AI Or Private Editor?

For a long time, editing help was out of reach for many photographers, especially newer ones, due to the cost of outsourcing to a private editor. AI editing software is helping make it more accessible to more photographers, but there are some things you still need to be aware of and things to consider when deciding what route is best for you.

If you're reading this then you're probably a photographer who is overwhelmed. Your business is going well and you have a lot of sessions but that also means you have a lot of editing to do. Even if you like editing, it can become a bottleneck as the sessions pile up and now you're left feeling stressed as you come up against your delivery deadlines. So you start looking into other options because you need help. Let's look at your options and help you figure out which one fits your needs.

AI Editing
This is all the rage right now. New companies are popping up all the time it seems to offer AI edits in as short as a matter of minutes. Some even offer culling services!

Pros

• on demand editing
• done quickly
• cost effective

Cons

• impersonal
• every small change needs retrained
  
• needs a very consistent style to work well

With AI editing, you can upload your gallery literally any time of the day or night and it will be editing for you within a very short time. And you can't beat the cost. However, you don't have a personal, human experience which is important to some people and if your shooting and editing styles aren't very consistent, AI will struggle to give you results that you like. That's not its fault, but it means that for newer photographers who are still learning consistency or developing their style, they're going to have to do a lot of adjusting after AI is done so it might not really save them much time.

Private Editor
This is a real human who usually has only a handful of clients at a time in order to give a very personal experience. The editor learns your unique style and is able to adjust quickly to changes in your style.

Pros

• personal experience
• easy to make tweaks to your style
• able to help you nail down your style

Cons

• more expensive
• not as quick turn around
• you're dealing with a real human who has a real life

Photographers are in the business of delivering great, personal experiences. It's something we know is valuable to our clients and we often want it ourselves in our own lives. The private editor is that experience when it comes to editing. While it does cost more and isn't as fast, a good editor can turn a portrait gallery around within a week and a wedding within 2-3 weeks, depending on how many galleries they have to edit that week and their availability to work on them. And that is the biggest con. Editors have lives. They have families. Sometimes they go on vacation or have an emergency. Communication is key in working with a private editor and they will usually have buffers built into their deliver timeline to allow for "life happens" stuff. But if you go this route, you have to be aware that there will be times that they miss a deadline or aren't able to take on a gallery. But they are your biggest supporter and cheerleader in your business. They want you to succeed and they want to help you turn those RAW images into the pieces of art you envisioned when you took the photo. They can also help you in the process of fine-tuning your editing style by offering feedback and suggestions based on what you are looking for.

Final Thoughts

With AI and private editing, you still have some editing work to do on the front end but you don't have to do the whole catalog of images. Both require some training from you and both will require you to check the results (at least at first). If you have the money, I believe you will love the private editor experience. But there is nothing wrong with using AI for editing. It's about preference and finances and where you're at in your business journey. Maybe you start with one and move to the other. Or maybe you use AI for your base edits and then let a private editor do the fine tuning (as one of my clients does). Mix and match however works for you.

I hope this is helpful to you. If you have questions about private editing and what that looks like working with me, I'd love to chat with you! DM me on Instagram (@sarah_jayne_photo) or email me at [email protected]. Interested in outsourcing your editing but still not sure which option is best for you? I will ask you some questions to see where you are at and give you an honest answer of which one will serve you best. I also offer free test edits so you can try working with me with no risk!

I'm cheering for you!