Post # 1

Member
33 posts
Newbee
I just got my e-photos back and while I’m very pleased with most of the pictures, there are several that I have to edit. Mostly it is because of the bright sunlight that white-washes us. I am using http://www.photoshop.com to self-edit these overexposed photos to make them more vivid/higher contrast (more of the style I like). My photog took 2.5 months to give me back 180 photos on CD (70 of which are awesome), so I don’t want to ask her to go back to edit since I’m going to print my prints myself. I did tell her I liked the more vivid pics and would like more of them for my wedding, though if that doesn’t happen, I know I can edit them as well.
Has anyone else had to edit their own photos? What do some of the pros think about this? She never told me to pick a few I wanted printed and she would edit them more. This has been a very interesting experience…
Post # 3

Member
7 posts
Newbee
Unless you bought the full copyright this is definitely a “no-no” with pro photographers.
Post # 4

Member
2967 posts
Sugar bee
i edited a few of my photos. this is kinda embarrassing, but i didn’t realize that my dress was going to be so shear (it was a dark royal blue color and i didn’t think there’d be an issue), so in a few photos you can totally see my underwear! i’m usually sooo careful about making sure i always wear the necessary/appropriate undergarments and i can’t believe i did that for my engagement photos of all things! anyway, i edited them myself, but i also asked her to edit them, which she says she did, but i still haven’t received a cd of the re-edited pics and it’s been over 2 months since i asked :/
Post # 5

Member
33 posts
Newbee
When I booked her, I asked if I get full copyrights to the photos and she said yes. Wouldn’t have booked a photographer if I didn’t get that. Perhaps this is why they are not heavily edited.
Post # 6

Member
3092 posts
Sugar bee
I need to look into this. None of our photos will be edited…we get a copy of all images taken unedited. I assumed this was so we could edit them ourselves. Maybe not….eeek!
Post # 7

Member
33 posts
Newbee
Oh no! Glad they are being re-edited, but that is exactly why I didn’t ask my photog to do it! You confirmed that I made the right choice! Plus, I know what I want and can do it myself, so why waste a professional’s time? My labour is cheap in comparison!
Post # 8

Member
6122 posts
Bee Keeper
I paid to have my regular point and shoot photo edited by an Etsy person for like $3.
In the end I didn’t like her editing so I just did it myself – but these were self portraits we took. It was nothing fancy, I don’t own any good photo editing software like Lightroom or Photoshop.
Post # 9

Member
1314 posts
Bumble bee
@Romantic_Bride: Copyright laws are different in Canada in the US. In the US professional photographers simply do not relinquish copyrights to their clients without a price. In fact if you have hired a wedding/portrait photographer in the states that readily agrees to this it ought to be a warning sign that you are hiring someone who is less than professional.
In general you should not have to alter your photographs to match the style you are after – you should hire someone who edits their photos that way to begin with.
Post # 10

Member
1855 posts
Buzzing bee
It’s my dream to edit my own photos, haha.
I know my photographer personally, so thankfully she altered the contract for me to allow me the rights to. I hate my nose…I wanted to be able to legally edit it how I like it.
I’m nuts, I know.
Post # 11

Member
748 posts
Busy bee
Why not? I edit my own photos all the time.
Post # 12

Member
1004 posts
Bumble bee
@Romantic_Bride: Unless you have written permission, you can’t just edit a photographer’s photos yourself… not if you want to show them to anyone else or post them online.
Most photographers have it written in their contract, but I am pretty sure that by default you can’t edit someone else’s creative work and then either a) advertise it as their work since it no longer represents them or b) put the images online without giving them credit, which if you edit them yourself, means you are mistrepresenting their work.
Post # 13

Member
406 posts
Helper bee
@continuumphotography: it’s the same here in Canada. I don’t know anone who would give a client copyright without a huge price tag