For a wedding, portrait or event photographer, the files are the product, and often the only record of a day that can't be repeated. A workflow that feels tedious on a slow afternoon is exactly what saves you when a card corrupts or a drive dies. This guide follows a shoot from the memory card to the client's inbox.
Ingest: two copies before the card is touched
The moment a shoot ends is the most dangerous point, because at that moment the images exist on one card and nowhere else. Adopt a firm rule: the card is not reformatted until the images exist in at least two other places, and both copies have been verified.
- Copy the card to your working drive and to a second drive or device at the same time, or right after one another.
- Compare the number of files and the total size against the card. Better still, use ingest software that verifies with checksums.
- Keep the card safe and unformatted until the delivery is complete. Cards are cheap compared with a reshoot.
- Start the cloud upload that night, before you begin editing.
A folder structure that scales
Use the same structure for every job so nothing depends on memory. Start the top-level folder with the shoot date so jobs sort chronologically.
- 2026-09-14_Sharma_Wedding / 01_RAW
- 2026-09-14_Sharma_Wedding / 02_Selects
- 2026-09-14_Sharma_Wedding / 03_Edits
- 2026-09-14_Sharma_Wedding / 04_Exports
- 2026-09-14_Sharma_Wedding / 05_Contract_and_Invoices
Plan your storage
RAW files from modern cameras are large, and it's easy to underestimate a season of shoots. As a rough guide:
| Camera class | Typical RAW file | 3,000 frames (a full wedding) |
|---|---|---|
| About 24 megapixels | 25 to 35 MB | Roughly 75 to 105 GB |
| About 45 megapixels | 50 to 60 MB | Roughly 150 to 180 GB |
Add video and a busy season can fill several terabytes. Decide how long you'll keep full RAW archives, and consider keeping only the selects and edits for older jobs in the cloud while archiving the RAW files to a drive.
Back up with the 3-2-1 rule
- Copy one: the working drive you edit from.
- Copy two: a second drive, kept separate from the first and disconnected when not in use.
- Copy three: an offsite copy, typically cloud storage, for at least the selects and final exports, and the full RAW set where your upload speed allows.
Be realistic about upload time. A hundred gigabytes over a 20 Mbps upload connection takes about eleven hours; at 50 Mbps it's a little over four. Start it before you go to bed, use a service with resumable uploads so an interruption doesn't restart the transfer, and treat the first night as the priority.
Culling and editing
Cull fast. Flag or star your selects on the first pass and move on. Editing every frame is a good way to burn out. Keep the selects folder small enough that you can back it up quickly and share it with the couple for a first look.
Delivery that looks professional
How you deliver matters almost as much as the photos. Emailing a giant zip or scattering WhatsApp compressions undermines the impression you've worked hard to create. A shareable gallery link gives you control:
- Deliver final JPEG exports at full resolution, and keep RAW files unless your contract says otherwise.
- Add a password to the gallery and send the password separately from the link.
- Set an expiry date so the link doesn't stay live forever, and tell the client when it will lapse.
- Use view-only access for previews and proofing, then share a download link once the invoice is settled.
If a second shooter or a client uses an iPhone
Photos from iPhones arrive as HEIC files, which some clients and editing tools can't open. Decide in advance whether you'll accept HEIC, convert it, or ask contributors to shoot JPEG, and mention it in your instructions.
A consistent, boring process is the best insurance a photographer has. Ingest safely, back up in three places, deliver with controls, and the worst day of your career becomes an annoying afternoon.