Creating a Solid Workflow

It’s December.  I haven’t had a session to edit since November 29th, and I haven’t had wedding photos to edit with November 18th (three days after my last 2015 wedding).  I’m not writing this blog post to brag about my quick turn arounds, I want to HELP those who still feel like they’re drowning just a week before Christmas!  So let’s talk workflow.

It’s so possible to finish a portrait session in an hour, and a wedding in under 7 days.  But it takes commitment and dedication.

Here’s my step-by-step when it comes to editing a wedding that allows me to not only blog that wedding within Katelyn James’ coined 72 Golden Window, but also deliver that wedding before the couples one week anniversary!

1. Photo Mechanic

This program has been a LIFE saver for me and something I would consider a game changer in my business.  I use to cull all my sessions in Lightroom and that could HOURS to do because Lightroom would take seconds to render the photo – make it so the photo is clear and not blurry.  Photo Mechanic does the rending automatically.  What use to take me two plus hours to cull now takes me 30-45 minutes.  INCREDIBLE!  I’ll get home from a wedding, (photos are already on my computer by the end of the reception) and if the struggle bus hasn’t already run me over, I can start culling reception photos.  I cull backwards thanks to an awesome tip, again from Katelyn James!  You can read that blog post here.  The tagged, or favorite photos then just get dragged and dropped into Lightroom!  I wrote a blog post on this incredible program this past summer that you can read here.

2.        Lightroom

So there’s a couple different steps I take in Lightroom that help me edit so quickly.  Let’s break it down one-by-one

• When I import my favorite photos into Lightroom a general “import preset” is applied to every single photo.  This is just a general edit that I would apply to all the photos (sharpening, exposure, contrast, highlights, and shadows).  It cuts out a couple different steps that I would have to make without the import preset.  This translate into a timesaver.  Where or not a HUGE timesaver, a timesaver, nonetheless.
• I separate each event into a color category after importing.  That way I can edit just that category and when I finish editing, I feel like I can cross something off a to-do light.  My categories are as followed:
  • Red – Details / First Look (If the couple did a First Look)
  • Yellow – Bride + Groom
  • Green – Bridal Party
  • Blue – Ceremony
  • Purple – Family Formals
  • 5 Star – Reception
• Just like culling, I edit a wedding backwards, as well, starting with the reception.  It’s the one thing that I absolutely dread editing the most which is why it’s the first done!  Then I just make way backwards.  It’s no longer daunting when I look at my categories and see 47 photos in Family Formals, and 102 photos in Ceremony, and then 150 photos in Bridal Party, ect.  It’s one step at a time and seems so much more doable when it’s broken down.
• The longest part for me when it comes to editing a wedding is the exporting of the photos.  I always start that right before I head to bed so it works while I sleep.  I don’t count this time as part of my workflow because I’m not actually working.  The computer is, but i’m not in front of the computer.

Being able to turn around a wedding in 5-7 days hasn’t been an easy task to accomplish.  It’s taken me three years to figure out the process.  I read a lot of blogs, asked a lot of questions, and figured out what works for me.  Once I started the trick of breaking the day into categories, my editing time immediately dropped.

In the next three weeks, I’m hoping my editing time is once again cut down.  Katelyn James is teaching a six week editing course and so far the first couple weeks have been awesome!  I’ve already learned so much that I know will help get my 5-7 days down to HOPEFULLY 4-6 days!  How amazing would that be to give a Bride and Groom their wedding photos early.  Gone are the days of getting emails asking when photos are going to be delivered.  And hello to the days of impressing the you-know-what of your couples!

It’s possible friends to have a workflow that gives you your life back.  A workflow that allows you to spend time with your spouse and children.  Or a workflow that simply allows you to SLEEP at night instead of having to pull all nighters to edit.  We’re not college students cramming for a test, we’re professionals!  Professionals who deserve to have an amazing workflow that allows us to rock our life, not be controlled by how many weddings or sessions we’re behind on.

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