You always hear that choosing a wedding photographer is tricky, but what about choosing a wedding photography editing style? Just like there are many different wedding photographers you can choose from, there are also a few different wedding photography editing styles.
Learning and understanding different editing styles will benefit you in many ways – not only will it help you choose the right photographer, but it will also give you confidence in your decision when it comes to editing style.
You don’t want to think that you love warm, film-style photos only to realize after your wedding that you adore dark and moody images even more.
As a wedding photographer I want you to love your wedding photos and part of this comes down to making sure you love how I edit your photos. Let’s dive into different wedding photography editing styles and my best tips on how you can choose your favorite editing style.
Different Wedding Photography Editing Styles
Vibrant, true-to-life color
This is my favorite editing style and how I describe how I edit my photos. This style involves using natural colors and light and not altering your images too much. Your photos won’t be too dark or too light, and they will have a clean and simple look.
I want your wedding photos to be vibrant, alive, and true to life as your wedding day itself. Your whites will be white, and your greens will be green. All your colors will appear exactly as they are without being muted, overexposed, or oversaturated. You’ll get a gallery of photos that look exactly like it felt to be there.
Light and airy
A light and airy editing style draws out soft, bright, and creamy tones. These photos are often overexposed and desaturated to evoke a dreamy and romantic vibe. With this editing style, you won’t notice many, if any, shadows—instead, you’ll see bright highlights and colors lighter than they are in real life.
Dark and moody
This one is pretty self-explanatory: A dark and moody edit is the complete opposite of light and airy. Dark and moody photos have tan and brown tones with muted highlights and greens. Dark and moody photos aren’t always underexposed – but you’ll see deeper shadows and a medium to low contrast.
Filmy and Cinematic
A filmy and cinematic edit will have muted tones, reduced clarity, and a softer, dreamier focus. People who enjoy this editing style are often going for a more editorial look and may want some of their photos to be blurry to show motion. You’ll notice some filmy and cinematic edits have a slightly blue or green tint to the highlights – this couple wanted a more green-based filmy edit.
How to Choose Your Wedding Photography Editing Style
Start by looking at the most popular wedding editing styles and which style you are naturally drawn to. It’s important to know about different editing styles so that you don’t get your wedding album back and are disappointed with how your photos turned out.
Here are my top tips on choosing a wedding photography editing style you LOVE.
Analyze your social media saves
My recommendation is to start saving your favorite photos on Pinterest and social media. I bet you’ll start to notice a trend based on what you’re saving with which style you are resonating with the most.
Do your research
Once you’ve decided on your ideal style, start compiling a list of photographers who edit in that style. Every photographer will have a different editing style. Even if you’re only looking at photographers who have a light and airy editing style, each one will have a slightly different way of editing their photos. Picture yourself in their photos!
As I mentioned above, my preferred editing style is vibrant, true-to-life color, but when it comes to choosing your wedding photography editing style, I think it’s more important to get the right photographer.
If my clients know that I’m the right *person* for them but don’t love my vibrant, true-to-life color editing style, I’m happy to do another one.
A quick note: This isn’t something that every wedding photographer will offer, but if you really like the photographer you’re considering and want to work with them, it never hurts to ask us if we are willing to change our editing style for your wedding.
You spend more time with your wedding photographer than anyone else on your wedding day – you want to make sure that you are working with a photographer that you trust, feel comfortable with, and who you know will give you a wedding album full of photos you love that are edited just how you envisioned them.
If you want to learn more about how I work with you to ensure my editing style matches your wedding vision, check out the blog I wrote for you here.
Look at their full galleries
After you’ve decided on an editing style and narrowed down your list of potential photographers that you want to work with, take a look at their full wedding galleries on their websites.
Don’t just base your impression and their editing style off of a few pretty photos they’ve included on their website or social media – remember, this is their highlight reel. Many wedding photographers (myself included, honestly) mainly post gently posed portraits and photos in the best possible lighting.
To get a better feel and idea of their work, you want to look through their different wedding galleries and see how they went about editing ALL of their photos. How do they work with dark indoor receptions? Do they know how to use Flash to compensate? How do they take dance floor photos?
If a photographer doesn’t have a full gallery shared on their website, then reach out to them and ask if they can send you some different galleries to look at in your desired editing style to ensure that a) you want to work with them and b) you really do love the editing style you’ve chosen.
Now You’re Ready to Choose Between the Different Wedding Photography Editing Styles
I hope that you found this guide on different wedding photography editing styles helpful. Remember, when it comes to style, there’s no right or wrong choice. The most important thing is that you are happy with the style you’ve chosen and that you’ve found the right photographer to bring your vision to life.
And If you’d like to work with a queer wedding photographer like me, let’s talk! I’d love to bring your vision to life and celebrate your love story. Most weddings I photograph are in the SF Bay Area, but I’m happy to come wherever you are!
