Why You Should Outsource Photo and Video Editing

Outsourcing photo and video post production is an increasingly growing trend. Some photographers choose to outsource only during busy times of the year and some prefer to outsource all their projects full-time. Photographers who are not familiar with this type of service may initially have some reservations, as it could feel like their style and work is being compromised when someone else edits their work. “Is it worth it?” is a question that comes to mind. To help with decision making, this article will focus on the benefits of outsourcing your labor while also addressing the reasons why photographers hesitate to outsource.

Reasons why you should outsource your post production

1. It saves you time and money

Time you normally spend editing projects can be allocated to other tasks. You may think that outsourcing photo and video editing labor will cost you money but you must take into consideration the value of your time. For example, color correcting 500 images could cost you as little as $75. If you did that yourself, it would take 8 hours. You’ll “spend” around $9 per hour to outsource, but your time is way more valuable than that. By outsourcing your labor, you can save up to 75% in costs! You don’t have to spend hours on photoshop or iMovie when you can get someone else to do that for you at affordable rates!

2. Quick turnaround

The more time you spend on shoots, the more you have to edit. It can get overwhelming when clients want their files faster than you can deliver them. When you have an event to shoot each week, in addition to other work you have to do, then the backlog of shoots to edit just keeps growing. But once you outsource your editing, your clients receive their photos and videos quicker and will likely book you again and refer you to their friends and family for taking excellent shots and delivering in a timely manner. This results in more clients and more money in your bank account!

3. Relieve your stress

Editing is one of the hardest parts of being a photographer. From color correction to video editing, it involves a lot of time and effort on your part. It’s a stressful job that leads to headaches and is time consuming. Through outsourcing, you can relieve yourself from the stress of editing. Outsourcing frees you from this burden which allows you to spend more time relaxing and honing your craft. Instead of spending hours or days hunched over a computer editing, you can focus on other things like watching Netflix, finding ways to generate more clients, or spending time with people you love. Taking your life back via outsourcing is an investment worth considering.

Still having second thoughts? These are the common reasons that are on photographers minds when they first consider outsourcing, and our thoughts on the issues.

1. Communication

Communication remains a key issue with outsourcing. Similar to how many corporations love to hire labor from China because of cheap rates and quality materials, outsourcing your post-processing services to non-English speaking countries can provide a cost effective solution. But this can lead to communication hurdles. Fortunately, countries like the Philippines have a population where most citizens speak excellent English.

In the Philippines, the importance of education is always emphasized. Most young Filipinos are highly educated college graduates who can speak fluent English from an early age. With an exceptionally competitive job market and a surplus of accomplished college graduates, companies can choose highly educated employees with the best credentials and skills for the job. Most clients may find that their editor may be from a high caliber university graduate with a higher educational attainment than themselves, and they may even have better written English skills than their photographer clients. This leads to better understanding and communication between the photographer and outsourced editor. Throw in that Outsource Digital Solutions is an Australian owned company whose work is closely monitored by the Australian heads of the company, this will lead to clear lines of communication between you and the editor.

2. Cultural Differences

Photo from our partner company of a traditional wedding in the Philippines

Outsourcing to countries like China or India may lead to confusion or lack of understanding of the relevance of certain traditions in Christian/Catholic weddings. The importance of cutting the cake, removing of the garter, the toast to the bride, father-daughter dance and the father giving away his daughter and walking her down the aisle are important parts of a western wedding. An editor who is not familiar with western practices may miss these important elements or not emphasize these adequately in a highlight video. With Filipinos who grew up in a very westernized society largely influenced by their Spanish and American colonial heritage and a Catholic/Christian religion, they understand and can properly put emphasis on the highlights of a wedding event as it is no different to their own weddings and culture.

3. Keep your originality

One of the hesitations that photographers and videographers may have with outsourcing their post production is losing their brand or creative touch as a photographer. To solve this, our team at Outsource Digital Solutions is able to replicate your editing style. Whilst a wedding photographer may have issues replicating another person’s style, our staff do this with ease due to their years of experience doing this daily with different clients. Their talent has beenyou honed on picking up your style quickly and replicating as close as possible instead of using their own talent and doing things their own way.

The takeaway

Outsourcing post-production edits for photos and videos is a great way to save time and money but you should select carefully on which company you choose. You can select an Asian company or freelancer for post-production edits and there’s nothing wrong with that. But here at Outsource Digital Solutions, we have proven with numerous clients that we can reproduce your editing style without compromising on quality. The time you save on outsourcing post production is justified at the time you save yourself which can be allocated to other tasks like spending time with your family, relaxing, going to the gym, or other activities that make you money.

Get your life back with Outsource Digital Solutions.