After the wedding... {My post-wedding workflow}

In this blog post I'm going to give you an insight into what happens after your wedding when it comes to photos. This is something I discuss in my consults with my couples but I think it's an interesting area to talk about on the blog because not many people really know the behind-the-scenes of how you go from clicking away all day at the wedding to ending up with the final result of your wedding gallery.

PREVIEWS & THE BLOG - I post previews soon after the wedding on Facebook & Instagram as I begin reviewing the images from the day. Then within a week I blog your wedding! This means you're seeing photos from your wedding day before the excitement of the day has even worn off & you can share them with family & friends! My wedding blogs generally contain approximately 20-30 images from the wedding, usually my absolute favourites curated in a way that tells the beautiful story & flow of your day.

ONLINE IMAGE GALLERY - Then just weeks after I blog your images I upload your full wedding gallery to a password-protected online site for you to view, share, download and enjoy. This means within 4-5 weeks after your wedding you are getting all your final images. I'm proud to say I've been able to keep my wedding workflow under five weeks, because as a past bride I know just how hard it can be waiting to see the final images ;) The great thing about the online galleries is you can share the password & link with family & friends, especially if some live further away it's a great way for them to be able to get some photos printed. I use the galleries as my online backup too so you can always log in at any time and they'll be there.

MY EDITING WORKFLOW​ - After I get home from a wedding the first thing I do is upload all the images from my camera cards onto my laptop, backing them up to an external hard drive as well. I then begin culling the photos (using software called Photo Mechanic). Culling means I pick out all the keepers and leave behind anything that didn't turn out such as blinking shots. From here I am ready to start editing the photos in Lightroom and Photoshop.

My main editing priorities are exposure fine-tuning, checking white balances & colour tones so wedding dresses aren't blue and skin tones aren't greyish or orange, etc. This is where a huge amount of hours are spent in the office editing & putting my finishing touches to each and every image I present to you. I don't apply heavy editing or retouching; I want to produce images that will stand the test of time and that are natural & beautiful.

DESIGNING YOUR ALBUM - I give you a few days to go through your wedding gallery and start picking your favourites. Then we begin discussing the design of your wedding album, the lasting heirloom from your day. I generally deliver anywhere from 300-500 final photos from a wedding. I know some photographers that deliver a lot more final photos than I do, but I believe part of my job as a photographer is to curate timeless imagery that tells the story of your day, not to overwhelm you with so many copies of practically the same photo that the process of picking your favourites becomes a chore.
Your wedding album will contain usually about 50-75 of your favourite photos. I tell my couples that there is no right or wrong way to choose the photos for their album. We can also discuss the album cover material choices among other customisable aspects of your album. Once you have picked your favourites for the album I organise the album design process. And if having to pick photos for your album sounds like too much hard work, you're also entirely welcome to leave it all to us! You proof an online version of the album design, let me know of any changes you might want and once you've approved the final design it goes to the album printer. ​

THE FINAL PRODUCT - Once all your final products arrive I personally quality check everything then package it all up beautifully ready to deliver to you! I provide you with a USB of all your final images too which are the full-sized images for safe keeping. These full size images are what I recommend you use to get any big prints or canvas done in the future.
This is such an exciting moment for me packaging everything up, writing a thank-you note from the depths of my heart and getting to deliver the final product to my awesome clients!