Looking for "Membership" and "Photo Album" software

A "Photographer" buddy has been after me to come up with an idea to help him get more "Wedding" business.

There are 3 "biggies" in our area, who get most of the "Wedding Photography" biz.

He tried the "Wedding Shows" in January and has tried to work with local Jewelers (my idea) to get the names of couples buying "Engagement Rings" to whom he sends his "Flyer" about what he can do.

Well....the results haven't been too good.

Soooo....

I told him to "Offer something of Value"....that competitors aren't.

Here's the idea;
Many friends and relatives of a couple CAN'T get to the wedding sooo...

"Put up a website where Photos of the wedding...."can be seen the SAME EVENING or the next day""

Have an assistant take digital candids of the wedding and reception and upload them to the website....where she can enter with her own Password and upload Photos into an "Album".....that is created "automatically" by the software I am looking for.

Sooo....I am looking for a "Membership" software program that can let DIFFERENT Photogs into the site to upload THEIR photos under the name of the couple (SMITH Wedding, JONES Wedding...etc).....and....a software program that will "automatically" create a "Photo Album" of say 20 or 30 "THUMBNAIL" photos....which....by clicking on any thumbnail will bring up a larger photo.

Can anyone recommend software for these TWO situations?

Thank you,

Don Alm
P.S. I'd prefer it if any of my 3 "fans"...Mssrs, "James Anthony", "Jason Rodgers", or "Mark Tranel"....would not respond.

Don, try Ebay picture manager service it might be a good workaround for your project if a stand alone program is not available.

Also what about kind of a Web 2.0 idea where the photog instead of (or in addition to) taking their own pictures at the wedding allows free uploads of photos by those that attend the service.

The idea being most people know how to take a photo not but not snap a great shot or know how to set it up TOO be able to snap a great shot.


The photog offers a service(for a fee) where he can turn those lousy shots into memorable ones so people won't feel they wasted an opportunity to record something special at a one time (hoped for but rarely achieved) event.
It prevents them from having to throw away(delete) their most loved shots because they thought the photo couldn't be saved and improved.

A natural extension of this might to be offer this same service for their digital video recordings as well.

Then finally that same photog can offer pre Wedding training for guest so they know how to set up great shots and video for the wedding. With this skill they'll be less likely to miss or screw up recording those great moments.

Thanks for replying.

What I'm looking to do is;

1) Set up a website

2) Have my clients (Photogs) arrange to take "candid" digital shots of the wedding and reception and...

3) Go to my website....enter in their Password. This allows them to get into THEIR portion of the site...where all of THEIR Photo Albums are stored, in the Last Name of the Groom (Jones Wedding, Smith Wedding, Brown Wedding)

4) To create a New Album (of, say, 20 photo Thumbnails)....they type the Name of the Album (Johnson Wedding) into a box and hit "Enter". This brings up a Template that allows them to upload their 20 Photos (jpgs) Preferably, this "UpLoading of JPEGS" can be done thru their web browser, instead of having to use a FTP program. The "simpler" the better.

5) The Name of the Wedding is then placed on the first page of the site so that anyone wanting to see photos of THAT wedding can....see the Name of the Wedding and just click on the Name....and the 20 Photo "Thumbnail Page" will come up.


I work with and know a LOT of "Hotel Managers" who hold a LOT of Wedding Receptions. The competition for these "Reception Halls" is GREAT. Anyone offering better service or something unique....that would be of benefit to those renting these "Reception Rooms"....would have a "competitive advantage" in their area.....and very possibly....rent more receptions.

So....what these "Halls" can do is offer a "Unique Service" where photos of the wedding and reception will be taken (by a "Hall" Staff Member) and posted on the website....the evening of the reception...or the next day...so those who could not attend the wedding or reception (or even those who did attend)....could go to the website and SEE PHOTOS THAT EVENING, or the next day.

Would THIS "Feature" get more "Wedding" business for Photogs AND Reception Halls?

I think so.

My "photog buddy" AND....the Sales & Marketing Manager of a large Hotel that has 3 big Reception Halls.....is VERY interested in what I'm looking to provide.

Any technical help would be much appreciated.

Don Alm

Don,

I'm not sure exactly the software you're looking for...

But here's a few including some online Wedding Photo business concepts...

Might also Help trigger some other Possible Wedding Photo business ideas for those interested...

Keyword phrase Googling brings up all kinds of Good stuff...

http://www.wedorama.com/
http://www.weddingprints.com/
http://www.photounity.com/
http://weddings.theknot.com/collages...spx?MsdVisit=1
http://www.weddingphotographydirecto...acy-alert.aspx
http://www.raizlabs.com/magic/
http://www.everica.com/
http://www.wedding-album-maker.com/wedding-photo-album/
http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/505165

Phil

Thanks Phil....those Links will keep me up most of the night.

Don Alm

[Ankesh]

Thanks for asking Don.

I really think the best thing to do would be hire a freelance programmer from rentacoder.com or elance.com

Because your requirements are a bit unique, most free scripts won't fit your needs without being modified.

I would say that "Joomla" can be edited to fit your needs and finding a programmer who can customize Joomla maybe the option for you.

--

This may help you:

On 14th Feb, we threw a party. Singing and dancing. Music. Good food. All those things.

Here is what we did: we hired a photographer who would snap a picture of every couple as soon as they came in. Once all the couples had come, the photographer went and developed all the pictures.

And he then framed them. (The frames had the couples names on them - as we knew who all were going to attend the party, we had gotten custom frames made from before. They were usual frames with painted alphabets cut out of wood stuck on them.)

When it was time for people to leave, they would get a photo frame with their photos in it!

The idea was a big hit. We did it so that everyone who came would remember the night. We paid for the frames and for the photographer.

And last I heard from the photographer 5-6 days back - he says 4 people from our party contacted him to do the same thing for one of their upcoming events. Snap pictures of everyone attending and then develop the pictures in an hour, frame them and gift the frames while they are leaving.

4 referrals in about a month out of 90-100 people is very good, don't you think?

My photographer now gives this idea to everyone who wants to book him. And is looking for more such ideas his clients can book him for.

Something your photographer friend can adapt - to charge more money for instant photographs as well as get more referrals.

[Ankesh]

A thought just occured to me... that the solution already exists. And for free.

Flickr.com
Slide.com

Both can be used by photographers to setup online albums and slide shows for free. And photos can be tagged with names.

Doesn't mean that one more person can't do the same thing. Especially in a niche market. But the offer will have to be a lot better if it involves monthly billing. Just my thought.

Maybe one solution could be offering "branded" albums - where the photographer's info is shown on all the pages...

[Dien Rice]

Hi Don,

I think your best bet is to go with a "custom" solution like Ankesh said... However...

Alternatively, some membership software you can use is Amember http://www.amember.com. Note that this just provides the "membership" capability, and anything else you want on the site (eg. photo display capabilities) would have to be provided by other software, which can be run from "within" the membership section...

I hope that helps!

- Dien

Thanks Dien....I think I'm onto something.

I now have 2 large reception halls and 3 wedding photogs VERY interested in my program of offering their customers, "INSTANT Wedding Photos".

I think the best thing to do is hire a programmer to modify the software programs.

Again,

Thanks much,

Don Alm

[MMacGillivray]

I am fairly sure you could do this with Cornell's Athenagold software.

Each "shop" in the mall gets a unique log in and can upload pictures (which could be made available as a digital download for a modest fee).

Margaret