Editing: what we do

Editing is the silent hero of good wedding photography. Shooting gets all the glory, but after the event, it’s editing that makes or breaks a photographer.

We shoot somewhere around 2000 frames at each wedding we photograph. Each monday, we spend the entire day editing a single wedding that we shot the weekend before. Very carefully, we look at each image we captured and make decisions about what should be included–and what should be excluded. A good edit elevates the level of photography–and helps the bride and groom better appreciate the images as a collection. I can’t understand why some photographers simply shoot and deliver all the frames: editing gives the photographer the opportunity to really express a point of view.

Here’s an example. The first one is the shot you’d expect.

And this one is the one we love.

It’s back and forth when we edit together. Our conversation sounds pretty much like this:

Theresa: Why did you take this one out? This one shows how pretty the back of her dress is.

John: Are you kidding?  The light is so much better in the other one. You can see the dress and her sister is in the background.

Or here’s another one:

John: Why did you take this one out? I thought it was a great moment.

Theresa: It is a nice moment, but that’s the wedding planner’s assistant.

John tends to edit for composition, technical aspects and evaluates how he was able to interpret that moment. He’s looking for that certain something that is elusive. I tend to edit for continuity, making sure we’re representing important people, the beatiful details that might not be obvious. We like the chemistry of editing together.