Professional wedding photographers usually click between 2,000 to 5,000 pictures at a wedding event, depending on the size of the occasion and the package bought. So, it can be really hard to determine how many images to edit and deliver to your clients.
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However, several factors can help you to decide how many of the clicked wedding pictures you should edit. One of these is the time you have to spend editing, and another is the quality of the images originally produced by the camera. Aside from the previously mentioned factors, there are some others that you must consider.
Factors To Help You Determine How Many Wedding Pictures You Should Edit-
Wedding events present several picture-clicking opportunities for wedding photographers. Thus, it can be hard to determine how many photos to edit before delivering them to the clients. But below are a few factors to help you figure out the right amount of wedding photographs to retouch.
The Quality Of Your Camera And Photography Tools
If you have a high-grade camera and lens alongside a sturdy tripod and other photography tools, you might not have to edit any of the captured wedding pictures because they will come out clean and refined.
However, if your shooting tools are insufficient, we recommend editing as many photos as you can before turning them over to the couples. If you click 1000 photographs at the event, you should edit at least 500 copies and a maximum of 700.
Wedding photography, a genre of photography that focuses on capturing the special moments, emotions, and details of people on their wedding days, is a competitive but lucrative niche. The niche requires a great deal of skill, creativity, determination, and attention to detail alongside professional gear to produce stunning images of couples. Our Master guide has some helpful information to help you start.
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The Wedding Package Bought
The wedding package bought from you by your client is one of the key determinants of the specific number of photos you should edit. The package automatically determines how many pictures you will deliver and your client’s expectations after the event.
If you sell a premium package featuring, for instance, 1,000 copies of pictures deliverables (after discarding some), ensure to retouch all the photos before sending them out to the couples. Even if you use top-notch photography tools, we still recommend simple retouching of all the clicks.
The Number Of Pictures Clicked
Some professional wedding photographers can capture up to 5,000 pictures, depending on the overall length of the event from the first to the last day. It is nearly impossible to edit such an amount of wedding pictures, especially if the couples require a quick turnover of the job.
Therefore, recommend that you select a few distinct images featuring the wedding couples with different subjects and retouch them. If you do not know the ones to delete and the copies to keep, you can call the couples to select. You might want to tell them the specific number they should pick, depending on the total volume and their budget.
The Purpose Of The Wedding Pictures
Different couples have different intentions regarding their wedding pictures. Some might want to convert them into wedding photo albums or frame them, while a few others might just want to save them on their smart devices.
If your clients intend to convert the snapshots into wedding albums, you should edit exactly the number of pictures required for the album size preferred. You can learn the number of pictures that should be included in a wedding album in the article: How Many Pictures Should Be In A Wedding Album?
Furthermore, you can find out the kind of pictures to edit in our article: Who Is Usually Included In Wedding Photo Albums?
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In contrast, if the clients just want to save the pictures on their smart devices, you should edit between 100 to 500 copies, depending on the total number. You can also choose to retouch only 50% of the wedding photographs for the clients and send the rest to them as raw copies.
In conclusion, there is no specific number or answer regarding how many wedding photographs you should edit as a wedding photographer or editor. The amount to edit depends on different factors, such as your relationship with the client and the number of pictures you clicked.
Therefore, we recommend retouching only the important photographs. Those that are really part of the story. And finally, the ones that require editing.