If you read our recent post about why you should outsource, then you’ll know I’m a huge fan of outsourcing in your business! You can delegate several areas of your business, but one that we love to outsource is editing.

Once I realized the freedom of my time & energy I got from outsourcing, I was sold and I don’t think I’ll  ever turned back! I want you to have that same freedom!! Yes, it’s an investment, but it’s worth it my friend! If you’re seriously considering outsourcing your editing, we want to give you some tips on how to have a great experience with your editor. Today, we’re mixing things up and it’s a guest post because I want you to hear from our editor himself!

top 3 tips on how to have a great experience with your editing

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Say hello to our editor, Adam!

Adam’s wife, Megan, started her photography business in 2011 shortly after they got married. Megan started editing for other photographers for a little extra income, more consistent work, and to open up some weekends. Adam began editing because he thought it was fun (what a gift! haha) and it was something he could do as a side job.  When his full time position as a youth pastor turned into a part time job, Adam decided to join Meagan and make their photography/photo editing business his full time gig!  “We both like it because we have more consistent schedules, I’m home more now during the evenings and on Sundays, and we each get to spend more time with our kids!  We also love finding ways to put “us” into our business through the way we interact with clients…we have fun chatting over email and social media and sending goodies and such.We are also looking at ways to grow our business. Meagan is currently working on a contentment course, where she wants to engage, challenge, and inspire women in their own lives in the area of contentment…I think it’s shaping up to be something really good.”  Check out their website here!

now for those nuggets of wisdom from Adam…

My wife has a client who refers to her as the editing fairy—she sends her catalogs to be edited and POOF! they come back ready for the gallery!

I’m not an editing fairy…if I was a photo editing fairy, I would probably find another job.  Too much spandex and too much glitter.  Instead, I’m a backpacking-crunchy-guitar riff jamming-home brewing-Dungeons and Dragons podcast listening-photo editing technician! In the world of wedding photography I often laugh because I feel a little out of place.  I’m surrounded by soft pastel colors, easy listening music, minimalist design websites, coffee shops and mushy blog posts. I like first person shooters (any Destiny fans out there?), micro breweries and Pearl Jam, but I can be light and airy too!  I approach photo editing like a puzzle – I want to see what the photographer did to make that image happen, and I love figuring out how to get it right!

Meagan (my wife) and I love editing for our clients and cherish the relationships we have with them.  It’s been a blast working with Monica and Drew – they’ve been a great client for me (Meagan and I each have our own clients and we work exclusively with them) and when Monica asked if I could share my thoughts on how to have a great relationship with a photo editor, I couldn’t say no!

If you are considering the leap to outsourcing your work, let me congratulate you on taking that step! Many photographers are afraid to allow others to edit their own work, and understandably so! Your work is an extension of yourself, and it deserves to be respected and taken seriously.  A good editor will protect your work as if it was his/her own!

So…without further ado, here are three things that I believe you should do in order to work successfully with an editor:

1. Be thorough.  I’ve heard stories from photographers about bad experiences they’ve had with their previous editors—waiting weeks for an email response, slow turnaround times, and inconsistent edits that do not match the photographer’s style.  This can and does happen, but do not let this scare you!  Ask around about photo editors, get some referrals from other photographers, and even interview a couple editors (you can look for an editor on edit-source.com).  Schedule a Skype or FaceTime session, ask some questions, and get to know him/her!  Hopefully your potential editor will do the same, and your working relationship will be off to a great start!
2. Be honest. We all want to be friendly and encouraging, but sometimes we sacrifice honesty to avoid hurting someone’s pride or feelings.  You don’t want to do that with your artwork.  If you don’t explain exactly what you’re looking for, then your editor won’t get it right! You can (and should) be kind and gracious in your feedback and communication with your editor.  This will save you both a lot of time (and maybe even frustration) in the long run!Your editor probably won’t be offended by your feedback. It’s likely they have several clients with several different styles, so they’ll appreciate your honesty. Or, if you’re still trying to “nail down” your editing style, an editor may be a great resource for you! I have a client who simply doesn’t want to spend time learning the ins and outs of Lightroom (she has a full time job out of the wedding industry), so she told me what she wanted, gave me the freedom to edit in a way that I thought was best, responded with some feedback, and things are going great!  She was honest and clear in her feedback, and gracious and patient as we worked out the wrinkles.
3. Be patient. I believe that hiring an editor can be a very life-giving thing for you, but just like any healthy relationship, the one you’ll have with your editor takes a little bit of work.  I tell my clients that it takes about three weddings for me to start feeling confident about editing a photographer’s work, and after that it gets much easier for me to see through their creative lens.  So share your feedback (again, be thorough and honest!) and give your editor some time to match your style.  Odds are you’ve been working on your style for a long time, so don’t get frustrated if the first edits you get back aren’t quite what you expect.For example, when I first started editing for other photographers, I had a client who sent me a wedding.  It was the first wedding she sent to me for editing.  She gave me no samples of her edited work, so I simply edited a handful of images for her feedback before I did the entire catalog.  She said they looked good, so I finished the edits and sent them back.  A couple days later, she told me she wasn’t going to outsource anymore because she felt she had to do more work than she wanted, and said that she had to do a lot of touch up after I sent them back.I think this example shows how much honesty, patience, and thoroughness helps in a photographer/editor relationship.  We weren’t in sync, and I definitely could have done more to make sure she understood the process.  The outsourcing process is different because it adds a couple of extra steps to your workflow, so it takes some getting used to.  I’ve found that this can be challenging for photographers – hiring an editor means you may need to do some things differently, and there’s an adjustment period until you’re back on track with your new (and improved!) workflow.

I wish you the best of luck as you search for an editor!  Just remember to be thorough, honest, and patient.  I’d love to hear your stories about your photographer/editor relationships…and if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email at adam@the-jepsons.com. I want to see your business thrive!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to get back to saving the world (last call for you Destiny fans out there!) from another alien onslaught.  Keep pressing on, folks!

-Adam