Why You Want to Understand How Photo Editing Works for Your Wedding Photos

We live in a world where photos are heavily edited and filtered. There’s nothing wrong with a photographer using filters or presets, but if the filter/preset completely alters the coloring of your wedding day where the images look like someone else’s wedding, that might be a problem.

And this is a conversation I’ve had with a few of my wedding vendor friends. It’s devastating to spend so much of your time making sure everything matches perfectly for your wedding just to get your photos back to realize your oranges look brown and your whites look ivory and your greens look gray.

So I wanted to take some time to explain to you a few of the different photography editing styles, why knowing this is important, and give you some tips on how to choose your photography style for your wedding.

What are the common wedding photography styles?

• Light and Airy: This style of photography is romantic with soft, bright whites and creamy tones. The photos give off a dreamy, romantic look. They’re typically overexposed and skin tones can appear too cool or too blue and often leaves details in dresses blown out where you can’t see them at all.
• Dark and Moody: This style of photography has moodier colors, with darker orange and brown tones. The photos give off a slightly vintage vibe. But sometimes you can’t see details because things are so dark.
• True to Life: Finally, this style of photography shows the truest colors. Nothing is muted or overexposed. The colors appear as the true colors. Your whites are going to be white. Your greens are going to be green. Your pinks are going to be pink.

**All of the images I’m sharing on this post, are edited to be true to life!!

Why is knowing about photography editing styles and filters important? Why should I care?

The short answer: Because you want to love your photos so much that you are proud to hang them on your walls.

It’s 2023. There are filters on almost every single photo you see when you open your phone or computer. And if there isn’t a filter, the photo has probably been edited.

Yes, even those photos you have pinned to your Wedding Inspiration Board.

Here’s the thing: Photographers have different editing styles. Some photographers use filters. This isn’t a bad thing.

But what can be bad is if you don’t understand how photo editing and presets work and you get your wedding (or family) photos back, and you absolutely hate them.

Think about how you use Instagram. You can pop up a photo of your bathing suit or living room, add a filter, and completely change the coloring of the photo. Do you want the colors of those things you’ve so carefully picked out for your wedding day to change and look different in your photos?

Or do you want your photos to reflect the true color of your dress, linens, and flowers that you actually see on your wedding day?

If you spend the better part of the year agonizing over making sure everything matches perfectly… taking the time to travel to 5 different bridal shops, ordering 15 different fabric swatches, and taking 3 trips back to the rental company to pick out the perfect linen… it seems like you’d want all of those items to look in the photos how they really looked in real life.

Often when a photographer uses a filter/preset that isn’t true to life, the greens in images can be way off. We know what green looks like. When you receive an image that the greens are gray, that’s not real life. As my friend Renee, who is a talented floral designer, says, “The filtered colors may be a real color in real life but it may not be a real color in floristry. That color gray does exist. But God doesn’t make gray grass.” Your floral designer can’t give you gray grass on your wedding day. If you want gray grass, then you’ll have to be content with letting your eyeballs see green grass on your wedding day and then having gray grass in your photos if that’s the route you go photography wise. If you want the grass to look the color it really is, then you’re going to want true-to-life photography that shows you what things really looked like on your wedding day.

Tips to making sure you like your wedding photos

1. Do your research. Browse your potential photographer’s portfolio, style, and work. Ask to see a full wedding gallery from that photographer.
2. Does the photographer’s style match your wedding style?
3. Decide what you want out of your photography. Do you want to remember your wedding day as it happened? Or are you looking for something more stylized?

Your choice of photography editing styles is completely up to you. I personally love the timeless, classic look and want my clients to look back at their photos and remember their wedding for what it was. Ultimately it’s your choice.

And if you’re looking for a wedding photographer who delivers true-to-life images, just fill out this form, and I’ll be in touch!