Every wedding day is its own different and unique experience. There are so many factors to consider for the day from organizing the ceremony, to preparing for the reception, to ensuring the guests arrive on time at the proper locale. But there are factors that most people would never consider in the process of the day. This type of minutia would include the question posed in the title: “do wedding photographers give all the photos taken?” There is a simple answer to the question and the answer is no. But I want to take the time in this article to explain why that is the case. So, without further delay, let me explain why wedding photographers don’t give all the photos they take!
Process
The first thing I want to lay out for you is the process of lining up the wedding day photo shoot. When photographing a wedding, there are a lot of moving parts. Which is why it is important to have a plan going in and having back-ups for when it inevitably changes. It is fairly common knowledge that having a storyboard will set you up for success throughout the day. By doing a storyboard, you can line up shots that have that flair to them. But even the best plans can be laid to waste. Things will not go as planned and you have to adjust to those the best you can. The photographer will likely take hundreds of photos throughout the day, but only a small percentage will be worth presenting. Whether it is the average blurry photo or someone moved into frame unexpectedly, there are a number of reasons why a photo may not make it to the development stage. It is normal for a photographer to delete photos as they go if the quality is lacking, however, some flaws are more evident than others.
Development
This leads us into the next portion of the article in development. Once they have the proper equipment to develop photographs through, the photographer may discover photos with flaws that impact the quality of their work. There are things that you may miss in the moment; lighting issues, minor blurs, and even corrupted files in certain circumstances. This narrows the percentage of photos that make it to the finished product phase significantly. Once you enter a more sterile environment and have the proper equipment to review your work is when you can properly decide whether or not certain photos reach your level of quality. The development process is a lot more streamlined nowadays with the quality of applications such as Adobe After Effects. The process can include adjusting brightness, saturation, and filters, as well as numerous other factors that all lead to the final compilation of work that is presented to the couple.
Finished Product
Now that you have sorted the wheat from the chaff and finished the development process, you are left with the finished product. The photographer will deliver their work to you once it is finished, whether as a collection throughout the day or as a chronological retelling of the day. By the end of the development phase, you will likely receive anywhere between 400 and 800 photos on average. For reference, I typically deliver around 500 shots from my wedding day shoots. Once the couple has received their photos, they may go a step further and ask to have them developed for prints for their personal photos and maybe even canvases to hang on the walls. If you don’t have direct access to that equipment, referring them elsewhere may benefit everyone involved. The point of noting that is they are likely happy with the work you have put in and will go as far as to hang it on their walls. That is an achievement to be proud of to say the least.
To wrap up this article, I want to highlight that the practice of wedding photography is not an exact science. Things go wrong all the time. But it is how you carry onward with the work that makes the difference. Knowing how to operate under that level of pressure is the deciding factor of whether it is a good session or a bad session. The clients may not know the difference, but deep down, the photographer knows whether their skills and talents were performing at their best ability. Working through that will allow for an easy process in the development and the delivery stages of the work. I hope that I may have added some insight to the process photographers go through to get you the best of their work and I hope that I have added to your day!
Warmest regards,
Logan Clark