By Jan Freire

Types of editing of your wedding pictures

I tried to write this blog post about editing your wedding pictures a couple of years ago, but You know how it is: no time—sorry guys. I reached a stage in my life when I realized that there would never be ideal conditions, so I have to act now and will refine this post over time.

There are 3 types of editing of your wedding pictures in general

No editing at all – this is something you will receive from those $500 wedding photographers. And honestly, many couples are asking precisely for that, not knowing what they are doing. God bless them.

Basic editing – this is something that’s applied to 90% of all wedding pictures. The photographer (or their editor) adjusts the light, white balance, and contrast. Honestly, digital images definitely need that. This is the level you definitely need. In my studio, we will provide you with all the pictures processed with basic editing, except for some bonus files.

Enhanced editing – you know, those crazy Exit signs everywhere. You don’t see them anywhere else, only in the US. Many times, you can’t do anything about it, but sometimes it’s great to clean it out, at least for the best pictures. This category also includes various crops, black & white editing, and more.

and Special editing – or how we call it here – Magazine style editing – is my specialty. As you may know, I have been working in high-fashion photography for many years in Europe, and my work has been published in all major magazines. My editing skills are pretty good. But frankly, it’s not about those skills; it’s more about your eye and aesthetic. You can have the best editing skills, but if you don’t know what exactly to do, you will do a great job of creating “monsters”. One thing I refuse to do is retouch that porcelain skin without any texture, which is often done by 90% of photographers in the US.

I’m going to attach one picture for illustration, like what our signature magazine-style editing could look like. The model is a beautiful 35+ year winner of a competition, and one of the prizes was that she would appear on the cover of a magazine. On the left side is the RAW picture. I think we did a good job in the studio, but it’s still not enough for a magazine cover. You can see what we can do in 3 hours on the right side. Almost 1 hour was spent just on the flowers. And yes, we can do this with any picture for you.


The last two types of editing are usually paid options. Enhanced editing might take 5-20 minutes for one picture, but Magazine-style editing could take more than 1 hour. It really depends, but I know that it’s worth it.

I hope I was able to clear this topic for you. I will now do my best to post a video with more examples as soon as possible. I have to add that we offer this unique service as European Wedding Photographer, but also for all destinations.

 

Update: the video is here. Please watch in HD 1080p on a big screen:

One more critical point. Why don’t we take excellent RAW pictures, and why do we need help editing them? As I mentioned earlier, the first thing to note is that digital photos, as opposed to film, require some improvements. Second, which is even more important, is that we don’t have time during the wedding day.

A great example is the picture below, which shows newlyweds in their car. The shot was done in midday with very harsh sunlight. If I had created a fashion editorial (and I had the time), I could have worked with and used some light modifiers. However, there is no time for these things during the wedding day, and the only help that could be of assistance is excellent editing afterward.

Disclaimer – You won’t see the difference on your smartphone, not even on your iPad or small laptop. You really need a bigger screen.

Destination Wedding Photographer
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