Gallery: Please visit the gallery to view images in full size. From the gallery, you will be able to add the images to the shopping cart and checkout. YouTube: I have a YouTube Channel (Hari PHL) where I post videos once a week. Please subscribe to my channel and share my videos. I appreciate your support. Thank you for visiting my site.
There are many reasons why you might be wanting to outsource the post production work in your photography business or practise. It could be that you know a photography editor who is really amazing, super talented and available to help you out. Otherwise you could be extremely busy and with deadlines fast approaching you need some extra help to get things on time!
Post production covers every part of the process that occurs after you have finished the photo shoot. This could be editing, sharpening the image, changing aspect ratios, compressing files and adding filters.
Whatever your reasons for wanting to outsource the post production side of things in your photography practise there are now, more than ever, fantastic sites and platforms where you can find moderately priced freelancers. Turn around times are often great and you can find some highly skilled people from all over the world who are looking for some extra work.
One of the most popular, and fast growing, sites in the field of providing a platform for freelancers and clients to meet and work together is Fiverr. It’s a comprehensive platform that hosts freelancers in every genre and type of work and photography is no exception.
You’ll find freelancers who specialize in all areas of photography editing, from wedding photos, to portraits and landscapes. No matter what you’re looking for you’ll find a dizzying array of professionals who are just waiting for more orders.
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing your Photography Post Processing work?
There are many pros and cons to consider when you are deciding whether outsourcing is the right route for you.
Advantages of Outsourcing Post Processing Work.
- The Time Factor. This is a major consideration and is one of the main reasons why people will start to outsource aspects of the their professional workflow. Imagine the time you spend editing could be outsourced and you could spend that time either marketing your work, finding new clients or working in your studio taking more photos. If the editing of the images is going to take you 10 hours, and you and you can outsource it for $50, then that works out at about $5 per hour. Your time is worth more than that and so outsourcing the less important parts of the process will save you time which you can dedicate to other parts of your workflow process.
- Platforms such as Fiverr have a great selection of people who are available to work for you. As part of their profile you will be able to see examples of their past work and browse through their portfolio. If you are still wondering if you would be a good fit you can ask them more questions to make sure before you commit to spending money on their services.
- Speed up your Turn Around and Keep on Top of your Work Load. If you’re working, for instance, as a wedding photographer and you know that the summer is going be busy, with a wedding each weekend to photograph, edit the photos and get them back to the client, things can quickly get out of control! You may not have enough time during the week to edit the photos and prepare for the next wedding photo shoot. In no time at all the photos that need some post production work can pile up and become quite a headache to complete! In this kind of situation, outsourcing the time consuming post production work is a great idea so you can focus on what you do best, taking photos and running your business.
- Post Production is not your strength and you want to ensure that it’s up to scratch by getting the help of a specialist. Freelance post production experts on platforms such as Fiverr can take the stress out of your day and help you to deliver top quality results for your clients. Maybe you find post production boring and would prefer to concentrate on taking photos or it could be that you don’t have the right software or skill set to get the post production done to a standard you are satisfied with. Taking on the help of a post production specialist will revolutionize your life and help you reliably deliver what your clients want.
- Ensuring that your photos are properly edited will help you to get more clients in the future and free up your schedule. Always staying ahead of your schedule and completing work on time is essential to running any business, and freelance photography is no exception! Take on the help of others by outsourcing extra work to streamline your workflow.
Disadvantages of Outsourcing Post Processing Work.
- The most obvious drawback of taking on the services of a freelance post production expert is that will inevitably cost you money. If you have the time and are in the early stages of your professional photography career it might make more sense to do the editing yourself. If your business is pretty stable and you can comfortably handle the entire process then biting the bullet and getting the tiresome post production work done yourself is probably the best idea.
- Do you want to lose control of the finished products? If you hand over the post production to a freelancer you will naturally lose some control over the creative process, which to some photographers is not something they are prepared to do! If you’re a bit of a perfectionist then the thought of letting anyone else near your photographs could be the epitome of a nightmare and you’ll never want to do it!
- Ensuring that you get the results you want is not 100% guaranteed. The freelancer that you take on may not have the same creative vision as you do, in fact they almost certainly won’t! It can be hard to communicate what you want from the post production process and it may be difficult to find a freelancer that shares your personal vision.
- You won’t be able to learn from your mistakes. No matter what the reason for you outsourcing your photography post production work you will not be able to learn about the editing side of your photography if you don’t practise! As you find yourself correcting your own mistakes you will naturally make fewer of them when you are taking your pictures. If you’re not careful you can end up relying on your post production help which will slow down how fast you improve as a photographer.
- You’ll miss out those happy accidents that suddenly crop up when you are playing around with the settings of a photo in post production. These random coincidences can strike at any time and you might just have a real gem in your hands which you would never have found if you had outsourced the work.
Outsourcing your post production can save you time and let you focus on your photo shoot.
Outsourcing is a mixed bag. Many photographers make fantastic use of the outsourcing parts of their work and get more clients, work more efficiently and concentrate their energies on what they like doing most – taking great photos!
The costs however can soon add up, and if you don’t really need to use the services or are using the post processing work of others as a crutch to avoid learning the skills yourself, then it might be worth taking the time to master the skills yourself.
It’s always going to be a balancing act and you’ll have to decide for yourself. There are many reasons why photographers take off the load and let other people do the post processing for them however, there are also good reasons why you might prefer to handle the entire process yourself.
Have you outsourced your post processing work for photos or videos?
NOTE: Shoot Philadelphia is supported by readers. Some of the links above are affiliate links. At no cost to you, I may earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. It helps me to continue to offer free content on this site. Subscribe below and receive notifications of new posts by email. Your privacy is important to me and I will not market your email ID. Visit the Affiliate Disclosure page and the Privacy Policy page in the About section for additional information.
Leave a Reply