“Why Does It Take So Long To Get My Wedding Pictures?”
“Why Does It Take So Long To Get My Wedding Pictures?”
What to expect when your Big Day is finished and you’re waiting on your images.
"When should I expect my wedding photos?"
A common question I get asked is “What is the normal turnaround time for wedding photos?”
Over on Weddings Online based here in Ireland they mention in their article it can take an average of 2- 6 weeks.
I often tell people that my delivery time is between 2-6 weeks, in reality it’s well before the 6 week mark.
I’ve had some people appear shocked when I tell them in peak season that it could be up to 6 weeks before they receive their photographs, but when I explain the process and the time of year, they are most understanding.
There are two main factors, firstly is the “Editing” - You’ll see why I dont like that word in a moment, and seccondly is the time of year or “Peak Season”.
If you book Myself & Derek over at Reel Irish Wedding for our Photography & Videography package we strive to get your Photographs & Wedding Video to you on time, we never leave our clients waiting.
John & Michelle’s big day at Gormanston Park / Gormanston College
How long does it take to edit wedding photos?
Let’s address the word “Edit” Firstly - All images in respect to posing, composure, lighting and timing are captured perfectly in the camera from the get go and always have been since the days of film photography.
Since Digital Photography has become a thing, photographers have been given more control over the “final” touches such as cropping, color balance, exposure etc. This has been controllable even with Film Photography decades ago, it was not the done thing as it was expensive and meant messing with chemicals in a lab, but sometimes it happened, mainly on photoshoots for billboards and magazines.
Nowadays we have computers, and with the digital age, as we all know, came the strive for the perfection, flawlessness, and the perfect image. This is great, but it’s time consuming, we have control over every aspect of the image (once it’s captured right, you can just take crappy images and “edit” them)
I don’t “edit” my images, I process them.
Darren & Kim’s big day at Tankardstown House
How about we call it “Processing” from now on.
I spend 50 hours on what I like to call “Processing” the Wedding images. I don’t “edit” them, I feel this term refers to retouching and smothening skin, fake looking images, and over edited fake looking lighting. I prefer to deal in reality.
I keep it as real as it gets, however there is still about 50 total hours in:
Cropping - The art of finalising the framing and composure of an image (should be 90% correct in the camera)
Colour Grading - The art of making sure the colour balance, certain colours on the pallette and certain tones are correct , the best cameras in the world will never be calibrated for every shade of colour in the universe, it is the job of the photographer to ensure final images are sent out with correct colour grading.
Noise / Grain reduction - This happens when light is low, and particularly in images captured inside, although cameras have gotten so good at rendering images in low light that it’s becoming easier to deal with.
Narrowing down / Culling - The final selection of images is important, less is more. You will always get a minimum of 250 final images if you book me though, Check out my Packages here.
Converting from RAW files to JPEG - If I give you the memory card out of my camera, firstly you wont be able to read it in your computer as it’s a specialist type of card & seccondly the RAW files on it are not readable on your computer. We use our special software to process the RAW files and then convert them to JPEG files for the end user (you) to view. This can be tricky as we have to make sure theyre viewable on all TV’s computers, Tablets, web browsers.
James & Ekatrina at Glendalough / Glendalough Hotel
Peak Season.
If your wedding is anywhere from May - January (of the following year) then it could be up to six weeks before you receive your images, the peak season starts in May, continues to September, but then we have a lot of weddings built up and will take six weeks to complete and deliver them - that leads us well into mid November, then it’s December and this has proven to be a very popular month to get married, so the season is extended into the end of January by the time we are caught up with December / Christmas Weddings.
The only months we are “Off Season” are February, March & April.
Rachel & Brian’s big day in St. Stephens Green
Packaging and Delivery.
Packaging your images is done carefully and can take an hour, if you’ve received wedding images from me you’ll understand!
I then prefer to deliver everything myself, and getting the time to do so in peak season is challenging.
Keelin & Cathal at Iveagh Gardens
Keelin & Cathal at Iveagh Gardens Hotel