Would you outsource

If you had the ability to outsource your RAW and JPG processing, editing, culling, etc. to a company that could also provide you with custom DVDs, book layout services, etc. would you be willing to give up a share of your profits in exchange for getting all of your post wedding time back?

I was thinking it might make sense to have a local company with a customer service and few touch up artists on staff and having the majority of the work outsourced to a country like India to keep the costs down.

Would you prefer things to be like with film where you shot the wedding and handed off to a lab or do you prefer doing all the post shoot work and keeping more of the profits?

I'm amazed at the number of wedding photographers who do it part time and not only lose one of their weekend days but also nights of PP that could be spent with family, friends, or hobbies. To me it doesn't seem right that doing wedding photography should be more than just a vocational choice but it also becomes a lifestyle choice.

I think this depends on the person. I have a few wedding photographers as friends and what makes them successful is their PP style. They get chosen because of their style which is something they probably wouldn't trust another company to do. I know I wouldn't for what I do which is mainly portraiture, and I do tons of commercial work. But, I wouldn't let another company take the workload for me. That's just me and I'm not officially a wedding photographer but someone who values her own style nonetheless.

why not? Let say your total profit is $3000. If you outsource it out and your profit now only $2000 and you don't have to spend hours to process/edit. We do it all the time.

I would love to if there is a canadian base company can do that for me like Pictage!

I would rather do it myself especially if it's gonna cut into my profit.

I would in a heartbeat if I was at the point in my career of making enough money to be able to. I just think for a lot of people (me included) while time=money, money=groceries, and it's not possible to do it.

sam0329 wrote in post #3948691
I would love to if there is a canadian base company can do that for me like Pictage!

Why would the company need to be Canadian based? So long as quality control is kept to high standards why not ultimately have the work done by the cheapest labor force?

Nah... I probably wouldn't. When I press the shutter I have the finished image already in my mind. It would be impossible for someone else to deliver exactly what I want.

I dunno, I don't mind outsourcing a lot of stuff, but as an artist... to outsource part of the actual 'art' is kinda weird to me.

RichNY wrote in post #3948710
Why would the company need to be Canadian based? So long as quality control is kept to high standards why not ultimately have the work done by the cheapest labor force?

because some people dont like exchange rate. I do like to outsource everything except the edit and capture process...

sam0329 wrote in post #3948771
because some people dont like exchange rate. I do like to outsource everything except the edit and capture process...

And some people like to shop local

Why go to Canada? post up an ads in your local craiglist and look for people with PP experience. There are plenty. Cheap and effective.

Bubble wrote in post #3948796
Why go to Canada? post up an ads in your local craiglist and look for people with PP experience. There are plenty. Cheap and effective.

You get what you pay for... wherever you go.

cheap pp for over a thousand files?

I see them just running a global preset in lightroom for all your files, not even looking at every photo. Geez, I could do that for free... in a few minutes.

There are many long time pros who still haven't gotten a great PP style down to make their images stand out. Let alone a bunch of random people offering cheap services.

I still don't think PP is a good thing to outsource...

picturecrazy wrote in post #3948730
Nah... I probably wouldn't. When I press the shutter I have the finished image already in my mind. It would be impossible for someone else to deliver exactly what I want.

I dunno, I don't mind outsourcing a lot of stuff, but as an artist... to outsource part of the actual 'art' is kinda weird to me.

Sorry to be nosey in a thread obviously intended for pros, but what about the images that you would just maybe adjust the white balance and be done with? Or if you are one of the many who offer each in colour and b&w, all those conversions. I think I remember David Jay saying that he processes his favourites (maybe he said 30 or so, but I'm not sure?) and the rest get outsourced for basic stuff. Would you ever consider doing that?

Bubble wrote in post #3948796
Why go to Canada? post up an ads in your local craiglist and look for people with PP experience. There are plenty. Cheap and effective.

I don't think he would be going to canada - he'd be staying in Canada. If that sheds different light on it for you.

picturecrazy wrote in post #3948811
You get what you pay for... wherever you go.

cheap pp for over a thousand files?

I see them just running a global preset in lightroom for all your files, not even looking at every photo. Geez, I could do that for free... in a few minutes.

There are many long time pros who still haven't gotten a great PP style down to make their images stand out. Let alone a bunch of random people offering cheap services.

I still don't think PP is a good thing to outsource...

that mean you haven't found one YET. We have 2 guys that we outsource it out during our busy season. We book 3 to 4 wedding per saturday and there is no way we can take care the post process in time. It tooks us awhile to find the right people.