Quick take: These notes document my early AI workflow in 2022. They focus on the practical experience of managing a large wedding shoot and using Imagen-assisted edits, while keeping final image selection and review in my hands.
Why I started using AI tools for weddings
In 2022, the volume of images from a wedding day made AI-assisted culling and editing especially interesting to me. On one eight-hour wedding, I photographed more than 7,000 frames with the Canon R3. Including my other camera and second photographer, the total exceeded 10,000.
These are notes from my early experience in 2022. They describe that workflow rather than a comparison of today’s software features or prices.
Culling a large wedding shoot
Culling is the process of selecting the images that deserve further editing. AI-assisted tools can help identify potential keepers, but the final selection still needs to tell the story of the day. On a recent wedding at the time, I narrowed about 10,000 images to 1,200 in a couple of hours.
Narrative Select and Aftershoot were on my list of culling tools to explore. My original notes did not include a completed comparison of them, so I am not ranking them here.
My early experience with Imagen
After about five months of testing Imagen, the biggest benefit was time saved on white balance and exposure. In my experience, it got those adjustments about 95% of the way there. I still went through every image before delivery.
Building a personal editing profile
My workflow involved using previously edited Lightroom images to teach a personal profile my editing style, then submitting catalog information for new edits. At the time, I used the color-editing option and a dated profile name, such as “Wedding 2022.MAY,” so I could keep track of changes to my look.
The edits typically came back in about 10–20 minutes in that early workflow. I then reviewed the results and made the final adjustments myself.
How I evaluated the cost
In my 2022 notes, editing 1,000 delivered images at five cents per image worked out to about $50 per wedding. That was the pricing example I used to weigh the time savings; it is not a current quote.
Where AI fit into my workflow
For me, the useful role of AI was getting a large set of images closer to a consistent starting point. It did not replace choosing the moments, refining the edits, or reviewing every photograph before a client received it.
