Is there anything I can do if I don't like how my wedding photo's are edited?

The first and most useful thing you can do is talk to your photographer, and be specific. Saying "I don't love them" is hard to act on, but "these feel too warm and I was hoping for something cleaner and truer to life" gives us something real to work with. If you can point to a few examples from our own portfolio that show the look you were drawn to when you booked, even better. Most of us genuinely want you to love your images and will happily revisit the edit.

It also helps to know what kind of change you are asking for. A global tweak, like cooling the overall tone or adjusting brightness across a gallery, is usually a quick fix. Detailed retouching on individual photos, like reshaping or heavy skin work, is a bigger job and some studios charge for that, so it is worth asking up front whether it is included or an add on.

One thing I would gently flag: editing style is a personal signature, and the look you saw on a photographer's website is the look you will get. That is exactly why it is worth choosing someone whose style already matches your taste rather than hoping to change it later. For us, every photo is edited in house by our own team and never sent offshore, so if something is not sitting right we can actually go back into the files and adjust it ourselves rather than chasing an outsourced editor for a redo.

Since your wedding hasn't happened yet, you are in a great spot. Have this conversation now, share a few reference images, and you and your photographer will be completely on the same page well before a single photo is taken.

That's dependent upon your contract with the specific Photographer but with us we will present you your images completely unedited will then present them with different and varying degrees of editing and each stage you approve

It's so important to have a good look at your potential photographer's work and ask to view complete galleries so you can get a good idea of their editing style. Editing styles can vary drastically with each photographer, some are more natural colour editors (like myself) and some change up the colours and tones. Some edit lighter and some are more dark and moody. Have a look and see which ones you are drawn too. If for some reason you're not happy with the edits, definitely reach out to your photographer and explain what your concerns are. 

Over the years I have had multiple Brides come crying to me asking if I could repair their images for them.

Unfortunately they chose another photographer and were focused on price rather than reputation.

No true professional will want to get involved with someone else's mess. disappointment is common!

The best way to avoid poorly edited images is to choose a quality photographer to start with.

But to answer the question you could ask them to use less affects and see if that helps. The problem is some photographer over process to eliminate their mistakes such as blur.

Qulaity over quantity is paramount.

My best advice is to look at the way that your photographer has edited the photos on their website before you hire them, so you match your expectations with the style presented. You should discuss the style of photography you are after - documentary style with a mix of posed photos, processed to realistic colours, plus some specific images processed to bring out special details and enhance the mood of drama? If you want your simple, clouded daytime shots to look golden and totally different, then ask your photographer if they can provide this. It can be a lot of work to apply realistic looking changes, so expect to either pay extra for your chosen images to be enhanced this way, or be given a limited number included in your quote. 

If you receive images that have been edited in a very different way to what you agreed on, or see on their website, it's probably best to call them for a chat. Be mindful of how you ask the question - be polite and just ask them why your images look so different to your expectations. If the photographs are great, but the editing is not to your liking, then say so. You should already have an idea of what your images will look like when you hire your photographer, and how long they will spend editing your photos to their regular standard.

It may be the case that you are after special effects that take a lot of extra time (skin softening, blemish removal, colour changes, special effects) so you may need to pay extra for the time taken to make this happen. Many people don't realise how intensive the processing part of the photographer's role is, and how time consuming. It's not like in the days of printing from film, where the correct exposure was the measure of success. Now people see highly edited images and imagine that's how they look in camera. Not so - professionals shoot in RAW, which is the digital equivalent of a negative, and we decide how the images will look once processed. Just applying correct exposure settings is not enough these days, if you want to being out the best in your work.

Another thing to ask your photographer is if they are personally editing your images, or it will be outsourced to either a colleague, or someone else entirely. There are now editing services that can do the work without ever meeting the photographer or couple, remotely. If your photographer outsources their editing this way, you risk it losing the style and personal vision of your photographer and having images that look foreign to you. Be sure you know what you are paying for. 

A professional will be able to meet your expectations. if they are realistic. You should not be forced to accept images that you are not happy with, as you have invested a significant amount of money into the photography. 

For sure! You just contact me (this is how I work) and I can change the look, feel, composition etc. I shoot in RAW, so any amount of change can be made.

Yes. Your photographer should have the raw files, have it edited by a professional. But, to prevent this case. You should ask from your photographer to give you samples of the edited photos before editing the whole lot.

You should find a photographer with a style you like. After the fact, you can always ask the photographer to sell you the raw files and find an editor. 

As your wedding date has yet to come you seem anxious about something that has not happened. If you have already chosen your photographer then i'd guess it was because you liked their style and you would expect it to be the same as you were shown. This shouldn't change dramatically unless they don't edit their own images but send it away to another company to edit and then they have changed their editing supplier. Most Professional photographers won't change their style because this is what they are selling - their style and if you are anxious about this beforehand then you should speak to your photographer about your worries. If you chose to get someone to re-edit for you this will be an expensive business so make sure you are happy with the photographer beforehand

If you are not happy with how your images are edited and the photographer wont fix the problem ask for the original files. You could take them to a professional photo lab and have them edited properly.