After making it through a few all-night photo editing sessions, I am finally caught up to enjoy a weekend off.

I often share with my clients what is involved behind the scenes with their photos.  What clients see is our initial meetings, the engagement photo session, and the photography of their wedding.  So lets do some simple math...  an hour here, an hour there... Wow, this guy is making a fortune from our photos...  If it were only that simple.

What happens behind the scenes actually takes more time and energy than the photography itself.  There are about 2 to 3 hours spent selecting and editing each image to every hour of photography.  This does not include the time involved with marketing, ordering supplies, researching equipment, updating the website, etc.

I could take the easy way out and pay someone to edit the images for me - but that takes all of the fun out the creative process.  Some might even argue that if a photographer is having images edited for them, are they truely the original author of their own work?

In the fine art photography industry, many of the masters hire aspiring artists to become a printmaker - or Photoshop technician in today's world.  This person will work for days in the darkroom printing the images until they are at the liking of the photographer.  It is a brutal process for an aspiring photographer...  How similar or different is this process from digital? 

I find it somewhat difficult to form an opinion on the subject.   I have come to the conclusion that it all depends on how much editing to the original image occurs.  This is a very gray line that is completely subjective, but there is a fuzzy gray line never the less. 

The photographer does have the eye and discretion to accept or deny any changes to the original RAW image file (RAW is like a digital negative).   It just frees up their time to take more photos and work with their clients.  But does it take away from the photographer's authorship if an apprentice - or - editing service does all of the manipulations for you?  With the digital world, the possibilities are endless.  If you are skilled at Photoshop, you can take just about any 'normal' photo and turn it into a masterpiece.  This is why I question using an outside source to edit my images.

I think for now I will continue to edit my own work.  I really enjoy taking a simple pose or photograph and turning it into a stunning work of art that my client will appreciate for many, many years.