Editing is a very important factor in how your final photos actually look. Of course, lighting, posing, and atmosphere all contribute to the finished product. You wouldn’t have the complete and highest quality version of your photos and the gallery as a whole without editing. If you’ve ever wondered what a wedding photographer does between the wedding ending and the final fully edited photos being delivered to you, I have detailed my process below.
Keeping Your Photos Safe
With all the time and effort it takes to put on a wedding and to take all of the photos, I want to make sure your photos are safe. The very first thing I do after a wedding is upload all your photos from my sd cards onto my computer and move them to my hard drive. Once they’re on my hard drive, I put the sd cards into an envelope and a fire resistant pouch to keep them safe as a backup until your final gallery is sent! Having a physical copy that is physically protected just gives me extra peace of mind. Technology can sometimes be unpredictable so this is just another way of keeping your photos safe. The next thing I do is open Adobe Lightroom (my photo editing software) and import your photos into a catalog that I edit from. Next I upload all of them to the cloud. Once I know your photos are safe, in person and online, I’m giving my feet a rest while I edit your sneak peeks with my favorite show in the background!
Getting Your Sneak Peaks Ready
After I’m done with all my uploading and protections, I pick out at least 15 photos of special moments throughout your day. I do an initial edit on those photos, save these to my hard drive, and create a personalized gallery. Then I send your 15+ photo sneak peek gallery to you within 72 hours of your wedding.
Editing Your Final Gallery
Once I’ve sent you your sneak peeks, the editing really begins. I go through all of your photos to pick out the best of duplicate photos. I choose the images that tell your story and document your day. This process of choosing the best photos is called culling. I then save the culled photos to my hard drive. I will then go through each photo to crop and apply my edits. My editing process varies based on my mood. Sometimes I edit from my desk, but you’ll mostly find me editing from my couch with Harry Potter as background noise or hanging at a coffee shop. After I finish my initial edits, I look at the gallery as a whole and go through the entire gallery again to apply fine tweeks and any additional adjustments.
Delivering Your Final Photos
The final step in my editing process is delivering the final product to you!
I export all the photos to my hard drive and upload them to a flash drive and to your online gallery. Then I email you your final gallery and send the flash drive in the mail!
For more information on how long my editing process takes read my previous blog post:
How Long Until You Get Your Wedding Photos Back? | Sydney Rayne Photography
