How Long Do Wedding Photographers Keep Photos?

Wedding photography typically takes around 6-8 hours, including capturing wedding day details, getting ready photos, and capturing candid and posed photos of the wedding party. Pre-ceremony prep shoots typically take 30-45 minutes to complete. A wedding photographer is essential for planning your big day, and there is no rule on how long photographers should keep their photos. It depends on the individual photographer and their business model, which can range from a few days to thirty years.

Eight hours of wedding photography coverage is the most popular amount, covering most wedding days from start to finish. Some situations where eight hours of coverage may be needed include different locations for the ceremony and reception, first looks, or both. Most photographers hold onto non-proof or leftover images for about six months after the event. A photographer’s copyright expires 70 years after the photographer dies, and they can leave their photographic copyrights in their will or leave them in their will.

Photographers typically keep photos of their clients for a minimum of 90 days and up to a full year as part of standard practice. However, if this is important to you, review your contract and ask your professional. Online backups of edited photos are available for 10 years (PASS galleries).

Photos may be archived for up to 1-2 years if you let the clients know that you keep them. The timeline and turnaround time for wedding photos depend on the photographer and the specific needs of the couple.


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How long do wedding photographers keep photos reddit
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Do photographers stay the whole wedding?

Do wedding photographers stay for the whole reception? Many wedding photographers will stay for the cake cutting, first dance, and some dancing shots. If you want them to stay until the end, speak to your photographer about this.

Extended coverage. Some couples want more coverage than the standard duration. This could include more time before, during, or after the ceremony. Extended coverage means every moment is captured, from the early morning to the late night. You can choose how long the extended coverage lasts. These times are just guidelines. They can vary depending on the couple. Some couples want more coverage, while others want less. Couples should discuss their expectations and requirements with their photographer to understand the timeline and coverage.

How long do photographers take to edit photos
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How long should photographers keep photos?

Photographers usually keep photos of their clients for at least 90 days and up to a year. If you want to know how long they keep them, ask your photographer.

Why photographers store photos; how long photographers keep photos; common practices; advantages of long-term storage; challenges in long-term storage; conclusion. In the digital age, photos help us remember and capture moments.

How long do photographers have to keep photos?
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How long do photographers have to keep photos?

Photographers usually keep photos of their clients for at least 90 days and up to a year. If you want to know how long they keep them, ask your photographer.

Why photographers store photos; how long photographers keep photos; common practices; advantages of long-term storage; challenges in long-term storage; conclusion. In the digital age, photos help us remember and capture moments.

Do photographers keep old photos?

How long do photographers keep your photos? It depends. It depends on the photographer and their business. It could be a few days to thirty years. How long do photographers keep your photos? It depends. It depends on the photographer and their business. It could be a few days to thirty years. A photographer with a long-established studio who relies on repeat clients is more likely to keep old digital files and even negatives. A new photographer testing the waters. Not so long. How long should I keep my negatives? I keep them for ten years or until I run out of space. When I do my yearly purge of the storage room, I think about the old boxes of images. These are people’s wedding and family photos! I don’t take it lightly, but it’s what I’ve decided is reasonable for my business. Clients can buy digital or film images at any time. It all comes down to space. These images take up space in my mind and heart. I have a whole wall in my storage room for this. After a year, there’s a good chance a past client won’t request images. That space is for new clients. I make an exception when culling a particular year. If I still know the client, I keep the images. I got an email from a former client this morning. They want to buy some images I made in 2011. I’ve already done my spring cleaning of the storage room. I found the box for 2011 and had her images within minutes. Yay! I love it when this happens, but sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I can’t find files that are more than a year old. I have ten years of images, but it’s rare. My system usually holds up. I buy bankers boxes and in January, I put all the files from the previous years in them. I label the contents (year) and put them on the shelf.

How long should you have for wedding photos?

Wedding party photos should be about 45 minutes to an hour. We take different types of photos in different poses. We start with classic photos focused on expressions and lighting. Then we do some fun, creative shots. Finally, we know how much your wedding party means to you, so we will take pictures with you and each bridesmaid or groomsman. Immediate family. Time: 30-45 minutes Time of day: Morning or afternoon Location: Venue lobby, garden, beach, park, off-site location.

Do photographers keep originals?
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Do photographers keep originals?

Non-proof session images. Leftover images are duplicates, blinks, silly faces, outtakes, lighting test shots, or technical failures. These images are never shown to clients, except for silly faces and outtakes. The photographer usually deletes them after the session. Some photographers keep them longer. I wait to delete these images until after the ordering appointment, just in case a client asks about a specific pose. I can look through this group and see if we got that image and removed it for a technical reason. This is common for event and wedding photography. People often ask if I got photos of a great-aunt Gertrude. Most wedding and event photographers keep non-proof images for about six months after the event.

Professional Photographer Backup Workflow to Keep Photos. A professional photographer keeps photos for a certain period after the session. But how do they do it? How do you know your photos are safe? I can’t speak for other photographers, but I back up and keep photos safe from sessions for all my clients. I use cameras with two memory card slots and set the setting to save the image to both cards. This setting means I still have the photos stored on another card if one fails. I like the Navy Seals saying, “Two is one, one is none.”

How long is too long to wait for wedding photos?

Delivery time: average. Wedding photos are delivered within 6-8 weeks after the wedding. However, turnaround time can vary. Some photographers can deliver images in a week, while others take several months. Based on our knowledge of hundreds of photographers on Wedmatch, the average turnaround time is about 4 weeks. Discuss turnaround times with your photographer before booking. This helps ensure you get your wedding photos on time and everyone is on the same page. Good photography takes time, and quality images are worth the wait. The extra time spent editing your photos will make your wedding memories even more beautiful.

How many photos do you normally get from a wedding photographer?

How many photos are in a wedding gallery? Couples usually get 800-1500 photos from their wedding day. If your wedding is bigger or lasts longer, you may get more photos. If your wedding is small or you have less coverage, you may get fewer photos. There’s no such thing as too many wedding photos. Your wedding photographer will give you as many photos as you want. How many photographers will be at your wedding? Wedding photography is a team effort. The lead photographer will have an assistant or two to help with your wedding day. The team will work together to capture all the important moments. The more photographers, the more photos. They’re taking photos from different angles. Is your photographer doing both photography and videography? If your photographer is also doing video, they’ll probably give you fewer photos. They’re splitting their time between two mediums. You’ll get great photos and videos from your wedding.

Is it OK to throw away old pictures?

Put them in the trash. You can put photos in the trash. Older family photos shouldn’t go in the recycling bin because they’re not recyclable. Some newer photos can go in the recycling bin, but not the older ones. Before you throw your photos away, check for anything sensitive. You can recover photos even after you throw them away. Don’t want embarrassing or sensitive material to get into the wrong hands. Your discarded photos could end up online or on social media, which you probably don’t want. Some people think it’s disrespectful to throw away photos, especially of family and friends. If that’s you, that’s OK. If you have a lot, you may want to digitize them.

What is a common mistake that photographers make?
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What is a common mistake that photographers make?

Blurry photos. Even after years of photography, I still make this mistake. Out-of-focus images are the most common mistake in photography because it’s easy to make. If you move or misinterpret, you’ll be unhappy when you review your images. There are two kinds of focusing techniques: manual and auto. In manual mode, keep your hand on the focus ring and adjust as you move. If you’re using auto mode, make sure the camera is in the right focus mode and the reticle is in the right place. Both take practice and know-how. This complexity is the #1 mistake for all photographers!

PRO TIP: Learn to focus manually (adjust the knob next to your viewfinder for your eyesight) and use the camera’s auto focus features. Your camera may have features like auto zoom and focus peaking that can help.

Can you ask wedding photographer for all photos?

Can we request specific shots? You can’t specify every image you want to take, but most photographers will take the important shots and family portraits. Let them know if anything unexpected happens. Do you charge for travel? Some photographers charge a fee for travel if they don’t work near you.

Is 4 months too long for wedding photos?
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Is 4 months too long for wedding photos?

How long does it take to get wedding photos? Every Boston wedding photographer has a different timeline. You can expect to receive your wedding photos in 4-12 weeks. The timeline can vary depending on the season and your wedding photographer’s schedule. During the busy wedding season, it will take longer. If your wedding is in a quiet month, you’ll get your photos sooner. As a Boston wedding photographer, I will keep you updated on your photos throughout the editing process.

To keep you in the loop, most photographers, including me, share a preview of 10 to 20 photos within three weeks of your wedding. You can share a few images while you wait for the rest.


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How Long Do Wedding Photographers Keep Photos
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Christina Kohler

As an enthusiastic wedding planner, my goal is to furnish couples with indelible recollections of their momentous occasion. After more than ten years of experience in the field, I ensure that each wedding I coordinate is unique and characterized by my meticulous attention to detail, creativity, and a personal touch. I delight in materializing aspirations, guaranteeing that every occasion is as singular and enchanted as the love narrative it commemorates. Together, we can transform your wedding day into an unforgettable occasion that you will always remember fondly.

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13 comments

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  • This was FANTASTIC! I loved your speedy delivery of wonderful info! I need to figure a better way that does not use up a bunch of space on my hard drive as opposed to what I’m doing now. I think I’m doing something wrong that is eating space. My husband keeps telling me that I need to find a way to utilize cloud space for my files to save space on my computer. I don’t know what is best but I could benefit from someone who KNOWS the photography workflow to show me the best way to organize and store data.

  • Cool simple system. I will just add 3 important things: – For the hybrid user (laptop & desktop) I strongly recommend to add a backup option of your SSD. Because if it crashes you loose all your edits! – same advice for your LR Catalog on your editing machine (having your catalog folder automatically backuped every day for example). – last one, when you talk about Dropbox it’s important to clarify that if you activate the smart sync fonction Dropbox will work like Backblaze, so also delete the file 🙂

  • Hey Tyler, Thanks so much for this article! So the right way to go with LR Classic is to store RAW on an external drive and the LR catalog files on the computer? How about the new mobile Lightroom, is it best to store LR Mobile Originals on the SSD and the lrcatalog on the computer ? I also habe a LR Synced folder which is pretty big, can I store it on an SSD and still edit without the SSD attacked to the computer? Thank you!

  • Thanks Tyler. Just one question for you. When the desk top drives are full, would it be ok to copy the selects and finished JPEG’s to 2 smaller drives to archive away and then reformat the 2 desktop drives and start again? I’ve been doing this because it’s much easier for me to store a couple of small drives, but not sure how many times I can re-use the desktop drives? Thanks John

  • This was so helpful! As a family photographer, I’m tempted to mimic this system but with a smaller SSD (like the Samsung Katelyn mentions)…since I’m not bringing home 5k raw files per session…in that case would ChronoSync still work to copy the same way? Also, can you recommend the best way to back up a second copy of my past shoots (like you mentioned BackBlaze won’t do?)…I have them all saved on SSD but I’m looking for a cloud-based solution. thanks so much!

  • Thanks for the info! How do you select the pictures before loading them into Lightroom as u mentioned towards the end of your article? Or do you mean select them on Lightroom and then delete the non selected ones and go from there? I’m using a MacBook Air and so I’m constantly attaching to my 1 TB Sandisk SSD (with all the raws and catalogues) and occasionally backing up to my My Book.. not sure if that’s the best way tho..

  • Great system. Pro tip: especially if you are storing your Lightroom catalogue on a laptop or SSD drive, configure Lightroom to backup the catalogue to a dropbox folder every time you exit Lightroom. That way, you’re not relying on backblaze alone (which in my case, is backing up my desktop, not my laptop), or worse a fantasy that you’re going to take that SSD back to the desktop and back up your catalogue. If you lose that SSD you lose all your edits! Note that dropbox would not contain your working catalogue, only the backup in case you lose your laptop or SSD.

  • If you are creating “HDR” images with LR, are you able to remove the hard drive and work off of smart previews? Also, do you find it best to use standard preview or minimal preview when working on a laptop (MacBook Pro). I never knew that you could disconnect the hard drive and still be able to edit if you use smart previews!

  • I’m a bit new to working with Smart Previews. With the hybrid option, I create a 2021 Catalog on my Samsung SSD. However, I think I’m missing how, on import, you set your RAW files to head to the WD external hard drive, but only import Smart Previews to your Samsung SSD? I would love to switch back and forth from my work laptop to my home, but I’m not sure about this last bit. Thanks!

  • I’m not even sure I know how to phrase my question, but can you explain how to upload cards into this system while at the wedding (for same day slideshow)? Would I still upload my cards to my ssd first and then copy them to the stationary drive a/b when I get home? Would you suggest then keeping the raw files on the ssd too?

  • Tyler, regarding Backblaze, you said that you lose anything once your files are deleted from your hard drive…I was thinking you only want your files to live on external hard drives, since you will eventually run out of storage on your laptop. Can you please clarify? Thank you in advance, this has been incredibly helpful. ☺️

  • I disagree with the large Mybook 8TB drives, during 2020 I lost two of those drives while setting up a new office and lost 5 years of files. I did not have a good backup in place and was crushed and lost 16TB of data. Those drives are tall and top heavy and if anything knocks against they can easily fall over which is what happened in my case. I am currently using a combination of multiple 2TB drives, backups and some cloud backup.

  • Great information but Tyler you are talking so quickly and then that “thwap” noise happens every time you make a new point. Did you have too much espresso this morning?? I’m having a bit of an anxiety event trying to take notes (and I’m a fast writer) then “thwap” (increased anxiety as I fall behind!) You really know your stuff and are so excited and cute but next time PLEASE go a little slower so I can process all of your great information. Thanks for all of your work on helping us organize.