You’ve probably asked yourself some version of this in the middle of a long edit: is outsourcing actually worth it, and how does it even work? Who sees the files, what do you send, what do you get back, and what if it doesn’t look like yours?
According to Shotkit’s survey of 1,850 wedding photographers, most respondents don’t outsource their editing. So if you’ve never done it, you’re in good company. This post walks through the practical side: what you hand over, what comes back, how the pricing models differ and how to test an editor before you trust them with a real client.
What you send
The handover is smaller than most photographers expect. You don’t upload thousands of raws to someone’s server. You share a link.
1. The footage link. A Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, pCloud or Box link to the full card or your selects. Keep it live until delivery.
2. Your preset. Your Lightroom preset or profile, exported as a file. This is the starting point for the grade.
3. Three to five finished frames. Pick frames you’re proud of, ideally from different light: one outdoor portrait, one indoor shot, one reception frame. These show the editor what “done” looks like in your hands, which a preset alone can’t.
4. A short brief. A line on how the day should feel, plus anything specific. A guest who shouldn’t appear in the gallery. A scar the bride asked you not to remove. A target count if you want fewer images than the package allows.
That’s it. If you shoot the same look every weekend, the preset and reference frames carry from one wedding to the next.
What comes back
From us, a Gallery package comes back as:
- The finished gallery, culled to the count in your package and graded to your look, through a download link.
- The Lightroom catalog, so you can open the edit yourself, change any frame and export again.
- Revisions if you need them. You write what should change, and the same editor works it in. Each round takes about two business days.
The catalog matters more than it sounds. It means you’re never locked out of your own work. If a couple asks for a black-and-white version of one frame six months later, you can do it in a minute.
How pricing models compare
There are three common ways editing services charge. None is wrong. They suit different studios.
| Model | How it works | Suits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per image | A price for each edited image | Studios with varied, smaller jobs | Whether culling is priced separately; how costs add up on a long wedding |
| Monthly subscription | A fixed monthly fee, often with an image cap per event | Studios with steady volume all year | Months when you don’t shoot but still pay; caps and what’s excluded |
| Flat per wedding | One price for a defined gallery size | Studios with seasonal volume | What counts as one wedding; the raw count limit |
Whatever an editor charges, ask the same questions:
- Is culling included, or extra?
- How many revision rounds are included?
- Do I get the catalog or project file back?
- What’s the turnaround in business days, and do weekends count?
- Is there a commitment, or can I send one wedding and stop?
What BackstagePost charges
We charge flat per project, in dollars, with no subscription.
| Package | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement gallery | 100 to 200 culled and graded images from up to 1,000 raws, 2 revisions | $50 |
| Wedding gallery | 300 to 500 culled and graded images from up to 3,000 raws, up to 3 revisions | $80 |
Culling, the Lightroom catalog and the revisions listed are included in those prices. Add-ons such as album design ($60 for 20 spreads) are priced separately and chosen before we start.
Big weddings and multi-day weddings are charged at the same package prices. The Wedding gallery covers up to 3,000 raws across the whole wedding, all days and events together. List the events in the brief so the cull and the delivery are planned around the whole celebration.
Standard turnaround is 7 business days from the day your link works and the brief is complete. Rush in 72 hours adds 50% to the order. Studios sending five or more projects a month can move to a monthly plan at 15% off.
Revisions: what’s normal
Even a good editor won’t match every frame perfectly on the first wedding. Revisions are how the match gets tight.
The useful kind of revision note is specific. “Skin is too warm in the reception, and the getting-ready frames need lifting a stop” is something an editor can act on. “Doesn’t feel like mine” is hard to act on without examples. If something misses, point to the frame and say what you’d change.
After the first wedding or two, most of your notes should be small. If they’re not getting smaller, that tells you something about the fit.
Confidentiality
When you outsource, your couples’ images leave your hands. It’s fair to ask what happens to them. Ask any editor, in writing:
- Who opens the files?
- Will my work ever appear in your portfolio, on social media or in ads?
- Will you ever contact my clients?
- When do you delete working copies?
Our answers are on the confidentiality page: your work is never shown without your written permission, we never contact your clients, and your raws stay in your own storage. We wrote a separate post on white-label editing if that’s your main concern.
How to test an editor
Don’t send your most important wedding first. Send a typical one, the kind you shoot most, with your usual preset and references. Then judge it the way you’d judge your own:
- Do skin tones match across the day?
- Did the cull keep the moments you’d have kept?
- Would you deliver it with only small changes?
If the answer is yes, send the next one. If it’s close, send notes and see how the revision lands. If it’s nowhere near, you’ve lost nothing but a few days.
Your next step
Send one typical wedding as your free trial. It’s one project per studio, any Gallery tier or the Highlight film, edited and delivered exactly like a paid project, with no card needed.
Every price and add-on is on the packages page. What we cull, grade and retouch is set out on what we edit, and how revision rounds and refunds work is on revisions and refunds. You can see finished galleries on our work page.
If you’re worried the edit won’t look like yours, read how preset matching actually works.