How To Edit Wedding Photos: 5 Best Tricks For Non-Pros

Try five techniques to learn how to edit wedding photos even if you’re not a professional or tech-savvy person. While it’s uncommon for wedding photographers to give all the wedding pictures to the client, more so, raw shots without being edited, editing wedding photos can be a fun skill to know.

Perhaps you have the right to do whatever you want with the wedding images, and you want to adjust specific colors and quality. You might also be a friend of the couple who got married, and they entrusted you to shoot their special event. 

how to edit wedding photos

But for couples transacting with this wedding vendor, we recommend reading about what to ask a wedding photographer.

 

How To Edit Wedding Photos Like A Pro

Browse all the wedding photos and separate those you prefer from another drive to save time. Of course, you can always keep the “imperfect” shots for some other viewing, but focus on editing your selected wedding pictures first. 

 

Step 1. Crop the wedding pictures

  • You don’t need to be well-versed in various photo editing software or apps to learn wedding photo editing; sometimes, basic things like cropping an image can enhance your pictures
  • You must learn how to crop wedding photos with the cropping tool to get a proportional-looking image; in most apps, you only need to position the cropping tool centered to the image’s part you want to retain if you selected the freehand option
  • Then, drag the edges of the cropping tool to include the portions of the picture you wish to retain
  • But if you’re going to ensure a proportionally-cropped wedding photo, use the pre-made ratios on the app or software when cropping
  • For example, you don’t want to overcrop and have the picture looking too tight; use the 1:1 cropping ratio of the image if you want a square or crop with the 7:5 ratio for group photos and panoramic shots
  • To avoid ruining the wedding picture’s image quality, use a 16:9 ratio for cropping the wedding photos you’ll use on a wedding slideshow; consider learning what is aspect ratio as it’s applicable when cropping images

 

Step 2. Adjust the brightness and contrast of the wedding images

  • After cropping the wedding photos, you can start editing and experimenting with brightness and contrast for each photo
  • If you want a uniform look or style among the wedding photography, it’s better to not apply drastic differences to the brightness and contrast of each image; however, you may want to use various settings as not all photos were shot in the same conditions
  • Consider increasing the brightness level of the wedding photos that look too dark by dragging the brightness bar to the right and dimming it a bit by going to the left 
  • You also want to use the contrast setting and adjust it on the wedding photos that may need their colors to pop out more; otherwise, lower the contrast and drag the bar to the left on some pictures that look better with their colors subdued

 

Step 3. Modify the colors during photo editing 

  • Whether you’re starting in the industry or you want to do the wedding photos yourself, you must develop a unique photography style
  • One of the critical aspects to help you have a style on wedding photos that will make people identify that they’re done by you is the color of the images
  • You can always use pre-made filters on various apps and software where a touch of a button automatically change the mood of the picture; some filters create a vintage look, while others make a moody or even editorial style 
  • However, it’s best to familiarize yourself with color vibrancy because some images require color retouching that is unique to them because of the conditions when they’re taken

 

Step 4. Fix flaws on the wedding pictures

  • One of the most commonly seen photo editing tips include using the clone tool
  • Most editing software and apps use the clone tool, which hides or replaces certain parts of the image
  • It takes practice to master using the clone tool because you don’t want the retouched area too noticeable on the wedding photo
  • A tip is never to overuse the clone tool and if it’s your first time, try it on small areas first 

 

Step 5. Perfect focus by experimenting with the sharpness settings 

  • The final tip for beginners and non-pros learning how to edit wedding photos is using the sharpness tool
  • Some parts of a wedding image might be out of focus or too blurry for your liking; you can use the sharpness tool to fix these parts
  • Candid images where the subjects are moving are often the ones that look blurry, so you’ll need to enhance them with a sharpness tool, usually by adjusting its strength and dragging the brush to the areas you want to fix

 

Which App Is Best For Editing Wedding Photos For Beginners?

  • Snapseed
  • VSCO Cam
  • Afterlight

 

Conclusion

And that’s it! We just learned how to edit wedding photos by focusing on five areas that usually need adjustment. 

The three apps we mentioned are also beginner-friendly, especially if you’re unfamiliar with various tools. And if you didn’t choose to edit but have the photographer do it for you, find out how long it takes to get wedding photos back.

Leave a Comment