What could be better than a snowy engagement shoot? How about one that also includes A PUPPY!!  
 
We adore Minnesota-based portrait and wedding photographer Brooke Elisabeth and her light and airy style that strives to emulate the romantic look of film. You can see a senior portrait album design we did for her here. 
 
This design came together so seamlessly. Brooke's clients were amazing at providing prompt and detailed feedback which made their album get done faster AND turn out exactly how they wanted it. 
 
Here are some of our favorite spreads from this fun design:

Click through the slideshow to see the design in full: 
 
 
 
Thank you Brooke for allowing us to work with your beautiful images!

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

This was the first album design we had the pleasure of designing for Brooke Elisabeth -- a wedding, engagement, and high school graduating senior photographer based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota -- and we are SMITTEN. Her work is stunning and this senior session album featuring twin girls definitely made the list of our all time favorites! 
 
Brooke did her homework before submitting her first order with us. She browsed through all of our album design blog posts and took note of which designs she liked then specifically requested the designers who did them. As a result, she had very few revisions to the initial design. The extra time spent up front paid off when she got a design that she loved right out of the gate! 
 
And we love it too! Brooke ordered a 10x10 Align Legacy Book with a Metropolitan linen cover and is using it as her sample album. Can you imagine? Every senior who comes through her doors is going to want one! 
 
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this design:

To see the album design in full, click through the slideshow: 
 

Thank you Brooke for sending us photos of the printed album! It was such a pleasure to work with you!

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

Wedding albums are our JAM, but we love when we get the chance to change things up and design other kinds of albums! It's SO much fun to work with images from engagement sessions, styled shoots, newborn photos, family portraits, bar/bat mitzvahs, senior portraits, pet portraits, boudoir sessions, guest books, and more! Our Simple Design Style (which has an average of 2-3 images/spread) is perfect for portrait albums.  
 
So we were giddy when Michele with one L asked us to design an engagement sample album for this stunning mountain engagement session right outside of Vail! And to top it off, the session included a cute pup! Scenic views combined with Michele's insane talent made this design a winner from the start! 
 
Here's a peek at this dreamy engagement album:

Click below to see the design in full! 
 
 
 
If you want to add engagement albums to your offerings, just remember -- you can't sell it if you don't show it! Getting a beautiful sample album that you are proud to show off to clients is KEY! To get started creating your own sample album, click here!

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Design by: Andrea (View More) // Design style: Simple (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

We're never going to get tired of designing wedding albums, but we have to admit that we get a little bit excited when we get to branch out and design other kinds of albums! It's SO much fun to work with images from engagement sessions, senior portraits, pet portraits, styled shoots, newborn photos, boudoir sessions, family portraits, bar/bat mitzvahs, guest books, and more! Our Simple Design Style (which has an average of 2-3 images/spread) is a great fit for portrait albums.  
 
So you can imagine how thrilled we were when Kate Mannella asked us to design a Simple Style album for this adorable Cincinnati engagement session! Kate is a talented Ohio-based wedding photographer who is a dream to work with, and she made the process even sweeter by sharing photos of the finished KISS Books album with us! 
 
Here's a peek at this stunning engagement album:

To view the whole album design, you can click through the slideshow below:  
 

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Design by: Kari (View More) // Design style: Simple (View More) // Blog post written by: Alaine

Today we get the JOY of sharing images and some thoughts by Elizabeth Gelineau, a sweet and talented photographer and Align client. We recently asked Elizabeth if she would be willing to share some insight into her album process and we absolutely loved the story she responded with!  
 
We enjoyed learning about how she has streamlined her album workflow throughout the years, first as a portrait photographer and then as a wedding photographer. We'll let her take it from here...

Headshots by Deborah Michelle Photography 
 

I'm Elizabeth, a portrait, wedding and editorial photographer, based in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. Even before I was a wedding photographer, I was a big fan of albums. I love the feel of something in my hands that is really well made. I like things that are made to last. I believe photographs are best enjoyed in printed form.  
 
I started my business in 2012, intending to never photograph a wedding. My focus was on portraits, specifically families and high school seniors. I offered albums in my product menu from day one. But in those early days, even though I wanted my clients to have nice albums, I dreaded the process of dealing with an album sale. The whole design and proofing process was overwhelming. My photography business started out as a second job and the album proofing process took time that I didn't have. Unsurprisingly, I was not successful at selling packages with albums during that time. 
 
Then I discovered Align. I had a portrait client that wanted to order an album and I decided this was the perfect opportunity to test out the service. I was absolutely blown away when the client approved the album after seeing the initial design, with no requests for revisions. The process was SO simple, even enjoyable! Align put together a design so much quicker than I ever could! I loved the end result and my client loved how easy the process was!  
 
When I later transitioned into photographing weddings, I knew I wanted to include albums in my packages. I also knew that I needed a streamlined process. Because of my prior experience with Align, I decided to outsource album design to them for all of my weddings from that first season of booking. Align had so many helpful blog posts that aided me in creating a workflow for my client albums. I set up that workflow in 17Hats for every client that purchases an album. The album workflow is activated two weeks after the client receives their wedding gallery. It begins with a design preferences questionnaire that I created and it is my goal to have the wedding album in my client's hands within four to six months of the wedding date.

My favorite part of working with Align is that I ENJOY the album process. I get so excited to see that initial proof and so do my clients! I have always picked out the initial album images myself because I think that is a great service to provide to my clients. It can be overwhelming for them to go through 800 to 1000 images to select favorites for printing in the album. As the artist, I know I documented certain details and moments of the day with the broader story of the wedding day in mind. It is much easier for me to select 100 to 200 images that best represent the story of the day and send them to Align than it is for my clients to make decisions about their favorites.  
 
To me, the wedding album is the bow on top of the package. It is the perfect ending to the wedding photography experience that I provide to my clients. I photograph between 20 and 24 weddings per year and over half of those brides choose a package with a wedding album. It's something that I talk about in the initial consultation because I so strongly believe in the importance of having that first heirloom. Thanks to Align, I don't have to worry about having enough time to fill those album orders!  

 

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Thanks so much for sharing your story, Elizabeth! We love that Align can be a part of your streamlined process! We know your fellow photographers will find your insight and album experience helpful as they craft their own album workflows! 
 
The following are Elizabeth's photographs of one of her recent albums designed by Align and printed through Red Tree Albums. Elizabeth prints all of her wedding albums through RedTree because she loves the quality of their gorgeous books. For portrait sessions and parent albums, she uses the photo books from Miller Professional Imaging. P.S. Both of these album printing & binding companies are included on Align's list of Top 10 Most Popular Album Companies. 
 
Check out these beautiful photos of one of Elizabeth's finished albums!

To see this album design in its entirety, click through the slideshow below! And for more album goodness from Elizabeth, check out this post: Grand Hotel Wedding Album Design for Elizabeth Gelineau Photography. 
 

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