The average turnaround time for receiving wedding photos is typically between four to 12 weeks, depending on the photographer’s experience level and the timeline outlined in their contract. The process can vary depending on the photographer’s availability and the time of year. In the U.S., the average turnaround time is 4-6 weeks, while in the U.K., it is 1-2 weeks for amateur photographers.
During the event, photographers take raw photos, which can take up to 12 weeks to edit. The average wedding reception takes about six hours, with an average of 2-6 weeks. While photographers will try to get your photos to you as soon as possible, they may not be efficient with editing. The average photo delivery time is closer to 3-6 weeks per wedding, with 70% of couples receiving at least 10 sneak-peeks (teasers) 1-2 weeks after the wedding day.
Technically, good photographers are busier and may not be efficient with editing. The couple has a sneak peek of the photos taken during this process, which takes about six weeks. The time it takes to get the pictures back is mostly between six to eight weeks. The photos will look stunning in any frames or wedding albums you decide to make when you get them back.
The wedding photography process can take anywhere from 4 weeks to 18 months, depending on the booking date and the photographer’s availability. The average timeline for receiving a complete collection of photos is four to 12 weeks post-wedding, depending on the season and photographer’s availability. The timeline can vary by photographer, with some offering a 10-week deliverable, while others may deliver images between 2-4 weeks due to fewer weddings. The average wait time for wedding photos is 2-6 weeks, with most photographers aiming for 4-6 weeks. The turnaround time depends on factors like the season and the photographer’s availability.
📹 SHOOT AND BURN Comes Back To Wedding Photography?
0:00 Will Shoot and Burn Come Back To Wedding Photography? 2:06 @ogonzilla 2:55 @VanessaJoy 4:47 …
Why does it take so long to get wedding pictures back?
How long will it take to get your wedding photos? The time it takes to get your wedding photos depends on the photographer, their schedule, and how many photos were taken. If they were there all day, they will have a lot of photos to edit. It usually takes 2-6 weeks. Of course photographers will try to get your photos to you as soon as possible. Many will send you some photos to view. However, it can take some time for the full album. It is important that they take time to do it right, and it is usually worth the wait. Why do wedding photos take so long? We’re excited to see your wedding photos, but we’re also impatient. Our article and infographic show what wedding photographers do. They spend more time editing photos than capturing them! Your photographer will take hundreds or even thousands of photos. They will delete the bad ones. Then there’s editing, cropping, adjusting color balance, and creating the style you hired them for. There’s more work to do after the photos are taken.
Is 4 months too long to wait for wedding photos?
A guide to wedding photography. The wedding photography process can take 4 weeks to 18 months, depending on when you book your photographer. A typical timeline for this process is:
1. The photographer meets with the couple to discuss expectations, photos, and delivery. This usually happens 6-12 months before the wedding.
How long for a wedding sneak peek?
Sneak peeks are photos your photographer sends you ahead of time, usually within a week of your wedding. Some photographers send sneak peeks 24 hours after the wedding, while others wait a week. It depends on the photographer’s style. No! Not all photographers offer sneak peeks. They may think it adds stress to their workflow or that it might have the opposite effect. Instead of making a couple excited, it might make them nervous. All good reasons! I’m excited about weddings, so I’ll edit the RAW files before I’ve even culled them. If I’m doing that anyway, I might as well share them! Four to six weeks is a long time to wait. I love to keep the momentum going while the couple is still in their wedding hype! Couples can use these photos for thank you cards, emails, and social media announcements. The photos are shared while the wedding is still fresh, which helps me reach a new audience.
How long should it take a photographer to get pictures back?
Your photographer will return your pictures in time, depending on the type and editing steps. Most photographers take three to six weeks, but some will turn it in in the second week. Some photo formats require fewer steps and you get your images back immediately. Let’s look at the steps to get them ready.
Landscape photos. Landscape photography shows nature and man-made things. Editing these photos can be fun and require attention to detail. Some editing takes longer.
Adjust exposure and contrast. Exposure and contrast are important in editing. It helps get the best result and make a photo brighter or darker. This depends on the photographer’s experience.
How long do wedding photographers take to give photos?
Most photographers say you need about 30 minutes for wedding party portraits, 30 minutes for family portraits, and 45 minutes for couple portraits. Just remember: The time needed can change depending on the size of your wedding party and family, and the types of shots you want. Ask your photographer how long they’ll need for all the shots you want, and how you can save time. Here are some things to think about when planning your wedding photos. Your wedding photos will focus on you and your spouse. You’ll probably want to have formal portraits taken with your wedding party and family. Who you include in this session affects how long your wedding photos take. Your parents might want you to have a photo with all your relatives, but remember that the more photos you take, the longer you’ll be away from your celebration. Keep formal portraits to about 15 groupings, including your wedding party, immediate family, and a few important relatives. Your photographer can help you decide which groupings to include in your formal portraits. Couples are also choosing to have a “first look.” The first look wedding photo is a photo of the couple on their wedding day, usually wearing their wedding attire, taken before the ceremony.
How long to wait for professional pictures?
How long until I get my photos back? On average, you should wait 2 weeks for your professional photos. You’ll get your slideshow link within two weeks. This is when you choose which photos to keep. Every photographer gets asked how long a photoshoot takes. The standard time is an hour or more, depending on the number of pictures or package. However, this hour doesn’t include time spent getting ready for the photoshoot.
How long does it take to get pictures from a photoshoot?
On average, you should wait 2 weeks for your professional photos. You’ll get your slideshow link within two weeks. This is when you choose which photos to keep. Most clients find the selection process hardest. You won’t have unlimited time to choose your photos because your photographer may still need to edit them.
RELATED: Top 3 Beach Locations for Photography in Tampa Bay and Clearwater.
How many wedding photos should I get back?
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 a videographer, they will deliver fewer photos. They’re splitting their time between two mediums. You’ll get great photos and videos from your wedding.
How many photos should you get back from a wedding?
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 a videographer, they will deliver fewer photos. They’re splitting their time between two mediums. You’ll get great photos and videos from your wedding.
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 a videographer, they will deliver fewer photos. They’re splitting their time between two mediums. You’ll get great photos and videos from your wedding.
Is 6 months too long for wedding photos?
The turnaround time should be in writing before the wedding. Six weeks is average, but some photographers take six months. My wedding proofs were the edited photos.
Is 3 months too long to wait 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.
📹 Wedding Photography – How Many Photos Should You Deliver?
My thoughts on how many photos to deliver as a wedding photographer. Day 26 of the course! On to editing tomorrow. I know I …
I absolutely agree, big-time, about the need for some time to elapse before receiving the full photoset. As you say, the couple wouldn’t necessarily agree, but there’s definitely something important about building some anticipation and letting SOME sense of nostaglia build up before you relive the day. Otherwise, you’re not reliving the day, you’re just having a look at what was shot yesterday.
I’m not a traditional wedding photographer…I normally just do portraits…but…I usually cull, then do my initial color/exposure corrections, I post them to a gallery without final edits and I get approval from the client on the photos that they wish I spend more time on. I can see where something close to that would be acceptable. This gives me a very quick turn around. 1 – 2 days usually.
I feel there should always be an awareness of the work that goes in to photography and also editing. Like in every industry there will always be clients who want the cheapest product with the fastest turnaround time. Whether you want to attract these is up to you. Just because someone tells you that you should deliver faster doesn’t mean you have to.
I think the future of this might depend on the photography community as a collective. If we put out the message that our workflows have sped up dramatically (at least for people using AI programs, I still know many who don’t use anything), it could create a widespread client expectation that everything can be delivered faster than ever before. If enough people do this, it’ll influence a shift in the entire market
Touching on all points, the shoot and burn will return in a several years as the default, even in higher end weddings, in that the AI editing systems and in camera syncing / wireless systems will advance to the point that it will simply become the norm for the photos to go immediately to the cloud for processing as you take them. Then by the time you’re done the wedding, the photos are essentially ready.
If you are doing a lot of detail editing and doing detail dodge and burning and custom retouching and that is a big part of you style that you deliver to you clients then shoot and burn is not really going to be feasible. AI does a good job of getting close to where I wanna be with edits but I usually still have to go through and do the individual final editing touchups on each image one by one (at the very least I do tend to add a slight vignette to images and this has to be done one at a time because the subject is not in the same exact position within the frame for every image and their pose or moment does affect the way the vignette is applied). Now it may be possible that to the clients this difference is not noticeable and they may not value it so it may be something that I can cut out of my workflow in order to deliver a faster turnaround to a client but I would notice and to make an image portfolio worthy in my eyes I would have to do that anyway. Personally I do like editing and post processing images anyway so that might be a part of it where as a person who does not might not spend that extra time “mastering” their images. That said I do use Aftershoot for culling since culling is the part of the post processing process that I find the most tedious. Since that has made my culling way faster I am able to deliver a 1-2 week turnaround. I think a turnaround of 1-2 days is too quick but a turnaround of 8-9 weeks is too slow nowadays, I find I get my best reception from my clients when I deliver a 2 week turnaround.
I think the industry is always changing always going through Fads just like the latest one with article is charging $5000 to deliver a five minute article where back when I started how I was doing documentary style that could be upwards of two hours long so things change and then it’ll probably change back at some point.
Yes, from my experience shooting Wedding article’s etc. by turnaround times could be pretty long but I tend to find I got a much better response because by the time yeah I had gotten over all the stress and everything up that day and when they were able to sit down and work they were able to just purely enjoy it and see all the stuff that they messed on the actual day. So I agree to rapid turnaround. I don’t think it’s a good idea and I think he has somewhere in the realm of a month is probably the sweet spot.
I hate post-processing so much. It’s the worst part of my job as a wedding photographer tbh. I’ve already been incorporating as much AI as I can to help me get through it quicker. Its definitely not there yet. Even for culling, AfterShoot is not something I can rely on to give me a culled album in 10 minutes. It still takes me a couple of hours to go through everything. It often mislabels things as blurred or eyes closed, so I go through those first to pick out the ones it got wrong. Then I still have to go through the duplicates to make sure it chose the right one. It chooses the right one maybe 85% of the time, it’s not perfect. It did probably cut down my culling time in half, so still very much worth it. But I still end up finishing my culling in Photo Mechanic manually. As for AI editing, I’ve had less luck with that. I have yet to get a satisfactory edit from Imagen. I don’t know if maybe it’s because I shoot Sony and most of the talents are shooting Canon. But I just haven’t been very impressed with it so far. I haven’t tried uploading my own photos for a profile yet, but I may have to try that out. I also sometimes use Luminar Neo for things like erasing power lines and weird objects. But I try to avoid it because it really impacts my workflow. I wish Lightroom had every tool I needed to just stay in their the entire time, but it seems like I’m always having to use another piece of software to solve for something. Recently I’ve started outsourcing some of my editing to full-time editors.
I keep learning here and love the humor. I’m a hobbist sometimes second shooter for the wife’s professional photoshoots. I believe the outcome will produce what you are suggesting. The other day I seen your article on the AI image processing. I was shocked you’d do it, but hey your transparent and honest. I shared that article with her (still waiting for her to view/ response) yet chatted and she is all twisted and upset that she isn’t being authentic and the genuine artist. … but one program she super loves and really put up fight against is the ( dxo program ). I viewed her photos of a large family session that was changed from an outdoor event to indoors, and well the images with high ISO were to grainy … totally unacceptable. I said you can’t send that to them, (but had she known of course she’d do strobes … ) Anyhow she absolutely loves the ai dxo program, even runs most indoor / on location images through it as well before the edits. I want her to give it a go, the upper hand saving time, more to shoot (interact with real people etc.) Her wedding sessions are way to much work and is solidly booked for fall photos and our Santa photoshoots. I do agree with waiting for x amount of weeks for the wedding images, but style of sessions within a much faster window. ~ Long Winded.
I don’t think it will return quite in that context. It will be more like- shoot and instantaneously upload to an online media platform. Ai will style.the images to a couples particular taste and genre, and then immediately export it to their desired social platforms. This online media platform may even have controls preset by the artist/photographer, so the Ai will learn your style for a particular shoot.
I’ve delivered weddings in 2 days before and those couples have been less responsive in terms of how they’ve conveyed any happiness to me about their images vs those who i deliver in 3-4 weeks. It obviously depends on the couple, but i think many couples not only would prefer the personal touch of each delivered image being edited by their photographer but also of you deliver too quickly then we are in danger of making the wedding feel over too soon. The couple can relive their day 3-4 weeks down the line and I think this extends the whole experience rather than it all feel rushed for them. And also many couples may not want to feel their images are cheapened by AI. I mean, what’s more valuable / desirable? A carpenter made bespoke oak dining table or an IKEA chipboard one that’s been made in a factory?
The problem with weddings is that people believe certain things can be done when it is clearly not possible – I’ve heard “My friend is doing it because they have a really good camera” – only to see some 50MP photos that look awful with terrible backgrounds and composition. I’m sure people will want things straight from the camera and throw presets at it themselves. Eventually I expect people to choose their own phones over a photographer.
These days I’m doing IG sneak peeks in a reel the next day (unless it’s a double header) and delivering in 2 weeks thanks to AI. I’m enjoying AI as it gives me energy to apply extra creative edits to the portion of the day I enjoy the most – creative portraits. I let AI (with supervision) handle family portraits, details, ceremony, etc. This is a great subject to explore though!
I did a senior shoot a month ago for a friend…she already had another (high dollar) photographer lined up for the shoot the next week. I shot, culled, edited and posted a gallery in 2 days. It’s been almost a month now and she’s still waiting for a glimpse of her photos from the other photographer. This was a “norm” from a lot of photographers. I find it highly unacceptable (in the portrait world) this day and age. It’s processes like this that cause many to think that cell phone senior shoots are acceptable. It’s not. And it’s killing peoples faith in photographers. We have to be able to shoot and present in a timely manner and it has to be something above and beyond a cell phone shoot. (Which you would think wouldn’t be a thing…but I see it far too often) Come on people! Thanks Taylor…interesting thoughts on this topic for sure!
When you deliver images to fast they think you ripped them off. For 2 days of work they pay $5000 🤦♂️ Up to 4 weeks is fine. No one going to die waiting for images. Personally I prefer to do good retouching on the best brides portraits with frequency separation etc. Shoot and burners going to loose to iPhone every single time.
Yup. The photography community is and has been “eroding” as far as quality and turnaround expectations. Most clients don’t care nor see the difference in quality… they want it NOW. I think It is up to the photographer to become an artist and upping their game as far as artistry and expertise. Keep shooting, keep improving. The higher end clients want well known photographers. I want to know from the photographers who are educators and YouTubers etc what percentage of their income is from an actual plain old photography business. Or in order to survive as a photographer do we need a side hustle. Because the world is saturated with photographers now. Which is lovely. I love that there are some jazzed photographers out there! God speed photographers.
I think the “luxury brand” won’t come from brides and grooms who want their photos quickly culled and edited using AI. I mean why even insist on calling ourselves artists if that is the reality? Is that why most wedding photography looks the same these days? A topic for another day. The luxury product will come when you pay a true artist to shoot and deliver expressive, original, creative and unique images that are carefully and thoughtfully culled and processed by the few remaining artists that still exist in this field.
I think 3-4 weeks is acceptable. Why? because delivering them too soon means couples are still shagging like rabbits and photos aren’t important. If you take too long, they have waited too long for them and by the time they get them they are like MEH! 3-4 weeks means they are out of condoms and start thinking about normal married life and they see they photos and are like, “oh wow, they are so nice”
Artificial intelligence is what it is – artificial. You, as the artist learn how to use it to recreate your ideas, but AI is just the tool – it is not the inspiration, nor the idea, nor the execution. There will always be creative photographers doing much better job than AI, they will continue to cost more and there will be clients (although not many, but the right one) who will appreciate the value of the craft. 😉 Stay positive! And by the way, thank you for your insightful and funny articles. I am signing up for your courses!