Do you use an assistant to perform your post-processing?

[gen_b.]

<p>How many of you hire an assistant to perform your post-processing? Is this common? <br /> <br /> And do you find that you have trustworthy results this way? Have you had to go through many assistants to find the right match?<br /> <br /> Do you pay them by the hour or the image?<br /> <br /> Any information would be greatly appreciated.</p>

[keith_downing]

<p>I'm not "professional" enough to even have the option to spend money on an assistant...But I can't see how you would outsource this type of thing.</p>

<p>As much as I HATE spending hour after hour post processing shoots, how could you have someone else doing this? I mean it is basically interpreting your photos, no? </p>

<p>Changing even just the white balance, brightness, contrast, or hues, can completely change the final result. Not to mention everything else you can do post-processing in photoshop. How could anyone else determine what you want to get out of your shots?</p>

[mars790]

<p>My thoughts exactly.</p>

[john_deerfield]

<p>I have an assistant (sister-in-law) and she is paid hourly. We shoot weddings and over a busy weekend might have 5000+ images that at least need looked at. There is simply no way I could do all of that without an assistant! A great majority of the shots don't need PP and most of the shots will never make their way to print. Anything we do print is handled by myself or my wife. I have discovered that if the PP isn't adding to my bottom line, I need to outsource it as I have plenty of other work I can do that will make a difference. </p>

[Ian Taylor]

<p><em>"I can't see how you would outsource..."</em><br>

Well, up until a few years ago photographers did outsource all this work to labs.<br>

Personally I am considering outsourcing my post work. If I shoot a wedding and a few other jobs in a week I can easily shoot 3000-5000 photos. Sometimes more. I would rather be out shooting than sitting in front of a monitor.<br>

Many working commercial shooters have assistants do this stuff. They know the photographer's style and process to it.</p>

[pete_harlan1]

<p>I ALWAYS do the PP editing insofar as color, exposure and artistic expression are concerned.</p>

<p> I outsource for 8x10 cropping only since this aspect ratio matches poorly with DSLR's using APS sized sensors.<br>

The person who does this for me knows what I am after as they have seen thousands of my images. There is no way I could sit in front of a computer and personally crop 2,000 8x10's/week..and as far as I know, there is no way to batch process this size with any success.</p>

[p. love photography]

<p>It's <em>amazing</em> the responses you get from other photographers with this question. <br>

Back in the film days (current days for some), a lot of the post-processing was outsourced. If you are running a studio that is in high demand, you WILL likely have someone doing some (if not MOST) of the pre-production & post-production (i.e. post-processing in PS). <br>

Its about building a relationship with your partners to maximize your amount of time behind the camera. I have outsourced ~75% of my PS work, and it took months for my editor to understand my style and what I wanted in a final product.<br>

Ultimately, it is not only me that is creating the art--its a TEAM effort. You have the make-up artist, various stylists, photographer, etc. that all play a small part in the final product. </p>