As a real estate photographer, you know that delivering high-quality images is crucial to your business. It’s not just about the photos you take on site—it’s about how you refine and polish those images in post-production. But with so much to juggle—scheduling shoots, working with clients, marketing your services—one question often lingers in the back of a photographer’s mind: Should I outsource my real estate photo editing, or should I do it myself?
It’s a debate that every photographer faces at some point, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The right choice depends on several factors, including your business goals, time management, budget, and personal preferences. In this post, we’ll break down the pros and cons of outsourcing your photo editing versus doing it yourself to help you make an informed decision.
Let’s dive in!
The Case for Outsourcing Real Estate Photo Editing
In recent years, outsourcing photo editing has become a popular choice for photographers looking to streamline their workflow and increase their earning potential. Here’s why it might be the right decision for you:
1. Save Time and Increase Efficiency
Editing real estate photos can be a time-consuming process. After every shoot, you have to go through the images, select the best ones, and spend hours adjusting exposure, correcting color balance, straightening lines, and retouching. For a busy photographer, this can eat into valuable hours that could otherwise be spent on other income-generating activities like marketing, shooting new clients, or networking.
By outsourcing your editing, you can focus on what you do best: capturing stunning photos of properties. A photo editor can handle the tedious work, allowing you to take on more clients and potentially increase your overall revenue.
2. Professional Results from Experienced Editors
Photo editing requires a keen eye for detail and technical expertise. If you don’t enjoy editing or don’t have a strong understanding of the software and techniques involved (like lightroom presets, HDR merging, or correcting lens distortions), your final images may not be as polished as they could be.
Professional photo editors, especially those who specialize in real estate photography, have the expertise to enhance your photos in a way that makes them look their best. They know the ins and outs of exposure adjustments, brightness levels, white balance, and more. So when you outsource editing, you’re entrusting your work to someone who can elevate the final product to a level that will wow your clients.
3. Scalability and More Opportunities
As you take on more real estate clients and your business grows, you may find yourself unable to keep up with the demand for photo shoots and editing. Outsourcing gives you the ability to scale your business without worrying about being overwhelmed by editing tasks. You’ll be able to complete more shoots per week, bring in more revenue, and potentially take on larger projects—while your editors take care of the editing backlog.
This scalability also means you can grow your business beyond your own capabilities. For instance, you might hire more photographers or expand into other areas of real estate, such as virtual tours or drone photography, while your editing team handles the heavy lifting.
4. Cost Efficiency (In Some Cases)
At first glance, outsourcing editing might seem like an unnecessary expense. However, when you consider the time savings and opportunity costs, it can often be more cost-effective than spending hours editing photos yourself. For example, if you value your time at $50/hour and spend 5 hours editing a batch of photos, that’s $250 worth of time. If an editor charges you $100 for the same job, you’re saving time and still making a profit on your work.
Additionally, outsourcing allows you to handle a higher volume of work, which can boost your overall earnings without sacrificing quality.
The Case for Editing Yourself
While outsourcing offers many advantages, there are also some compelling reasons why you might prefer to handle your own photo editing:
1. Complete Control Over the Final Product
When you edit your own images, you have complete control over every detail. You can fine-tune the look and feel of each image based on your unique style and preferences. As a photographer, this creative control might be important to you—especially if you’ve developed a particular editing style or aesthetic that you want to maintain consistently across all your work.
When you outsource, you rely on someone else’s interpretation of your photos, which may not always align with your vision. It can take time to find an editor who matches your style and is capable of achieving the exact results you want. If you value precision and consistency in your work, doing it yourself ensures that the images reflect your personal touch.
2. Cost Control (In the Long Run)
Outsourcing photo editing comes with an added cost. Depending on your volume of work and the rates you’re paying, this could become a substantial part of your operating expenses. If you’re just starting out or operating on a tight budget, it may be more economical to handle editing in-house.
While editing yourself does take time, it might be cheaper than paying someone else to do it. If you have a relatively small number of shoots per month, editing might not be a huge burden. Additionally, if you’re skilled in editing software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, the learning curve will be much shorter, allowing you to handle your own workflow efficiently.
3. Speed and Turnaround Time
Outsourcing may not always be the fastest option. Even if you find a great photo editor, there’s still the waiting time involved—sometimes days or even weeks—before you get the final edited images. If you need a quick turnaround, or if you’re working with tight deadlines, editing your own photos might be the fastest solution.
By handling editing yourself, you have more flexibility in meeting the client’s needs and managing your schedule. If you’re someone who works well under pressure and enjoys getting things done quickly, you might prefer to keep the editing process in-house.
4. Improving Your Skills
If you’re in the early stages of your photography career, learning to edit your own photos can help you hone your skills and gain a better understanding of the post-production process. Over time, you’ll get faster and more efficient, and your editing style will evolve. Plus, mastering editing gives you a more intimate understanding of your photos, which can improve your shooting technique as well.
So, Should You Outsource or Edit Yourself?
The decision between outsourcing or editing your real estate photos yourself boils down to your business goals, personal preferences, and time management. Here’s a quick rundown to help you decide:
Outsource If:
- You want to save time and focus on shooting more properties and finding new clients.
- You’re looking for high-quality, professional editing but don’t have the time or expertise to do it yourself.
- You want to scale your business by handling more shoots without being overwhelmed by post-production.
- You’re working on a tight schedule and need faster turnaround times for large batches of images.
- You’re looking to reduce the editing burden and pass it off to experts who can handle it efficiently.
Edit Yourself If:
- You want complete control over the final look and feel of your images.
- You have a consistent editing style that you want to maintain.
- You’re working with a small volume of shoots and can manage editing within your schedule.
- You have the skills and software to handle the editing quickly and efficiently.
- You’re aiming to improve your editing skills and grow as a photographer.
Final Thoughts: The Best of Both Worlds?
If you’re still unsure, there’s an option that combines the benefits of both approaches: Hybrid Workflow.
In a hybrid model, you could handle the basic edits and adjustments yourself (like cropping, exposure corrections, or color balancing), while outsourcing the more complex tasks (like HDR merging, stitching panoramas, or advanced retouching). This can provide a balance of quality control and time savings.
As your business grows, you can experiment with different levels of outsourcing to see what works best for you. Some photographers even begin by editing themselves and slowly start outsourcing when they get too busy or reach a certain volume of work.
Ultimately, the choice between outsourcing or editing yourself comes down to finding a balance that suits your work style, business needs, and personal preferences. Whichever path you choose, the key is to deliver consistently high-quality results that will keep your clients coming back—and potentially referring you to others in the real estate industry.
