Today is your clients’ wedding day. This is it. You dreamed of the shots you’ll excitedly capture and arrived on site ahead of schedule. You used your pre-wedding photography checklist to make sure to come prepared for the big day. It goes off without a hitch—great work! You’re packing up your camera to leave. Well. Now what? It’s time to run through your post-shoot checklist.
Pack Up Your Camera Gear
Make sure you’re leaving with everything you came with. Don’t forget your lenses, cameras, memory cards, or tripods. It’s helpful to keep a list in your camera bag on a notecard so that you can quickly run through it before you leave the venue.
Photobug Pro Tip:
Leave yourself in a good position and make sure that when you get home you recharge your camera battery, too. “Future You” will say thanks.
photo by Kelsey Vera Photography
Back Up Every Photo
Once you’ve finished shooting the wedding, make sure you safely eject your memory cards from your camera to ensure you don’t corrupt the images files. Then, download the images to your computer, back them up on an external hard drive, and put them up in the cloud. This might seem like overkill but keep in mind, you shot your clients’ major life event that only happens once. If something happens to those image files you can’t recreate them. Protect these photos as if they were of your own wedding.
Reset Your Camera Settings
Every wedding is different and it’s likely that as the day progressed the settings used to shoot changed. From day to night, indoor to outdoor, you’ve updated the settings on your camera to perfectly capture the conditions you encountered. Make sure you change your camera settings back before you pack up!
For example, as the evening progressed you likely adapted your camera settings to the darkness. If you neglect to reset your camera, you run the risk of forgetting this step and shooting images with high ISO settings—or the measurement of your camera’s sensitivity to light—when there is sufficient light on your next shoot.
photo by Sergey Lapkovsky
Edit the Photos
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Follow your style and edit the images for your clients in a timely manner. If you’re running behind and need help editing everything you’ve shot, consider reaching out to a photo editing company for help.
Upload the Gallery Online
Get your photos uploaded to a gallery to share with your clients. There’s a good chance that you already have a gallery you’re using to share images with your clients. However, if you’re not loving your experience with that gallery, consider switching to one of our favorite options. After all, if you aren’t loving it, your clients probably aren’t either. Client experience counts and will be reflected in your reviews.
photo by Kylie Farmer
Check In and Share Images
Check back in with your couple after the shoot to communicate the timeline you’re expecting to have photos back to them. Then, it’s very important to stick with that timeline.
You should also use this opportunity to ask for feedback from your couple—you’re going to want them to reference their experience working with you when they leave you a review. This feedback will also give you an opportunity to grow your business.
Post it Socially Online
Make sure you’re also sharing your hard work online. Utilize your social media channels, blog, and email list to announce the work you’re especially excited about. The couple and other vendors you worked with may also share your posts which will help you promote your brand and gain new followers on each of those platforms. Followers become clients, so keep sharing!
Keep This Post-Shoot Checklist Handy
This checklist will help you keep your couples happy and your business growing with simple steps to follow after every shoot. If you’re looking for other ways to grow your business, be sure to check out the business advice on our blog.
photo by Maggie Grace Photography
