“How many photos do we get?” is a fair question with a slightly complicated answer. Here’s how image counts, editing and delivery actually work.
What the number means
A full-day wedding produces somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000 exposures. That’s not what you get. The photographer culls — removes the blinks, the test frames, the near-duplicates where they took five to get one — down to the ones that are genuinely good. For a typical eight-hour wedding that’s usually 500 to 900 finished images, delivered edited.
‘Edited’ means colour and exposure, not Photoshop
Every delivered image is individually adjusted for exposure, white balance, contrast and colour so the whole gallery is consistent. That’s different from retouching — removing a blemish, softening a distraction — which is done on portraits and album images on request, not on all 800 candids.
Realistic timelines
- Sneak peek: a handful of images within a few days.
- Preview gallery: 50–150 images in one to two weeks.
- Full edited gallery: typically four to eight weeks, longer in peak season (September–October on Long Island is brutal for every studio).
- Album design: after you’ve chosen favourites from the full gallery.
More is not better
A studio that delivers 2,500 unculled files is handing you their editing job. You don’t want every frame — you want the right frames, chosen by the person who was there. Ask what a typical final count looks like and how long delivery takes; those two answers tell you more than a headline number. See also what to do with the gallery once you have it.
Frequently asked questions
Do you deliver RAW files?
Can we print anywhere?
Richard Black Studio covers weddings, Bar & Bat Mitzvahs, Sweet 15 & 16 celebrations and special events across Long Island and New York — photography, films and professional live streaming from one team. Tell us what you’re planning and we’ll send availability and a quote.