Is Photoshop a dirty word amongst wedding photographers?

As a wedding photographer, I am tasked with the huge responsibility of capturing one of the most important days of a couple's life. It is a day that will be cherished for years to come, and I always feel privileged to be a part of it. The majority of my job as a photographer is to ensure that the photos I capture are a true reflection of the day, and that also includes the editing and retouching process.

All wedding photographers have different a philosophy and approach. And notably, all wedding photographers have different pricing structures to accommodate their end product. Yes, you could pay $25k and have a dedicated photography team posing you and delivering your photos meticulously retouched to look like a Vogue Magazine cover. Or you could pay $500 and receive 2000 photos with zero editing or retouching.

During a wedding, I always strive to capture candid and natural photos throughout the day. This means that I am not constantly posing my clients or asking them to smile for the camera. This approach allows me to capture genuine moments that truly reflect the emotion and energy of the day. Yes, I do speak up when I feel it necessary, but this is most likely during the bridal party preparation photos or the bridal party photo shoot after the ceremony.

When it comes to editing and retouching wedding photos, my approach is always "less is more." I believe that wedding photos should be a reflection of the day as it was, with all its beautiful imperfections. My goal is to enhance the natural beauty of the photos, not to completely alter them.

So what is my editing style? Well, this is a very clean, light and airy film look compared to Fuji 400H. Natural skin tones, sage-colored greens and vibrancy throughout. The aim of this is to remain timeless and not go out of trend.

Here’s a before and after photo from a recent wedding for comparison.

What I do for the edit and retouch

Apply colour correction, adjust exposure, contrast, highlights, whites, blacks, sharpening, vibrance, saturation, and cropping. I also have a shortcut (known as a preset) that automatically applies settings to create the film look.

After this application, I may retouch certain images for things like bugs, small signs, cars, and also lightly smooth skin on close-up images.

What I don’t do

Major skin retouching or wrinkle reduction, tattoo or scar removal, removal or adding people to photos, body modifications like slimming, liquifying, etc

What I can do

Outsource any retouching requests for the above to be completed at a cost to the client.

So it’s important to note. If your hotel room is a mess, it will look like that in some of the photos. If your suit or dress doesn’t fit properly, it will show in the photos. If your posture is bad during the ceremony, it will show in the photos. If your celebrant stands behind you, they will be in the photos.

In today's world, social media and filters have given people a false sense of reality of how we look in photos. We've all seen the heavily filtered and airbrushed hero shots on Instagram, and it's easy to fall into the trap of believing that we should look like that in our own photos. However, it's important to remember that those images are often far from reality.

My goal as a wedding photographer is to capture the real moments and emotions of the day, not to create a false sense of reality. I want my clients to look back on their wedding photos years from now and see the beauty and authenticity of the day, not a heavily retouched and filtered version of themselves. As a photographer, I cannot change the reality of the day, but I can capture it in all its imperfect, beautiful glory.

And it’s the imperfections that make us all beautiful in our own way.