Do Wedding Photographers Edit Every Photo?
Short answer: yes, a wedding photographer should edit every photo they deliver, but editing is not the same as retouching. Most of the work is colour, exposure and consistency across the day. Detailed retouching, such as removing objects or reshaping features, is a separate and much rarer job.
What editing usually means
Editing is the work done after the day to make the whole gallery look consistent. That normally covers white balance and colour, brightness and contrast, straightening and cropping, and a matching look from the first photo to the last. A church, a marquee and a garden all have different light, so the files need balancing to sit together as one set.
What is not usually included
Removing a stranger from the background, taking out a bin, smoothing skin or slimming a figure is retouching. It is done photo by photo and takes real time. Some photographers offer it for a small number of favourite images, some charge for it, and some do not do it at all. Ask rather than assume.
Do you get every photo that was taken?
No, and you would not want to. A photographer takes many frames to catch one good moment, and the near-duplicates, blinks and test shots are cut before editing. What you receive is the selected set. If you are curious about the numbers, our guide on how many photos you get from a wedding photographer explains what to expect.
Can you ask for the unedited files?
Most photographers do not hand these over, because the edit is part of their finished work. We cover the reasoning in can you ask your wedding photographer for raw files.
What to ask before you book
Ask whether every delivered photo is edited, what the editing covers, and whether any retouching is available and what it costs. Ask how long it takes too, since editing is a big part of the wait. Our piece on how long it takes to get wedding photos back sets out the usual timings. Get the answers in writing, along with everything else in the contract. If you are still comparing photographers, our list of questions to ask before booking is a good place to start.
Full-day collections from Studio Williams start at £3,500 and include two photographers as standard. If you would like to talk through your day and what the gallery includes, you can get in touch here.
