The absolute BEST thing I’ve ever done for my business was hire a private photo editor.  From the very beginning, I knew that finding an editor to handle the majority of my editing tasks was going to be a big part of my business.  I had read a lot of blog posts by Jasmine Star and made the decision that I wanted to outsource my editing from the start – but letting go of such a personal task was extremely hard!!  A photographer’s brand and identity is built on their editing style, so giving someone else control over that aspect of your business is really scary.  Trust me – it took me a LONG time to find the right person to handle it for me.  But once I found my private editor, a weight was lifted off of my shoulders.  I could really focus on tasks to GROW my business instead of sitting behind a computer, editing all day every day.

My quest for an editor started in mid-2013.  I had just started shooting weddings full-time and I had photographed 11 weddings in the span of 3 months.  I knew that I was going to need help as my business started to grow.  I wanted and needed time to network, blog, build vendor relationships, focus on social media, work on submitting my work for publication, and other tasks that were going to help me book more weddings – and these tasks demanded my time.  After trying a few larger editing companies with no success, I found my first private editing team through a Facebook group.  Through a pretty intense process, I was able to describe and show them how I wanted my images to look at the end of the day.  I sent them a few RAW files so that they could try to match my style… and they did!  What they returned to me were so similar to my own style, I had to double check to make sure I hadn’t accidentally sent them the edited JPEG images!  It was a match made in heaven and I was with them for nearly 4 years until they changed ownership.

After that, I started to look for a new editor – and I found Emily!  Let me just tell you that Emily is a godsend and I am SO glad I found her when I did!  I connected with her in early 2017 and I’ve been working with her ever since.  She just “gets” me and my style so perfectly.  As an added bonus, she is extremely quick with her turnaround.  She is a HUGE part of my business and I credit her with giving me the time + freedom I need to work on growing my business.  I know my editing is in great hands with her, which gives me peace of mind.

If you’re thinking about hiring a private editor for your business, my advice to you is DO IT!!  It’s honestly the best thing I’ve ever done because let’s be honest… I absolutely hate editing!!  Outsourcing your edits isn’t expensive.  In fact, it’s a worthwhile investment in yourself and your business.  Private editors charge around .30 to .40 per image edited in Lightroom.  Culling and Photoshop work are generally extra.  I still cull all of my weddings and personally edit 300-500 of my favorite images of the day.  These are the images I use to blog, post to social media, submit for publication, use on my website, etc.  Everything else is edited by Emily and that system works out WONDERFULLY for me + my business.  If you’ve been thinking about outsourcing your editing and hiring a private photo editor, be sure to check out Edit Source for a list of amazing private editors and find the right fit for you + your business.  It just might be the best investment you’ll ever make for your business!