How long does it take you to edit?

[Kaleighx]

Generally, how long does it take you to edit a picture to get it the way you envision? I feel like I'm spending farrr too much time editing, but I love my photoshop to perfect it!

Im also afraid to get into wedding photography and spend hours on end just editing because Im such a perfectionist and I just want to be reasurred a little!

 

[Rachelsne]

This is really variable, I I am doing small touch ups then 5 minutes but if i am altering a picture completely then how long is a piece of string

 

[A&A_Lane]

Usually, 1-5 minutes unless it's something I plan on printing to give to people (thinking of my kid's pictures/etc), then I'll definitely spend more time on it. Then...well...it can sometimes take awhile. I'm usually prone to edit it some one day & then go back to it the next day to look at it again because usually you see it with a new eye.

 

[Kaleighx]

haha wow because last night I spent a good fifteen- twenty minutes (maybe it seemed longer?) and I would love to work up to wedding pictures but I feel like i stressed myself on just one picture!

 

[Big Mike]

Figuring out your workflow, is a big part of digital photography...and when you are getting paid to do it, time is money. There are plenty of ways to speed up your editing, practice probably being the best way. Of course, you will need to find a balance of how much time you spend and what is acceptable. Some wedding photographers will put in 60+ hours of editing time for a wedding, some do very little.

 

[Kaleighx]

Ya I think the more I edit the pictures the more it will become a science to me and I can automatically do what I like to see in my pictures so ya

 

[Big Mike]

Do you make and or use actions?

 

[Kaleighx]

I havent because I havent perfected what I want to see in my pictures because I feel like each pictures needs individual attention.

Maybe I'll start using actions soon =/

 

[mrcrassic]

At first, it took me a good 20 minutes per photo.
Then I discovered a few Photoshop techniques and reduced it to 10 minutes per.
Now I learned that simpler is better, and it takes me between 2 to 5 minutes for touch-ups.

If I'm doing some more subtle stuff, then it varies.

 

[mrcrassic]

Figuring out your workflow, is a big part of digital photography...and when you are getting paid to do it, time is money. There are plenty of ways to speed up your editing, practice probably being the best way. Of course, you will need to find a balance of how much time you spend and what is acceptable. Some wedding photographers will put in 60+ hours of editing time for a wedding, some do very little.

That is very true. In the past when I shot for some "clients" and had many photos to edit, it would take a while to turn around (I shot for one of them in June...and have yet to get back to them! Good thing they're not paying me and don't need them until next June!). That was largely because

A) I shot all RAW, when that's not necessary and
B) I took way too long doing edits that weren't necessary.

I don't know how true this is, but I found that with most of my pictures, the most I need to do is a levels (curves) adjustment and saturation changes, and I'm gold.

 

[Garbz]

Some come off the camera and are done in a few seconds. The worst though was a picture I must have spent at least 12 hours in total on over a period of 4 days. I just kept changing what I wanted to get from that photos.