The person doing your proofing should be someone you trust to do the editing, culling, etc. Otherwise, they really don't save you much time.

Speaking of conversations from a couple years ago, there was one thread where I was lamenting the choice of onsite proofing. Basically, no time to do a proper edit before showing folks images. I've gotten better at it, but still prefer to sell pre-paid packages and let them select the photos later.

The problem with walk-in sessions is that you'll finish one and there will another standing there waiting. If you're like me, you won't want to keep them waiting or have them walk away, so you'll jump right in. It gets crazy sometimes.

15 minutes sounds like plenty of time for proofing until you figure that even with a very fast work flow, you've got:

1-2 minutes to upload (unless you shoot tethered, but that will be tough with dogs)

2 minutes to cull (and that's REALLY fast)

In your 10-ish minutes left, you'll have clients who won't sit down and get to it, or that take a long time to decide what they like.


What kind of shows are we talking about? Is this a conformation thing, a rescue event or something else?

How will the show schedule affect client availability?