Photo Editing
HOW WE EDIT YOUR WEDDING PHOTOS
Backup & Upload
Photography has evolved from a mechanical and chemical process to one primarily conducted digitally. Your images are captured in their RAW format, typically as .CR2 or .ARW files directly from our cameras. Shooting in RAW provides us with the utmost flexibility during post-production. While RAW images cannot be directly displayed, they offer the widest dynamic range, encompassing the full spectrum of information between the brightest and darkest parts of an image.
However, the RAW format consumes significantly more storage space, with a full wedding captured in RAW occupying approximately 200-300 gigabytes of data before any conversions take place.
Upon completing your session, typically on the same day, we promptly download the images to a local hard drive. Simultaneously, they are uploaded to our production server, which is configured in RAID 5 for both redundancy and speed. This server seamlessly syncs with cloud storage via a fiber optic connection, initiating the upload process as soon as the images are downloaded. This ensures that your images are stored in triplicate, with at least one copy stored off-site, adhering to the 3-2-1 backup system, which is crucial for safeguarding your precious memories.
Once the backup process is finalized, we proceed to image selection.
Total Time Involved: 1 Hour
Image Selection
To initiate the image selection process, we utilize specialized software designed for efficiently handling large RAW files. This tool swiftly catalogs and organizes your images, identifying duplicates and enabling us to swiftly assess and manually select the finest versions. Additionally, it facilitates the addition of color tags, keywords, or star ratings to streamline organization. Initially, we focus on "in" culling, removing blurry shots, unflattering expressions, and duplicates to construct a cohesive narrative of your wedding day.
Subsequently, we refine the selection further by "out" culling, omitting any images that do not contribute to the overarching story, ensuring the final delivery meets our highest standards.
We then proceed to add descriptive keywords and tags to enhance organization, categorizing images by themes such as "details," "bridal prep," or "ceremony" for easy navigation and retrieval in the future, both for us and within your gallery.
Additionally, we meticulously synchronize timestamps across all files and ensure a logical file naming convention for clarity.
Finally, we establish a comprehensive folder structure for your files, ensuring seamless organization and accessibility.
Total Time Involved: 3-6 Hours
Color & Tonal Enhancement
Color and tonal enhancement are crucial for refining each image to its fullest potential. In this meticulous stage, we scrutinize every aspect of the photograph, including color rendition, contrast, exposure, white balance, highlights, shadows, and clarity.
Our process begins by fine-tuning the exposure, ensuring optimal luminance throughout the image. While we strive for accuracy in-camera, adjustments are made on our meticulously calibrated monitors to achieve the desired outcome.
Addressing color temperature is the next step, especially vital in weddings where varied lighting conditions prevail. We delicately balance hues between warm orange tones and cool blues, as well as finesse tints ranging from green to magenta, aiming for the most natural and harmonious results.
Subsequent adjustments focus on preserving detail in highlights and shadows, even in challenging high-contrast scenarios. Leveraging modern software capabilities, we refine contrast, clarity, and black levels to accurately portray the scene's nuances.
Fine-tuning individual color elements comes next, particularly crucial for skin tones. By precisely manipulating hue and saturation in the red and orange channels, we ensure faithful representation of our subjects' complexion. Our commitment to accuracy extends to utilizing calibrated monitors with specialized hardware to guarantee precise color rendition.
To achieve impeccable sharpness and clarity, we apply targeted sharpening techniques and reduce noise in low-light images, ensuring optimal digital file quality for exquisite prints.
The final touch involves employing specialized software to enhance skin tones further. By isolating texture from color using the orange channel, we achieve smoother skin tones and superior color gradients, resulting in stunning portraits.
Total Time: 8-12 Hours
Advanced Edits
Enhanced edits are available as an optional enhancement for both our client albums and digital files.
These enhancements encompass a range of refinements, from brightening or darkening specific areas of an image to removing distracting elements such as exit signs or background clutter. In certain cases, we can even adjust subjects' expressions, such as opening or closing eyes or swapping heads.
Our meticulous approach ensures that these enhancements can be applied across your entire wedding gallery, ensuring consistency and quality. Additionally, this service is available for individual digital images upon client request.
For those seeking an elevated aesthetic, our Premium edits offer subtle refinements to impart a stylized look to your photos. This may involve additional retouching, such as removing background objects or beauty editing.
Premium editing encompasses techniques like dodging and burning, texture placement, skin smoothing, and tonal enhancement, adding depth and dimension to your images.
We highly recommend advanced editing for all images destined for your wedding album, ensuring each moment is captured at its best.
Total Time Involved: 24-30 hours for a full wedding gallery. Time may vary depending on gallery size.
Album Design
Your wedding album holds the essence of your cherished journey together. Crafting this keepsake is our way of immortalizing the memories that will accompany you through a lifetime.
Approaching album design with utmost dedication, our team meticulously selects and arranges your images into distinct narratives. Leveraging specialized software, we weave together a seamless design that eloquently recounts every moment of your wedding day.
Collaboration with Amin ensures meticulous attention to detail and alignment with your vision. Each album undergoes careful scrutiny and refinement before your reveal.
Upon completion, we'll schedule a personalized album reveal appointment. Here, you'll witness the culmination of your wedding story, fine-tuning colors, options, and editing preferences before the album proceeds to print.
Total Time: 7-9 Hours per Album
Signature Edits
Our Signature Edits stand apart from the crowd, promising a visual experience unlike any other. Each
image is meticulously crafted with a distinctive signature edit in mind, elevating it from excellent to
exceptional. This process demands considerable time and attention compared to our standard color
correction and creative edits.
Led by Amin's artistic direction, our graphic designers hand-edit each image, ensuring a unique outcome
that sets us apart from the rest. While others may attempt to replicate, our signature edits remain
unparalleled.
We firmly believe in the power of specialization within the creative process. This approach enables us
to efficiently deliver exceptional results. Just as in filmmaking, where different teams handle
cinematography, editing, and special effects, our graphic design team serves as our special
effects experts, dedicated to crafting these extraordinary images.
The journey of a Signature Edit begins with meticulous art direction, with Amin providing guidance
and approvals. Our team then embarks on our standard editing process, meticulously optimizing
dynamic range and selectively enhancing contrasts. We refine details, eliminate distractions, and
may even reimagine elements like the sky or symmetry. Each component of the image receives
careful attention to detail. Upon completion, Amin reviews and approves the final result.
Designed with wall art in mind, our Signature Edits encapsulate the essence of your wedding day,
akin to movie posters capturing the essence of a film. These images are intended to make a lasting
impact, each telling a unique story.
Estimated Time: 2-4 Hours Per Image*
*Please note that our Signature Edits are tailored for wall art purchases, including metal, acrylic,
or canvas prints. Each image undergoes a custom process, reflecting the time and effort invested
in its creation.
Post Production Timeline
As evident, crafting each wedding production demands considerable time investment, often
exceeding 40 hours per event to ensure impeccable results for our cherished clients. Leveraging
the collective efforts of our dedicated team enables us to efficiently allocate these hours,
maintaining our commitment to delivering exceptional quality while upholding a swift 10-day
turnaround time for your images.
Post-production commences the Monday following your wedding, marked by an email invitation
prompting you to schedule your personalized viewing and album design consultation. This
empowers you to select a convenient time for your appointment. We encourage you to invite
your loved ones to join you at our studio, where we offer a special champagne toast in our
custom viewing experience as you behold your images for the first time.