Documenting a wedding in itself is very demanding. It often requires 12 or more hours of coverage during which you must be creative almost every second. But wedding photography doesn’t stop when the big day ends. Then come the culling and editing. It’s probably the part where event photographers spend most of their time and also the task they like the least. Fortunately enough, retouching companies exist and can lighten if not remove that part of the job entirely. I made the switch for my wedding business, and I share my experience with you here as well as why you should give it a try as well.
Why Outsource?
The first years of business, we usually do everything ourselves and with reason, or so we think. We tend not to have enough liquidity to be able to hire someone, we want to learn, and often we don’t imagine anyone could do a better job than us. However, all of these reasons are far from the reality.
The money aspect is probably the least true. The numerous hours spent editing or retouching are precious hours you don’t spend finding new clients to fill your agenda or behind your camera working for a customer or improving your skills. For less than $300 you can have a wedding culled and edited, ready to be delivered to your brides and grooms. Unless you are really fast, I would guess that the same job would eat up to two days of your time. Imagine for a minute everything you could do in two days: how many venues you could call to ask for referrals, how many blog posts you could get ready to improve your SEO, how many emails you could send out to potential clients, or how many books or videos you could read/watch to learn and refining your craft. These are all things wedding photographers tend to do during their offseason, but what if you could actually do it all year long while taking more clients, making more money, and having more free time?
We also like to think that it’s important to learn to do everything. While it’s true that having a basic knowledge of things before outsourcing them, it’s crucial to focus on what we do best. If you want to specialize in wedding photography, don’t specialize in running a wedding photography business. Do the photography part of your business and outsource as much of the other tasks as possible, retouching included. Retouching and photography are two very different jobs.
"But It's So Hard to Let It Go"
Because we photographers tend to like to think we do everything better than others — until we spend time looking at our competitors’ websites — we are often afraid to send our retouching to someone. This is probably the most often heard excuse for not outsourcing: “They will never get it like I want it to be.” The truth is, more than likely a good retoucher will edit your images to look like you want them to be, and I would be ready to bet that a great retoucher will take your pictures to the next level.
Why am I so sure? I offer portrait retouching services and often find my editing to be better, more consistent on others’ pictures than on mine. It’s much easier to see, or admit, what is wrong with an image when it’s not yours, thus much simpler to correct. It personally took me quite some time to come to this realization, or at least accept it. It’s not an easy task to let go of our “cherished images,” but once you try it, you never look back.
Choose the Right Company for You
Outsourcing should be about freeing more time for you to work on other things, but it should also be about taking your work to the next level. Meaning you must find a company or an editor with whom you can communicate easily, who can match and improve your current style, and who can be trusted. If you decide to try outsourcing, you might want to read about these top 25 photo editing services to compare their work, turnaround, actual prices, and the way you should place your order.
While I haven’t tested every single wedding retouching company out there, I have tried a few in the past before finding the perfect match. Here are the ones I have tried so far.
RDFL
RDFL was the first company I worked with. The communication was excellent, the turnaround was consistent and fast (less than 10 days), the cost is fixed by the range of pictures that are sent for edit, and culling is cheap ($50 for up to 5,000 images).
It took about 2 or 3 weddings to get my images to look the way I wanted. Then everything was great. I stopped working with them for two reasons. The first was that I switched over to Capture One and thought, “I could do it better myself.” The second reason was that a few times I gave specific requests (no detail pictures in black and white for example), but then when the Lightroom catalogs came back, the requests I made had not been followed. I'll note, however, that each time they corrected their mistake without any additional costs.
All in all, great and fast service that is not too expensive. Perfect if you are looking for simple editing or color correction.
My Lavalu
I worked a few times with My Lavalu. What drew me to them was their pricing. They are extremely aggressive compared to other services price-wise, and the turnaround is very fast.
However, I was never quite happy with how the pictures looked. Despite asking for a pure black point, I received images with a pulled black point on all images. As for color, the white balance was often varying from picture to picture. It is important to note that I didn’t send them many weddings. Perhaps if I had taken the time to work with them, I could have gotten somewhere. But seeing that the first results were so far off compared to other companies I tried at the same time, I preferred to go along with another editor.
Fotofafa
I sent Fotofafa one wedding, along with a gallery and info on what I wanted — the same details I had sent to My Lavalu. The wedding came back close to perfect. I was really happy with the work they had done. Only a few tweaks were required to get my work to the next level.
Pricing is more than correct, and the turnaround was extremely fast (two to three days for culling, about five days for editing). If the color correction was all I needed, I would certainly be still working with them today.
The Image Salon
The Image Salon is probably the best thing that happened to my wedding photography business. When sending my pictures to other editing companies, I used to spend time then dodging and burning pictures to bring them to life after they had done color correction. Color correction is one thing, but I like my pictures to have more dimension. If you don’t know what I am talking about, please read how I (used to) create my dramatic wedding images.
The Image Salon is slightly more expensive than the other services aforementioned. However, they can deliver pictures that I may send directly to my clients. No need anymore to open the catalog and manually brush every single image. Now I simply open, check that everything looks good, export, and send it to my clients.
When sending my first wedding to the Image Salon, I also gave the same details as I did to Fotofafa and My Lavalu. They sent me a first batch that looked very close to what I wanted. But what convinced me to trust them was that you get a personal editor. Meaning, unlike most weddings editing companies, one retoucher is in charge of all your jobs. This way, all your weddings look similar and if any communication is required, you can email or Skype directly your editor. No need to go through multiple persons without really receiving the same answer.
The price is a bit more expensive than other companies, but you get more for your money. Turnaround is OK, but then again, more work is done, and brushing does take a bit of time.
I want to insist on the fact that this is my experience and my experience only. Perhaps some of you are working with some of these companies and have an entirely different opinion. What I want to stress by sharing these mini-reviews is that all businesses are different, and you should try a few before selecting the one you want to work with. Also keep in mind that usually at least two or three weddings are required to get your editing style matched and improved. Don’t give up on outsourcing your editing work if you sent one wedding to one company and it doesn’t come back correctly.
Other Companies
Added Benefit of Outsourcing
There is one last added benefit to outsourcing your work. We all know how difficult it is to show raw files to someone, especially when our work is far from perfect technically. We never really want to show anyone underexposed, blurred, poorly framed pictures. When we edit our work ourselves, we just get used to it and retouch it as best we can. However, when sending the same images to an editor, we feel a bit of shame… and the only thing we want is to improve our work so that our editor will be thrilled to edit it and create beautiful images with us!
In other words, that little bit of shame or fear we feel by having someone judging our work will most likely help us as photographers to improve our business. Helping once again to bring our imagery to the next level.
It’s Only the Beginning
Once you find the perfect editor for your images, you may find yourself wanting to outsource more. As you will very quickly discover, having someone doing work that you do not enjoy doing, or that takes too much of your time, is liberating. You can finally refine your craft, have more personal time, and develop your business in ways you never imagined possible. Outsourcing is a huge step forward if you are looking to grow your company.
Great article! Can anyone else recommend some other editors or editing companies? I'm interested in Dutch or European (but not necessarily) ones as well
I looked for a company based in Europe but eventually gave up as I couldn't find any. Try to ask The Image Salon if they have someone who speaks Dutch. I know they have editors that can accommodate you if you speak French or Spanish… perhaps Dutch as well, who knows?
I been shooting wed's for 4 years now i got better at taking photos and it made my retouching go to about 30 hours to maby max 6-10hrs depending on the wedding. so i guess in a few years my picture taking will get much better again so i will again win time on retouching. but i would realy like to try outsourcing once just so see :)
Merci Quentin, très intéressent comme article!!!!
I'm a bit confused. If you are working this hard and making all this financial gain from it, why not hire an assistant to do your edits instead of outsourcing for what it sounds like you consider "cheap"? That way you can still keep your creative eye and be able to overlook what the editing assisting is doing to hold on to some of your so called "Creativity" you speak of.
Personally looking at your photos knowing you outsourcing your editing (even your selects) "For only $300" taints any professional vision I had of you had artistically, which personally, if I was a client knowing this, I wouldn't hire you (which I guess is a good thing for you they will probably never find out). Your editor deserves my money.
Part of vision and artistic process of being a photographer in a digital age is the follow through. It's Set Up, Excitation, Lighting, Composition, EDITING AND FINAL DISPLAYED PRODUCT. It's all small pieces that make up a whole. You skip a part because you "Don't like it", why should anyone take you seriously? Your calling yourself a professional, but yet decide to skip the tough parts in favor of the easy ones? Sounds whiny.
Photography is a lot like Golf, it's not just how you start, it's how you finish. Most of the "Aesthetic" and "Feel" has been given to your Outsourced Editor because of some hatred for it you can't get over. So really, I ask, What creativity? What professional?
Real professionals get to work and embrace the unfavorable and accept the costs of being professional.
"Real professionals get to work and embrace the unfavorable and accept the costs of being professional."
Oh come on, get off your high-horse. The man is running a business. If he wants to outsource something to save time so he can focus on other aspects of his business then so be it. He doesn't give his outsourced editing company free-reign over his photos, it's a collaboration that takes time for them to understand your vision. Photography can be like golf, but it can also be a team sport, where multiple people work together to realize a vision. How do you feel about hiring a second shooter? Do you think they'll realize your vision with all of their shots? Do you think it's lazy to have someone else cover certain aspects of a wedding if you're too busy doing bridal portraits?
Having said all of that I will probably never outsource my edits, simply because I love learning and trying new things.
It's not a high horse mentality, it's a reality that you and the 3 others who down voted my comments can't accept. That's all of your own problem. I'm not really sorry you all are upset by it either. I've spent time assisting other photographers, and have talked to a bunch of them personally. Photography as a business is a time consuming, soul sucking, frustrating, multi tasking king of any job out there. It's VERY HARD & COMPETITIVE.
The old saying goes "Can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen". If you just want to take the photos and not do the editing or any of the tougher work just because "I just can't", then "get out of the kitchen".
Best advice I ever got was "You can find the time if you look hard enough, you are just making excuses and your work will show that", and I didn't want to believe them. I got all mad about it too, even quitting working for a professional photographer because of the similar things he told me I just told you to guys because I thought he was a lying asshole and did it just to be mean.
6 years later, I called that photographer and apologized and told him he was right. He still is right. He forgave me and totally understood because he used to think like that as well.
The point of photography now a days is to have a voice, because in a saturated market full of people who want it so badly, anything you can do to give you an competitive edge is important. Outsourcing all your process to someone will make your work fall flat and look just like everyone else, it won't get you the work you want.
On the contrary, the images you provide are only part of running your business. You'll gain more clients with ok photos and amazing marketing and communication skills than you will with amazing photos and ok marketing and communication skills. Of course a very successful photography business will have both. I think it boils down to having two very different views on the subject (obviously). You're coming at it with an artists view, and I'm coming at it (for the sake of argument) from more strictly a business view. I see a ton of "successful" photographers (meaning constantly being booked, and happy clients) that produce, at best, a mediocre product. They get the business because they know how to market and communicate. Please don't take this as me trying to degrade the work of a professional photographer to a commodity, and I applaud your passion for the art, but you don't need it to run a business. You can scream until your face turns red at all the mediocrity in photography and our complacency with the movement, but the better marketer and communicator is going to get the job 99% of the time, whether they edit their own photos or not.
I really can't agree with out sourcing. I get it, it saves time. But I personally can't say that the final image is mine when 50% of the creative process when done by someone else.
I shoot 20 weddings a year among other things, and I find the time. Maybe I am efficient or a workaholic. But I love my job and I love creating MY images.
Exactly, I feel like by giving a curator the control over your selects and edits, you are taking away most of the professional process away from what makes someone hirable.
If you going to "outsource" editing hire someone local, work closely with that person. Editing is really when the photo is created you have to be involved. Learn not to over shoot.
This. THISTHIS
Go away.
Great article and advice. Thanks Quentin.
I've used Rebookü, Evolve Edits (affiliated with Sal Cincotta), and Image Salon for my portrait work. I like be Image Salon and I'm excited for their upcoming portrait expansion. Then they'll really be cooking with oil.
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Yes. Here you go.
And a couple more.
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All of these were done at the Best+ level which will be going away once they launch their new portrait line late September. I'm also eagerly looking forward to the new portrait line.
I can't imagine ever outsourcing my photos. Granted, I don't do photography full time, so I have the luxury of not having to live and die by the number of clients I get. But I do own my own photo business, and I photograph a half dozen or so weddings a year along with several other events, in addition to maintaining a steady stream of portrait work. I started my own photography business because I love photography. That includes giving my clients *my* vision, for better or worse. Even though it can be tedious, I enjoy the process of editing my photos and producing results that are pleasing to me. I put some headphones on, make myself a drink, and dive in for hours at a time. It's not so bad. It makes me proud to deliver photos that my clients really enjoy. The idea of paying someone else to take this experience away from me blows my mind. To each their own, I guess!
Nice article Quentin, and interesting views, and retouching links.
It is amazing how sensitive images are, and how when we don't do our own retouching for high end clients we "are not photographers" anymore for some people. Considering the fact that each single image is modified and retouched by the polygraphers and other layout designers when doing ad campaigns, i can only assume it is such a normal process.
The examples of the big ones, including others like Sal cincotta, or even let's go further annie Leibowitz or La Chapelle who don't edit their work, they do the conceptual deal and get it done.
That being said i believe it's a tough path for many people.
A question which is always on the mind of many might be how many images are delivered to customers based on time, package etc. And the european vision is probably quite different to the US one, i don't know.
I was able to hire video editors from http://20four7va.com/ which I can say are professionals and can contest on deadlines. One day editing is tough, but I still prefer a well thought video timeline.
I'm a great editor and I like editing, I just don't have as much time for it as I use to. I would rather spend my time on the stuff that makes me the most money, and then spend whatever free time I have actually taking more pictures.
That's one of the reasons I outsource with Post House Inc. and I wish you would have mentioned them with the others. I too have tried a few editing services but there always seemed to be something missing. Either the editing was good but they took waaaay to long. Or the turn arounds were insanely fast but the edits were less than great.
I found Post House has great edits with not much to do in the catalog when I get it back. Fast, but not leave me wondering if they did anything, fast. Totally easy to work with, never judging any of my pictures, and they taylor the editing to what I want with AWESOME customer service too.
I've been happy to let someone else work on my images and I feel like they are completely invested in my success.
I fully agree with the author of the article. There is no sense to spend time editing photos if you can save your time by outsourcing the editing. This time you can spend making new shoots or just resting with your family. I know, sometimes it takes much time to find the editor who can match your style of editing. But this is worth. At https://photza.com/ photo editing service you will definitely find the right editor who can match your style and deliver the edited photos in time. Highly recommend this service :)
nice
I love the idea of outsourcing. How do you send in your photos to be edited? I use capture one. Do you send them raw files or is there a way to send smart previews? Thanks!
Funny to read that… most of the successful photographers I know outsource their editing.