5 Reasons You don't Want Your RAW Wedding Photos | Wedding Photography

[@sleepyricky4826]

I love the emphasis on saving clients' time. From experience, some clients ask for raws but are simply referring to unedited jpgs. My hunch is that they want to browse through their photos early, seeing what was successfully captured while the photographer is still editing the best ones. For clients that aren't aware about the truly raw files, meaning not unedited jpgs, please don't be surprised if some photographers might get all defensive or offended for being asked. Look at it this way. You go to a restaurant, order the bestseller dish, but you have a special request to be provided the recipe as well. If raw files have been processed, they are like the recipe. But if you ask for the unprocessed raw files, it's like ordering the bestseller dish AND asking the restaurant for all their ingredients and tools instead of the recipe.

[@jbivphotography]

Great additions! Thank you for your comment.

[@Lethorio]

My wedding photographer offered me the RAWs from our wedding without me asking, as I'd had a lot of good chats with him about photography. I have to admit though, I was so happy with his edits that I've never ended up playing around with the RAWs myself.

[@thatfrenchbloke8892]

You make good points. I am shooting a wedding for free this weekend, because it's on of my associate family member. He said to me that for this reason I will not have to edit the pictures. I will treat bit as any other wedding. I don't think it's fair on the couple to dump them with all the unedited photos. But the main reason, is that I do not want any of those raw potatoes and steaks to be shared on social networks and damage my reputation.

[@Tyrell_Corp2019]

Did my first wedding recently. In my email agreement, I clearly stated that RAW files are mine only. After, I sent the finished JPEG package, the bride said: "What about the other photos, the unedited ones?" I knew she was angling for the RAW files. I simply said: "You mean, you want the ones with your eyes closed or where people might be looking off camera in group shots?" She said: "Oh. Ok. I guess not." 😂

[@carlosborralles7107]

Grateful for your guidance, John. Thank you for the advice!

[@jbivphotography]

You're welcome. Always happy to help out.

[@HappeningPhotos]

Well said. I do a lot of corporate events, and those buyers get it. They are happy to get all the good stuff and not have to fuss with it or wade through the outtakes. And, most of them opt for reduced-resolution files that are optimized to look good in print and online, because these download faster and fit on a flash drive. Some of them want a buyout, but none of them, in my 20+ years, have asked for RAW files.

[@TyeMorrisVlog]

This is great! This is essentially the same educational speech I’ve given to multiple customers. I’m saving this to send to customers as educational material when asked 🎉

[@jbivphotography]

That's awesome to hear. I hope this helps out couples as well as photographers.

[@brokenpotentertainment]

In my emails: "I don't usually provide unedited/raw photos. I can provide raw photos, but only for a substantial price as these unfinished photos don't reflect my brands best work. Raw video is never an option.". 😅 I've never had any pay extra for them. 🤣

[@dannybrown6678]

I have an 8 tb Drive, almost full, and several 1tb drives full. I 100% agree with this message.

[@jbivphotography]

Yep. These photos take up so much space!

[@mcfly8000]

I think one of the biggest reasons is - do you really want your unedited work floating out there? Your work is your reputation. Someone may attribute your “edited” raw by a client as shotty work on your part when in reality your client doesn’t know how to make them look good.

[@andrewselbyphotography]

I'm firmly in the NO RAW camp. Couples are hiring photographers, artists, to deliver completed artwork. This art is tied to the photographers brand. If you want to finish your own artwork, then you should hire a camera operator, whose brand is not connected to the final output. No one is entitled to finish someone else's artwork. That's a privilege some photographers are willing to grant (although I think they should reconsider).

[@Eric1396]

I really appreciated the analogy you made with going to a restaurant and asking for the ingredients.

[@garonkiesel1646]

I'm happy to turn over the RAW files for an additional $3000. I'll even include an SSD drive they can keep.

[@jbivphotography]

Nice. That's actually a good deal.

[@APOLLOSTEES]

Basically when someone is asking for raws, they're saying 'you screwed up the edits. Give them to me to fix it myself.' Whether that means doing it themselves (usually not) or having someone else do it.

[@bdat]

This might be a hot take but as someone who just started doing weddings I’m ok with giving out unedited JPEGs reduced to 30% quality (not necessarily RAW). The reason being is I had a couple instances in the past where after editing the client ended up having a completely different idea for the style they wanted, as well as photo selection. Instead of getting irritated or mad I used it as a learning point. Now I offer the client all the photos so they can review them as a first option. The 2nd option being that I choose the photos and deliver them fully edited. In my opinion it gives me a chance to get more familiar with what types of photos work best with clients. And eventually I plan to use that knowledge to categorize the types of photos they can choose for future couples and ask them about it during the consultation stages Again, I could be alone on this but a big thing for me is client satisfaction so I’d rather take a couple extra steps to help them with what essentially is one of the most important days of their life then instead be seen as kinda rude and uncompromising (not saying that’s the case with other photographers but for me it’s something I try to stray as far from as possible)

[@Brandy_j5]

Im getting ready to ask a stupid question. Do photographers eat at the wedding, considering that you are working for 10+ hrs? Secondly, at what point do you make time to take pics of the ceremony/reception area before the guest arrive? Love your vids by the way.

[@StephanieFerrante_]

Hey. I have given out the raw photos once and that was because the groom knows and uses Lightroom. I enjoyed the video. Thanks for the content and hard work.

[@jbivphotography]

Yeah. I think there are times to do it but it's few and far between. There's a lot of couples that will ask for it but not really sure what they're getting into.

[@vekofoto]

Thank you for all the knowledge you share!

[@jbivphotography]

You're welcome. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

[@omarlozada1710]

Best explanation that I have ever heard … keep them coming

[@jbivphotography]

Thank you so much. 🙏🙏

[@micknificent]

@4:26 And then you have that one client that says, "then why don't you take the photos in jpeg so you don't have to go home and edit them. It already looks so nice compared to the RAW file". John...as perfect of an explanation you just gave, some people just don't get it. I had a client which was a stay at home mom that never understood why it took so long to get her photos. She decided to get into photography herself and bought a camera and a laptop with the least amount of hard drive space. She would constantly call me and ask me questions about her camera settings, what lens she should start off with, "how do you make the background blurry", what software to get, why did she have to pay a subscription to edit and why does she need an external hard drive. She thought she would be fine with the internal drive on her laptop. She decided to take on a client to do a baby shoot. Within a month she didn't have enough space on her internal drive on her laptop. Her photography path ended when she realized it was about to get more expensive.

[@boundaryscience]

I curate, but I also send a garbage bin at low res so if they see something they like they can send it to me and I'll edit it for a nominal fee. They want blurry pictures of my feet? They get em. Gives them something fun to do if they get bored. They just sign an agreement that if they post a photo that wasn't edited by me, they don't mention me when they post it, and if they get asked, they can say I shot it, but I didn't edit it.

[@reginaldwalton]

I just put it in the contract that they will not have access to the RAW files and if they don't agree, I tell them to find another photographer. And for the most part, most people that I photograph don't care and/or don't know what RAW files are.

[@jbivphotography]

Exactly. Most people aren't even aware of the different formats. They're just looking to get photos back.

[@brizeidaesparza4297]

Asking about a previous video I watched about off camera flash. What settings do you use on the flashes ?

[@CAMphotography_]

I used that same steak analogy to somebody on Facebook and they did not understand lol

[@jbivphotography]

lol. 😂 I wonder what there isn’t to understand. I guess the concept of a RAW file doesn’t make sense? Which is another reason why not to receive them. 🤷‍♂️

[@christoph8630]

My theory is that there are people that simply dont understand analogies. I think in them all the time when I try to prove points but it almost never works.

[@mongini1]

i like to use the cake analogy... Do you want the gooey dough, the mashed fruit and have the bowls with you to handle all that, or do you want a wonderfully crafted cake that you can just enjoy...?

[@jbivphotography]

Exactly. That's a good one!

[@SeanWashPhoto]

Most people who ask for “raw photos” don’t actually mean RAW files. They want the unedited and unused shots. For that I just give it to them as low res jpegs. It’s never been an issue when I offer that and I offer that for free because it’s not that much extra work. For RAW files, I will sell them for $1000-$5000 extra charge based on the wedding package. I only deliver them via HDD or SDD that they provide and all rights to the files signed over to them through a RAW transfer contract. Lastly all talk about RAW files have to discussed before signing the contract, not after to ensure fairness for both parties.

[@bobjones6174]

You were spot on until the very end, where at 10:00 you said ”.. there are times when you should ask for the RAW files ..”. After all the logical reasons not to, why did you say that?

[@jbivphotography]

Because sometimes there are cases. But in those cases the couple is typically paying for the RAWs. Aside from that it doesn't make any sense to me to ask for RAW or even unedited JPEGs.

[@Mariner1460]

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I still want them (because my brother-in-law said so.)” You make good points, but I don’t think any of them would really discourage anybody that much. The bigger issues are for the photographer not the client. Are you willing to turn them over or not? Are you a camera operator or an artist? Will you do anything to make the customer happy-where do you draw the line?

[@sebastianreiprich3747]

Honestly… if they insist that they want the RAW files do some of this explaination and if they still want them make a contract and charge them a whole lot 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@intrinsicimagery]

I shoot with Nikon equipment. Z8 and Z9. 47 megapixel RAW images. It is extremely unlikely that a client would have the software or hardware to process those images. They won't even know there is such a thing as Lightroom. Probably heard of Photoshop. What workflow are they planning to process the images? Are they going to cull in Photomechanic or go for it in Camera RAW?

[@Edgardbmediaweddings]

Well Said

[@stephenelliott7071]

Unedited raw = massive and many files - that haven't been edited to your standard quality, touch ups so people look their best, the camera missed focus, somebody or several people blinked, somebody walked infront of your shot, test shots etc etc. Just 1 bad picture could be shared online as a 'standard of your photography'. Like you said, it's like being given the raw materials for a meal. Well that doesn't mean it will taste as good as a professional chef's version of the dish! And mobile/cell phone pics? Hmm processed pictures on a tiny sensor - especially in low light might look good on the back of a tiny screen, but it hardly compares to a larger sensor and real depth of field images.

[@photografiq_presents]

I think we all know when someone asks for "the raw files", in most cases they're not asking for the RAW files, just using the term for unedited JPEGS. Go ahead and leave out the shots of nothing and extreme out of focus shots. But don't forget that you might have the last shot of Uncle Grenville before he was run down by the bridal party's limousine. Even a moderately blurry one is better than none. Maybe include the actual RAW files in your service for a fee that equals all shots printed and presented in as many presentation boxes or albums as you feel necessary. That will sort out the casual people asking because their pervy step-bro said they should. My own position when asked: "No." but I have noticed more and more photographers acquiescing. Maybe this will become another factor that determines the difference between a luxury brand and someone that owns a camera.

[@nikelodien5147]

In regards to 7:38: MacOS only supports uncompressed RAFs (these will have the preview and all), but lossless compressed or compressed RAFs aren't supported as of now

[@jbivphotography]

Thanks for that clarification. Super helpful.

[@TedNghiem]

RAWRS!!

[@jbivphotography]

lol I’m about another thumbnail and make that the title 😂😂

[@jaughnekow]

they would not understand the RAW files.

[@DonaldWMeyers-dwm]

More like giving you a potato and a steer.

[@jbivphotography]

lol true.

[@balboa0621]

If they ask, they get them. They are paying for your time and and whatever you produce on that time is their property. Period.