Weddingbee boards

I need the Hive's help.

My photographer does not use Cypress Albums and I think I want one. Looking at their site, it looks like I'm eyeing the big Cypress Album. Does anyone on the board have one or seen one? How does it look and how are the pictures mounted? From their site, it looks like pictures inside a matted board (ala a picture frame) Is this correct?

 I tried to all Cypress but you need to order through a photographer to get any serious info. Can someone roughly give a ballpark price for the album and the box?

Lastly, if i can't get the Cypress Album, where can I find something similar? My photographer is offering me the leather albums with the pictures directly printed on the paper. I'm hoping for something more "fine art".

Thanks Tater!

 My photographer sucks with their album. Their designs are way too old school looking. It reminds me of my middle school collage. I do have a disk with my pictures, so i am trying to tackle this myself. Plus I love the look of the big Cypress Albums. Does anyone know how they mount the pictures onto the matted boards? Is it glued or have photo corners? I love how modern and clean the albums look. 

 As for the price, am I reading it correctly? The cost to a photographer is $800 and the photographer has a markup? I'd love to purchase their album for $800 with the box? Is there a way i can get around this or anyone know a company that sells to the end user?

I've called Cypress 2 times and they are firm that I need an account with them.

Anybody else know more about albums? 

Hey,

I know someone in my area (DC) who was quoted $3200 for the largest cypress matted album. 

Most pro album companies work only with photographers.  The only way to get around that is if you have a friend who is a pro photographer who is willing to order for you, or if you start your own pro photo business.

The other option is to find a service that creates albums for brides who have rights to their pro images.  One example is storybookpages.com.  However, you will still be paying a markup, and you will have to find one who works with Cypress.

Cypress albums are very finely made, and I don't think you need to worry about fragility.  They are designed to look very feminine and beautiful and delicate, but they are made using old-school, time-tested bookbinding techniques, so you shouldn't worry about that.  Pretty sure the company also guarantees them.

Anybody else have suggestions? I'm hoping to get an album done soon. I've seen some on the net, but nothing as nice as Cypress.

Again, does anyone know how they mount the pictures? Are they glued on? I'm looking at the huge Cypress Album that has 1 image per page.

 $3200 sounds expensive! 

Don't know how cypress exactly mats theirs, but check this out:

www.ragandbonebindery.com

Just found this mentioned on a photography forum.  And they are available for sale to the public.

washk,

I've been on Cypress' mailing list for some time, and will likely soon order a sample album. I don't photograph weddings, so until I began doing a fair amount of senior portraits these past two summers, I really had little need to offer albums. But I knew if the need came up, Cypress would be the direction I would go, as I consider them to be the most elegant albums generally available. 

The basic Cypress album starts at 10 pages (considered 20 sides) and includes the cost of mounting one image on each side. Additional pages can be added in quantities of one. Each album comes from Cypress with a Presentation Box. (Presentation Boxes can also be ordered separately with individual 4-ply mats instead of the album.)

Because the prints must be sent to Cypress for mounting (they sandwich each print between the base page and an overlay mat for the album), it wouldn't help you much to just purchase an album from someone. (The Presentation Box with mats is a different story, as the prints can be inserted into the mats by either Cypress or the photographer/ end user.)

Why not talk with your photographer and tell them you'd like to have a Cypress album? They should be able to handle that for you quite easily, and you'll probably be doing them a favor by introducing them to these quality albums! 

The procedure for them to open an account is super-simple: they just contact Cypress with proof that they're a legitimate studio (my Web site was sufficient proof), and they'll forward a password to access the photographer's portion of the site, where they can place their first order immediately. No credit approval is necessary, as everything is done by CC.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Ron Hildebrand

Hildebrand Studio/Reno/Sparks NV