How do I complete the job after the wedding is over?

Most the weddings I photograph are on a Saturday and take up most of the day. What happens after the wedding is over? For those weddings where I don’t get home till later on a Saturday night, I will bring in my cameras, set them on my desk and go to bed. Weddings can be tiring!

Then the next day I take the memory cards out of my cameras and transfer the raw photos to an external hard drive. Once that is completed, I will upload the photos to Lightroom and begin the culling process.

Culling is when the photographer will go through all the photos and toss out any bad ones and other ones that for whatever reason will not be delivered to the bride and groom. I do the culling in Lightroom. Other photographers use a special culling program, but I find that Lightroom works well for me to do this task.

Once I have the photos that I intend to keep and edit, I will go into the develop module in Lightroom and begin the editing process. This process starts by correcting any color issues, adjusting exposure levels and cropping when needed. Many photos are completed after this process, but many others need more in my view.

This is when I will open the photos into Photoshop and do more extensive editing. Sometimes I will add a filter to a photo to enhance it. Sometimes I need to brighten faces. I will use skin softening on the portraits I consider more special, such as those of the bride alone, the bride and groom alone, and some of the family formal portraits. The skin softening is an amazing part of Photoshop that I swear makes all women prettier.

So how long does this editing take? Of course it will depend on my workload at the time but I set a goal to deliver the photos within two weeks. On occasion it might be longer, but not often.

I have heard stories from brides who hear from photographers that their photos will be delivered in eight or more weeks. Huh? I have no idea why it takes them so long. Don’t think because it takes them longer they are extra careful or are doing a better job. I certainly don’t believe that.

Oh and one other thing – I will post on my Facebook and Instagram a few photos from the wedding in the days after the ceremony in case anyone wants a sneak peak.

This article is part of a blog series on how I approach a wedding photography assignment. Also included are articles on: bridal prep; How do I photograph wedding details? How do I photograph a ceremony? How do I approach family formals? What do I do between the ceremony and reception? How do I photograph a reception?