Workflow: How long does it take you to edit a wedding?

total time investment in my average wedding is in the 30 hour range
meeting, rehearsal, traveling, wedding day, editing, that quickly adds up...

Good info here. Glad the question was asked. I sometimes wonder if I invest too much time. Now I know I don't.

tim wrote in post #13847081
I've never taken a single photo that can't be improved with basic post processing - ie just what a raw converter does, brightness, contrast, color temp, etc. To nail every exposure is quite amazing, almost unbelievable.

SMP_Homer wrote in post #13847991
There is something to be said for 'getting right in-camera'
the odds of anyone getting a 6 hour wedding all right in-camera are against you...
but even then, things can be improved... eyes can be made to pop... pimples can be removed...

I'm not saying that I didn't edit the photos, I'm saying that my exposures are pretty bang on so I dont have to go back and fix the files. There's always color, contrast, sharpness, WB, etc done to the photos, but when the initial exposure is already there it goes a lot smoother as I dont have to spend extra time trying to save photos.

It takes me less time because I get the photos right in camera, and with my editing style I dont have a lot of post to do. I dont have the Totally Rad look and I dont try and my my photos look like vintage film which saves time. I also dont go through and take out every pimple or wrinkle for every photo if they're just getting a DVD, I only do that for albums.

i usually spend about 30 hours on post work for a 10 hr wedding day (2 photographers shooting)
just to get them all ready for disk & online gallery.

it's usually about 2 weeks of evenings for me.

hoping to get it even more efficient this season though.

Thanks for all the comments everyone! Glad to know I am not totally off base. I actually enjoy taking the extra time to make sure my work is the best I can put out.

All depends on what you did and how many files you have to process.

I must say that Lightroom ( I Know Tim is not a fan ) really helped speed up the process for me. With auto synch and a few other tools that Lightroom provides,,you can really expedite the process. I can go through 800-1000 files with lightroom in about 6-7 hours. I also use a photovison target alot. So when im moving around in different lighting I can take quick shots with the lighting and it helps get the WB right for the scenes. Also find Auto White balance in LR is pretty darn good,,gets it close so that all you have to do is a few tweaks here and there. For me, I cant say enough good things about Lightroom. Really speeds things up.


Getting it right in the camera is huge. saves me a ton of time

I've tried LR 3 times and I just can't do it. I find Bridge much more flexible and much faster. It has pretty much the same image editing functions, and works with batches in a way I find more sensible.

It's personal taste though.

Using proper programs and workflow can definitely help.

I recently purchased the Wedding Editing disc ($125) from http://arisingimages.c​om/ which is the most profitable wedding company associated with PPA. They edit everything within 6 hours and have their workflow down to a science. Saw them at Imaging USA and was really impressed.

Below are some of quick notes and links they sent after the conference:

Download via Downloader Pro from Breezesys.com
Have it setup folders via Directory Maker which is under the plugins tab under preferences
http://www.breezesys.c​om/Downloader/index.ht​m

Sort, rename, and cull via Breezebrowser
Sorty by timestamp, rename using batch rename, cull by tagging the keepers
http://www.breezesys.c​om/BreezeBrowser

Raw processing via Lightroom using an x-keys pad
https://www.adobe.com …oduct=photoshop​_lightroom
http://www.piengineeri​ng.com/xkeys/xkpro.php

Editing via Photoshop CS5 using an x-keys pad
http://www.adobe.com/p​roducts/photoshop.html
http://www.piengineeri​ng.com/xkeys/xkpro.php

Web Galleries via Breezebrowser and EOStemplate
Create web gallery using the EOS template as an HTML template
http://www.breezesys.c​om/Downloader/index.ht​m
http://www.eostemplate​.com/eos/index.html

Video Slideshow using animoto.
http://animoto.com/

album selections via breezebrowser
tag the images to use
http://www.breezesys.c​om/BreezeBrowser

album design via photoshop with assistance from fundy's album builder and an x-keys pad
http://www.adobe.com/p​roducts/photoshop.html
http://www.piengineeri​ng.com/xkeys/xkpro.php
http://www.fundysoftwa​re.com/album-builder/

Proofbook via contact sheets with ACDSee
http://www.acdsee.com/​en/products/acdsee-14

I use Black River Imaging for my photo lab and press printed products.
http://www.blackriveri​maging.com/

I use Graphi Studio for my wedding albums.
http://www.graphistudi​o.com/

Still having a problem make it all work for us so far, but X keys can help, Photo Mechanic for culling is amazing, was sent to it by http://www.danielcruzp​hoto.com/ ( it's so much quicker than Lightroom).

I spend 40+ hours editing a full 14+ hour wedding day with two photographers. Every image we hand over is properly edited with some sort of artistic touch. Usually culled down to 800 or so images. They're all ready to show off (get printed, be on a blog, or add to an album). We don't just do a quick color correction and move on. We're struggling with offering the same quality and product, but still adjusting our workflow to save time.

It takes me 10-20 hrs

Around 8 hours to select and edit the images for a typical wedding. Retouching album selects takes another couple of hours.

From the date of our first wedding to blogging it and mailing it to our clients, it took a little less than a month. I'd really like to cut that time down, but it's not just up to me...my wife also manages editing and she needs more of a break from wedding photography than I do : D However, right now with our second wedding, I'm the bottleneck, as I'm having a lot of trouble culling down from 2900 images to around 400. I'm definitely shooting less at our next wedding.

depending on the size of the wedding... 6-10 hours of just editing , not including album design

brokensocial wrote in post #14533616
I'm the bottleneck, as I'm having a lot of trouble culling down from 2900 images to around 400. I'm definitely shooting less at our next wedding.

Holy Cow!!

JohnThomas wrote in post #14534758
Holy Cow!!

To be fair, the 2900 came from both of us combined; I shot around 1600 and my wife around 1300 over a 10 hour wedding. However, we'd previously shot around 2300 for an 8 hour wedding, and that seemed more manageable. My goal for our next wedding is to shoot at an average rate of around 80 frames per hour, rather than 160 per hour, as I did in this previous wedding. That'll mean taking 400 images, give or take a few, over a 5 hour wedding. We'll see if I can pull it off.