Hey there, Wedding Photographer! If you’ve chosen the path of wedding photography, hats off to you! It’s a whirlwind of veils, flower petals, and the one rogue relative who thinks their phone camera rivals your professional one (looking at you, Uncle Bob), So, if you’re looking for tips on Photo Editing for Wedding Photographers then let’s walk you through some steps to save your sanity in streamlining your post-processing for quick turnarounds.

Try to wrap these up in the first 3 days after a wedding, because, hey, who doesn’t want to deliver the entire gallery and have a blog post written before their clients even return from their honeymoon?

1. Photo Editing for Wedding Photographers: Back the images up x 2!

Just finished a shoot? Awesome! Before you get comfy with a glass of wine or stuff your face with any food you can lay your hands on, transfer those pictures from your SD card to not one but TWO backups. SSDs are the superheroes of storage – fast, reliable, and worth the money. And just for extra peace of mind, why not throw them up on the cloud too? Better safe than sorry!

2. Hide your SD card and do not seek it until the gallery is delivered!

Stashed your photos in two places? Gold star! Now, tuck that SD card in a super-secret spot and resist the temptation to use it. Think of it as the golden ticket – touch it only when the gallery’s delivered.

3. Culling and Lightroom Catalogs

Ah, culling – sorting out the keepers from the, well, not-so-keepers. If you’re a Lightroom aficionado, start fresh with a new catalog for each wedding or at minimum a new catalog for each year. Been using the same catalog since the dawn of your photography days? Don’t worry, it’s like clinging to that old, comfy sweater. But trust me, a fresh start feels so good.

Not sure how to begin a new catalog? Happy to help! Fire up your Lightroom, click on File > New Catalog, and voilà! I recommend naming them something simple like “Client’s Name” or “Weddings 2023”. Save the new catalog on your SSD!

Keeping all of your images and catalogs on your computer takes up A LOT of space, don’t make this mistake. I recommend keeping your Lightroom catalogs, Raws, and Delivered Jpegs for each client all on the same SSD while also keeping another mirrored SSD as a backup. Purchase 2 new SSDs each year and continue this process to keep your images safe and organized and your computer and editing programs running more quickly!

Now back to culling, an easy shortcut for culling in Lightroom is “x” on your keyboard to reject the image. You can then filter by flag to view the culled images. This also allows you to easily jump back in case you realize you overlooked a special moment.

If culling in Lightroom is not your thing, explore alternatives like Photo Mechanic, getting someone else to deal with it (hello, outsourcing), or AI culling magic.

4. Efficient Photo Editing for Wedding Photographers = Divide and Conquer!

Drowning in the thought of editing a thousand photos from the big day? Separate the moments! Details, prepping, the ceremony, and so forth. Breaking it down means you can give each special moment the love and attention it deserves, take a break, and come back at it with fresh eyes! You can do this by adding the separate parts of the day to their own “Collection” folder in Lightroom. This way you can still see all of your images together in the Library.

5. Wedding Photographers It is time to pick your FAVS!

Sneak peek time! Dive into your pics and pick the ones that make you do a double take, make you smile, or give you that “did I really take that” feeling. Those 5-Star gems are not just for your clients – they’re your golden tickets for blogs, vendors, and showing off!

6. The Photo Editing Extravaganza for Wedding Photographers

Focus on editing the top-tier FAVS from each part of the day. Aim to edit at least 10% of the entire gallery, sprinkling in bits from the day’s segments. It’s like giving your clients a bite of the wedding cake before they dive into the whole thing!

7. It’s time to Outsource and Chill

Outsourced your work? Kick back and relax! Your part’s done, and soon you’ll have a dazzling blog and gallery. And hey, if you hustle those first 3 days post-wedding, your clients can reminisce while they’re still on their honeymoon!

Interested in finding someone who provides photo editing for wedding photographers? Look no further. (I also assist wedding photographers with blogging!) Please click here to fill out my contact form and I am happy to meet with you and answer any of your questions!

In the end, being a top-tier wedding photographer isn’t just about snapping those dreamy shots but mastering the art of an efficient post-processing workflow. So, tighten up that workflow, deliver the goods, and then pour yourself that glass of wine. Cheers to you and happy editing! 🥂📸