Tyler Branch’s Slideshow Storytelling

May 25, 2016

By Laura Brauer

All photos © Tyler Branch.

One of the best tools I use for marketing that I wish I had put to good use earlier in my career is slideshows. Wedding photographers have been using them for a while now, but I’ve always been less interested in the prevalence of practices and more into the idea of finding the best ways for my images to do the speaking. Having used slideshows for the last year or so, I’ve discovered that the benefits of creating them have been massive when it comes to drawing in new brides and grooms.

The slideshow is the first thing my clients see after the wedding. Not only do I always want to make a great first impression, I’ve also noticed clients are far more willing to share a whole slideshow to their network (of other potential clients!) than a single image. I don’t charge extra for it, and I never make it explicitly part of the package—it’s just something nice for them to have in addition to everything else.

The slideshows I’ve seen from other photographers are often heavily saturated with nearly every photo from the day, and so I do my best to cull it down and bring my clients a solid narrative. It can be tedious to go through 500 wedding images, but when a tight edit of 100 images or less is laid out with music into a 4- or 5-minute presentation, it is far more palatable and impactful.

The slideshow production process begins once I’ve uploaded and edited all of a couple’s images from the wedding day. I’ve used Soundslides Plus in the past, but I’ve recently switched to using Lightroom to piece my slideshows together. As for song selection (Musicbed is a nice tool for this), the process can be a little tricky. As a general rule, I try to weave in something that carries the overall “feel” of the wedding. Coincidentally, this often means I wind up selecting a song similar to the one I was listening to while I was editing the images. With all said and done, it takes me about 30 minutes to put everything together.

One key advantage to slideshows (over, say, Instagram) is the ability to share a full narrative. I do my best to use wedding slideshows as a way to bring couples and their own friends and family into the stories I’m telling. It’s more than just epic images in beautiful settings, it’s a meaningful retelling of the day, and I think that’s what people really love. The best part: you’re in complete control of the experience. I’m very particular about what’s shown, and this gives me the ability to tell the story in the way I see fit, with the music that I want.

Utilizing my clients’ excitement for their photos and having them spread the news about their images is far easier to unearth potential clientele than me shouting through my limited outlets. I’ve always adhered to the strong principle of making amazing images and letting them do the talking, and these slideshows do that very powerfully.

Note: Click here to see one of Tyler Branch’s slideshows from a recent elopement.

4 Tips for Assembly & Sharing

1. When it comes to curating, focus on quality over quantity. It can be challenging, for sure, but the thing I’m asking myself when I’m choosing images is, “How does this fit within the story of the day and what does it make me feel?”

2. Go beyond the must-have shots to include the in-between moments. I think that’s what develops a story better than your typical slideshow with the photos that you expect to see. When the bride gets her dress on, for example, I’ll have one shot where the flower girl is standing in awe while she finishes up. It’s a smaller story within the larger one.

3. Encourage clients to share the slideshow wherever and with whomever they’d like. I make sure to tell my clients that word of mouth is big for my business and that sharing the slideshow helps me a lot. Most people, when educated on that, are more willing to share the slideshow on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

4. Find somebody savvy who can code a Facebook “Like” button for you. Or look into other slideshow services that might have this built-in. Adding this to your slideshow or something similar will help get more eyes on it, on top of having clients share the presentation itself. A button like that can make all the difference!

Tyler Branch, a wedding photographer based in Orange County, California, is a 2014 Rf 30 Rising Star of Wedding Photography

Click to see the full article in the Digital Edition.

Related: 5 Steps To Playing Matchmaker Between Music and Motion