Using a third party to edit our photos; cheating or efficient?

With any professional photography service, the photos take time to edit in post. For real estate photography, this process can be extensive considering the high volume of photos multiple exposures to light every area of a room. So when a listing needs to go live sometimes just hours after photos are taken, it isn’t always realistic to edit (and edit well) so quickly alone.

​When we first toyed with the idea of using third party edits, we sent in a few test photos to some companies that had free trials. All of the companies vary with turnaround time, price, and quality of edit. We ended up choosing Box Brownie, who have decent prices, a 24 hour turn around time, and great quality edits. Using Box Brownie has been fantastic for time management and content, but there are a few cons to using a third party system. Here are a list of pros and cons that come with going this route for editing:

Cons:

It costs money
It’s no surprise that third party editing sites cost money. They usually charge by the photo, which adds up quick with thirty to forty pictures. If you decide to use a third party edit, it’s a ripple effect that will also mean an increase how much you charge for photos (to continue making a profit).

You don’t always get what you want
What you may have envisioned while photographing doesn’t always match the final product. Trusting a complete stranger to take your work and make a ‘good’ product is completely subjective. Using a third party means having an open mind while also being as specific as possible about your needs.

People get tired
When you go to the grocery store and check out with a rude attendant or don’t do too hot in an interview, it’s usually because the person is at the end of a long and tiring day. The same goes for editors. As photographers and editors know, if you spend hours staring at a screen editing, everything eventually turns into on big blur. This goes with the above statement about not getting what you want; a tired (or inexperienced) editor may not turnover the phenomenal product you were hoping for.

Pros:

It saves SO much time
Wide shots, close ups, exterior, different angles, multiple exposures - it’s natural to walk out of a real-estate shoot with 200 photos. In the editing room, shuffling through, organizing, editing, and fine tuning all of these photos can often mean hours of work added onto the hours of shooting itself. A typical shoot day can mean up to two hours of shooting and four or five hours of editing, which is partially a full work day. Now without editing our photos, we can do two to three shoots in a day, instead of just one shoot and editing over two days. With third party editing, organizing and sending the photos in might only take 30 minutes. It’s a major time and money saver.

Edits look great
Though it is important to keep an open mind with these edits as said earlier, most of the time the edits turn out great. Box Brownie does an amazing job of enhancing colors, brightening and enhancing floors and countertops, and work wonders with multiple exposed images. It does exactly what we need, saves us time and looks exceptional.

Edits get to you in a timely manner
Sending photos to this party sites doesn’t mean sitting around for days waiting for the final product. Box Brownie, for instance, guarantees the edits within 24 hours. More often than not, they’re even ready within hours of submitting.

In sum, using a third party to edit photos is NOT cheating. It was a bit nerve-racking to take this step, because having someone do our work for us felt like cheating. There are things to look out for when using them, but so far they have been nothing but beneficial for the company’s time and money. With the hours saved, it allows for multiple shoots a day and time and energy can be spent on other important tasks.
Third party editing sites were created to be helpful and save time for photographers, not for photographers to cheat. They are well worth the time and money, and so far have been totally efficient for our company.