How to cull 3,000 photos fast
A repeatable culling system you can run after a 12-hour wedding without losing your eye.
Updated 2026-05-12
Pass one, sleep on it
Do not start culling at 2 am the night of the wedding. Sleep. Then do pass one with fresh eyes the next morning. Single keystroke per frame: keep or reject. No second-guessing. Your gut at 9 am is sharper than your gut at 2 am.
Pass two, by sequence
Now look at sequences, not stills. The best wedding moments are runs of three to five frames. Pick the strongest one and reject the rest. You will catch yourself wanting to keep duplicates. Resist.
Pass three, finals
Rate your keepers one to three. Threes are heroes (sneak peek, hero portrait, blog opener). Twos are gallery. Ones are quiet supporting frames. This is the structure your gallery layout reads from.
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