Wedding season is here, and for photographers, that means it’s time to shift gears from off-season mode to full-production flow. In a recent video, photographer Taylor Jackson shared how he prepares himself and his business to handle the rush and create and deliver an incredible experience for his clients. From AI-powered editing to backup strategies and second shooter scheduling and more, Taylor offers a practical and efficient approach that any working photographer can adapt.
Let’s get into it.
Video: How I Get Ready for My Wedding Photography (and Hybrid) Season
Here’s a breakdown of Taylor’s workflow as a simple guide to help you get ready for the busy season ahead.
1. Automate Your Editing with AI (Seriously)
We typically think of editing and post-production as one of the last parts of the process when it comes to wedding photography. When it comes to prepping for the wedding season, however, making sure you’re good to go with a solid editing workflow can let you know how much time you have to spend on the rest of the tasks that need handling.
One of the arguably biggest time-savers is using AI-powered software like Imagen to handle editing.
Here’s how.
AI Culling
Culling is one of the most time-consuming parts of post-production, especially for mirrorless shooters capturing 3x more images than ever before. Taylor uses Imagen’s culling feature to help cut down 4,000+ image weddings to around 1,000 usable shots, which he then refines down to the final gallery.
The AI is particularly helpful when reviewing group or couples portraits, automatically skipping images where people are blinking or out of focus, and picking the best versions. While it’s not a complete replacement for human review, it can eliminate the bulk of the tedious decision-making.
To further optimize the review process, Imagen also enables users to preview photos with their preferred editing AI profile applied while culling to remove any guesswork about what the images might look like in their final form.
AI Editing
Once the images are culled, you can use AI for editing to save even more time. Imagen, for example, learns your editing style through pattern recognition. After feeding it a set of past edits, it begins editing new galleries just like you normally would, but with more consistency and speed. In Taylor’s case, he notes that after uploading a gallery, he gets back a fully-edited version in about ten minutes, a task that would normally take a full day.
Once you get the edits back, all you need to do is fine-tune any images that need adjustments and upload those final changes back to Imagen, which then helps the software learn and improve for next time. Over time, this turns into a highly personalized and efficient editing process that gets better with each gallery.
2. Streamline Your Gallery Delivery
Once your photos are edited, you’ll need an efficient way to deliver them. Taylor uses Pic-Time to deliver wedding galleries, and he’s a big fan of its built-in automations for print sales. Before Pic-Time, Taylor notes that he rarely sold prints. Now, with a few toggles, the system does the heavy lifting, making it easy to offer products and boost revenue with little effort.
Going with a professional gallery system is highly recommended, especially if you’re looking to grow your passive income.
3. Organize Contracts, Questionnaires, and Calendars
Part of delivering a premium wedding photography experience to your clients is providing clear communication in a timely manner. To do this, Taylor uses Focal, a CRM he co-owns, to keep all his contracts, questionnaires, and event details in one place. Whether you use Focal or another CRM, the goal is the same: keep everything centralized and easy to access.
Because you don’t want to rush your clients with questionnaires that require an urgent response, consider sending wedding questionnaires out 3-4 months in advance, rather than just a few weeks before. This gives couples more time to respond and gives you more time to plan and prepare for venue locations, lighting conditions, timelines, and so on.
Bonus: And don’t forget the basics: backup your calendar. Have the dates in your digital system (like Google Calendar), and also in a physical planner. A printed version can save you if your tech fails.
4. Freshen Up Your Email Templates
In line with the tip above, you should also freshen up your email templates. Email communication matters, so updating your email templates every couple of years is a great way to tune back into an important task that often gets left on autopilot. Keep your base responses ready for new inquiries and tweak them as needed to reflect any necessary changes in tone, branding, or marketing strategy.
Your email voice should match how you speak on your website and social media. A cohesive voice builds trust and makes your business feel more professional. You can use tools like ChatGPT to help simplify this task.
5. Get Your Gear Ready and Organized
Okay. Your editing and communication workflows are set. Before you step into the whirlwind of actually photographing wedding days, however, make sure your equipment is also fully prepped. We can break this down into a couple of different categories:
Testing
Even if you’ve been using your cameras during the off-season, now’s the time to double-check everything. Taylor shares that he gives his lenses a quick test by photographing himself in a mirror across the frame, making sure autofocus is sharp and there are no soft spots. He notes that over time, especially with third-party lenses, interior elements can shift, so catching issues early is essential.
Firmware Updates
Another thing you can do to prep your gear is update the firmware on your cameras, but do this with caution. If the firmware is brand new, you may want to wait a few weeks to ensure there are no major bugs. That said, once it’s proven stable, it’s worth updating for improved performance and potential new features.
Firmware, battery health, and even minor button glitches should be addressed now—before you’re on-site at a wedding with no room for error.
Cleaning
One thing you definitely want to tackle includes sensor cleaning, something many photographers overlook. Even if you shoot wide open and rarely notice dust, cleaning your sensors ensures a cleaner base and saves retouching time later. You can do this yourself if you’re confident, or bring your cameras in for professional service.
[Related Reading: How to Clean Your Camera Sensor: DSLR or Mirrorless]
Memory Cards
Lastly, when it comes to memory cards, consider cycling out older cards that have seen heavy use, and move them into a backup pile. If possible, you might also consider investing in faster cards each season in order to help reduce transfer times when downloading and backing up files at home. It’s the kind of upgrade that adds up over a long season.
6. Build a Smarter Backup System
If you don’t already have a strong backup system in place, now is the time to fix that.
A lot of photographers, like Taylor, shoot in RAW + JPEG. One reason for doing this is it makes it easy to upload JPEGs to the cloud for immediate off-site protection as soon as you get back from shooting a wedding. It’s not a perfect solution, but it provides a quick way to add another layer of protection.
For those using Imagen’s culling or editing tools, there’s an even better option: cloud backups of smart previews of RAW files (DNGs). These files will give you much more latitude than JPEGs, offering flexibility in case you need to make changes or recover files later. It’s a smart insurance policy against disaster.
And the golden rule? Backups of backups of backups. One copy isn’t enough when your clients’ wedding memories are on the line.
7. Another Upgrade for Your Workflow Speed (Hint: SSDs Are Worth It)
Storage may not be sexy, but it makes a massive difference. If you haven’t already done so, consider switching to solid state drives (SSDs), at least for your working drives. When importing or culling photos in Lightroom, SSDs dramatically speed things up compared to old-school spinning hard drives.
It’s not just about faster file transfer; it’s about freeing up your time and workflow capacity when you’re dealing with multiple weddings a week.
8. Lock In Your Second Shooters Early
One area that can sometimes prove difficult is assembling a reliable team, and it’s not a task that should be procrastinated on. For example, when scheduling second shooters, waiting until just a few weeks before a wedding can prove a recipe for stress if nobody is available. Expect other photographers to plan ahead and book the same shooters you want to use. If you know your dates now, don’t wait.
Start reaching out early and secure help for those big days. It’s one more thing off your plate, and it gives your team plenty of time to prepare.
9. Don’t Skip the Insurance
This might be obvious, but it’s worth repeating: make sure your insurance is current. And if you don’t have it, get it. You’ll want coverage for your gear and liability protection in case anything goes wrong on-site. Depending on where you live, there are usually all-in-one packages tailored to photo and video professionals. It’s a small price for peace of mind.
10. Bonus: Imagen Now Supports Video Editing Too
One more tip of the hat to Imagen before we wrap it up. If you offer hybrid coverage or second-shoot video alongside your photos, you’ll be glad to know that Imagen now supports video color correction as well. This is huge if you’re trying to match footage from different camera systems. Imagen auto-matches colors across brands, which saves hours of grading time and ensures that your final product looks cohesive. You can reserve your spot on the Imagen Video waitlist here.
Final Thoughts
Preparing for wedding season doesn’t need to be overwhelming, especially if you have the right tools and systems in place. Taylor Jackson’s workflow is all about simplifying and systemizing so you can focus more on creativity and client experience, and less on burnout.
