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Design by: Denise (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill