For Wedding Photographers: The Best Hack For Editing Photos From Two Cameras

If you've ever used a second photographer for an event, or two cameras of your own, you know the pain of finding out your cameras weren't synced to the exact same time. Perhaps you're located in different time zones, one of you hasn't adjusted for daylight savings, you're just a few minutes off, or maybe you've put absolutely no thought into the time on your camera.

Here is how I take photos from two cameras and get them synced and ready to edit as one fluid event.

Start by finding a notable shot that was captured around the same time for both cameras. For weddings this is probably "the kiss". Make sure to note the facial expression, spacing, and other details since these things can change in a fraction of a second.

Found your shot? Make a note of the capture time on your primary camera, as seen above in the Metadata section of the Library module of Lightroom.

(If you aren't sure which photos are which camera, press the letter i on your keyboard until the top left of your preview screen shows the lens used. This is assuming that you don't have the same lens on more than one camera.)

Next, click the Grid View button, or press the letter g.

At the top, click Metadata and choose your 2nd camera.

With that camera's version of the moment you both captured selected in the grid, now hold CTRL (PC) or Command (Mac) and the letter A to select all of the photos from that camera, with your target shot still showing that it is selected. Click Metadata in the top dropdown menu, and choose Edit Capture Time.

Now click on the time that is incorrect and type the new values (that you noted earlier) into the spaces. If you don't think they were taken at the exact same time, you can adjust by a few seconds and trial and error. Now click Change All.

Now go back to your Metadata section on top and make sure you're set for All Cameras.

Now click through your photos and find that it tells the story chronologically, going back and forth between angles! Yay!

If you find that you don't want to edit them together because the color science or settings of the two cameras are just too different, you can use this same method to see only one camera's photos at a time and edit them as a unit.

Did this help you? Tell me in the comments below!