Why do wedding photos take so long???

Great question and I think it’s time I  explain :D

I try or aim to have my wedding albums ready for pick up within 6-8 weeks. Sometimes if lucky I can have things done in 4 weeks but not very often. Sometimes I takes longer than 6-8 weeks but again, not very often...but sometimes.

This year I had a few inquires as to why the turn around time is so long. (6-8 weeks isn't that long, is it?!!) Or why I have studio session disks ready in a week but a wedding takes several weeks. Studio sessions are quick -- weddings, not really!

With a lot of my wedding packages we offer two photographers and we end up taking over 3000 images. That’s a lot of files and they are LARGE RAW files and they take time to load into the computer. I then go through all 3000+ RAW files narrowing it down to the best 1000. This takes A LOT of time. I look at EVERY SINGLE file and select the best ones as a lot of them are duplicates or someone blinked or decided to scratch their forehead in the middle of a portrait – it happens. OK, and sometimes I mess up or the flash may not have gone off. YES, it’s true! I’m not perfect, lol. From there I edit the RAW files: white balance, skin tones, cropping, color correction, and so on. This is the area of editing where I am the lab – got to love digital! In the old days we dropped the film off to the lab. Now the digital photographer acts as the lab. And this takes time…maybe the most time...besides the shooting of course. I think right now this part takes me 3hrs. Then I transfer the RAWs to jpeg and this takes more time…a few more hours. Once the best of the best is selected every image is ran through batching where I run a few actions. Most images straight out of the camera are flat. There is never an image straight out of my camera – ever! There are many small tricks I can do to an image that make it look better and the average person would have no idea and think it’s just the way it always looked. (awesome) But if I showed you the before and after you would notice and love it :D Batching 1000 images takes a few hours with the batch I run. Then I select the best 200-300 (depending on the package) for the album. This takes about 40min or so. From here I put them in a new folder and edit them the way I see them for the album: B&W, antique, selective color, blends and so on. I then upload the images through ftp to my lab which is located in Toronto. I print all my images at a professional lab. They are AMAZING and I wouldn’t think about printing anywhere else. You can tell it’s a professional paper. Just turn the image over, look at the back and it’s written all over the back side of the paper. There is a difference in quality between printing at a pro lab and printing locally which is why I ftp my images to Toronto. I drive to the lab which is a 600km round trip for me 2-4 times a month. (that's a 4hr drive and so worth it) Sometimes I’ll pick up four weddings at a time. I then put the images into an album, burn the disks and gift wrap. DONE!

Not all photographers give the disk of images away. Since I do I need to take the time to edit all 1000 images. It does worry me that my disks are taken to average commercial labs that make terrible prints so I try to make the files look the very best they can. I’m such a quality snob!

As all photographers have a different work flow my turn around time may be shorter or longer than others. Some photographers do not edit, or photograph in RAW so they can push things out quicker. If I printed locally I could have a quicker turn around time but my lab is so great; it’s worth the wait.

Your friends can be tagging you on facebook the next day with the images they took on their point and shot cameras. I have a bit more work to do before I share on facebook or here on the blog.

I like my work flow. It works and your wedding albums from me are truly beautiful. I have never had a complaint *fingers crossed it stays this way* Instead I get a lot of: 

"Hi Jenna,
I keep meaning to let you know that we received the album and CD of photos from our wedding that you'd sent. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! They're fantastic!! I can see why you had a hard time picking out ones for the slideshow!

Just wanted to say too... THANK YOU for everything you've done! You and Tim were fabulous and we're so happy with the memories that you've helped us to keep and pass down. All of the photos will definitely be cherished. Thank you for your time, your professionalism, your talent!! Of course, we'd recommend you to anyone who we come across.

All the best to you!"

And now you know the workflow of your wedding album by About Image Photography