Less is more in wedding photos!

We recently polled our Style Unveiled members about some common misconceptions they deal with each year as new couples begin their wedding planning process.  As editors ourselves, this one from Portland, OR based wedding photographer, Heather Bayles struck us as keen advice.  Read on to find out why the eye of a good photographer goes beyond the image in the moment and into the editing room!

From Heather Bayles Photography:

One of the biggest wedding photography misconceptions is thinking that you (the bride or groom) want ALL of the images from your wedding.  It's potentially the most important day of your life and you don't want to miss a thing, photographers get that.  But trust us, you don't want all the photographs.  Between my second shooter and I, we typically capture 4000 - 5000 images for an 8-hour wedding.  These are then edited down to the best 700 - 800 images that tell the story of your day.  We edit out photographs of people yawning, blinking, duplicate images, etc.  What some brides and grooms may not realize is that they are not just hiring their photographer because of their photography skills.  They are also hiring their photographer because of their editing skills.  

When you visit a good wedding photography website and are drawn to that photographer's style, yes, you are looking at beautiful photographs, but you are also looking at the result of skilled editing.  Whether you know it or not, you are drawn to that photographer's editing expertise - the way they put a group of photographs together to tell a specific story and elicit a particular feeling.  Trust your photographer to do what drew you to them in the first place - artful photography, but also skilled editing that will tell your unique story and make you look your very best.