Weddings. Do you give customers the RAWs ??

greyswan wrote in post #16675766
One point |I have always wondered about is the decline in quality of jpegs after being opened may times. I can attest that they do decline, as I'm a graphic designer and see many 'used' images that begin to show artifacting after being opened fifty or more times (even at highest quality settings).

Opening and closing jpegs does not degrade quality. Saving them does.

On three occasions now I have been approached by wedding photographers to shoot their own wedding and provide the RAWs. I charge by the hour and hand over the memory cards. I do not advertise this, nor endorse it with any of my regular clients, and really don't ever get asked this question.

I never give away RAW images. I provide JPEG deliverables if the client is paying for digital rights. I would be willing to provide RAW, but they'd be paying more for that. I charge double for RAW what I do for JPEG.

I would be willing to do as Trent does and shoot for another photographer who wanted the RAWs: providing that photographer was willing to grant me the same courtesy at some point in the future (or had in the past).

thedcmule2 wrote in post #16666504
No...theyd have to pay serious dough for that. They cant even open, process, upload or share raws so whats the point? (well unless they know how of course)

Edit: if they want/need RAWs then they probably dont trust you, and you really shouldnt be working with high maintenance clients who dont trust.

Picasa handles both Canon and Nikon raw files just fine.

juicedownload wrote in post #16666584
I probably would if they paid a little extra and had a legit reason. Most couples wouldn't know what to do with the raws, unless they're a photographer themselves. But then the question is if they want to do their own editing, that may indicate they don't like or trust the photographer's style, thus the couple should probably find someone's style that fits well with their vision.

As an amateur photographer who always shoots in raw, I would likely ask for the raws for strictly backup purposes; I'd just put them with the rest of my 20000 shot archives on dual external hard drives. I'm pretty much strictly a nature and astro photographer, and am lousy at PP beyond the basics (contrast adjustment, mild sharpening, etc), so I wouldn't be trying to do my own wedding processing.

I am almost never asked for RAWs but when I am it is without fail a predictor of a difficult client. I rank it right up there with a model who demands a list of your camera equipment before working with you. For the customer who wants RAWs the price is $50 each in addition to the package price and RAWs are available only for purchased prints. I think this is a bargain. For demanding models--they get told to take a hike.

Blaster6 wrote in post #16678510
I am almost never asked for RAWs but when I am it is without fail a predictor of a difficult client. I rank it right up there with a model who demands a list of your camera equipment before working with you. For the customer who wants RAWs the price is $50 each in addition to the package price and RAWs are available only for purchased prints. I think this is a bargain. For demanding models--they get told to take a hike.

I'm not sure about the price, but the part I bolded certainly makes sense. I would never ask for the raws of the culls.

archer1960 wrote in post #16678520
I'm not sure about the price, but the part I bolded certainly makes sense. I would never ask for the raws of the culls.

They are not priced to sell and never have at that price. Some customers would think that is a crazy low price for the RAW. Those are the customers who never ask for them and quite frankly, wouldn't be bothered with them. The ones who ask are the ones who would never pay that much extra.

I am sure a lot of this will vary based on your local market. I live in a rural area with lots of "firehall weddings." My prices are lower than "city" prices so you will need to adjust your RAW pricing accordingly.

Do car manufacturers sell prototypes? do writers give away their drafts? artists their first renderings? Give away RAW images? Never.

This analogy is lacking. I understand the title of the post is about 'giving away' RAWs, but the conversation here seems mostly to be about selling them.

Bearing this in mind, car manufacturers do in fact sell prototypes, patents to technology and design--whenever they are bought by another company. There really is a price, albeit a significant one.

Similarly with artists--most who sell their work would happily sell their drafts or sketches--for the right price.

In general the purpose of a business is to generate revenue. If selling a RAW image generates revenue without somehow having a negative impact on generating revenue in the future, what is the reason not to do so, particularly when dealing with images that aren't generally marketable in a broader sense (e.g. weddings, portraits) ?

Biffbradford wrote in post #16678878
Do car manufacturers sell prototypes? do writers give away their drafts? artists their first renderings? Give away RAW images? Never.

I don't understand the reasoning behind such expensive pricing for delivering RAWs? If it is to discourage customers from obtaining them, then tell them its not an option. If a customer is interested in doing their own editing, they are probably going to take a stab at it anyway... and will probably turn your JPGs into a mess. For me, if I can trust the person with the editing process (which is VERY rare), I would WANT them to have the RAW file, instead of a very limited JPG.

Trent Gillespie wrote in post #16678935
I don't understand the reasoning behind such expensive pricing for delivering RAWs?

Mine would come out somewhere around the $1.50 per file... (the option for raws in $1000). Considering my package cost my edited images are not far of 4 times that. That seems reasonable to me.

I think this is totally reasonable--and given how you, in particular, shoot, I can't see the downside.

Your question earlier still stands: for those who philosophically object to selling RAWs, I also wonder how their SOOC shots look. These folks might have a reasonable objection to offering RAWs.

memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #16679748
Mine would come out somewhere around the $1.50 per file... (the option for raws in $1000). Considering my package cost my edited images are not far of 4 times that. That seems reasonable to me.

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #16679787
I think this is totally reasonable--and given how you, in particular, shoot, I can't see the downside.

Your question earlier still stands: for those who philosophically object to selling RAWs, I also wonder how their SOOC shots look. These folks might have a reasonable objection to offering RAWs.

I'm seriously considering offering a limited hours SOOC JPG package at the moment.

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #16679787
Your question earlier still stands: for those who philosophically object to selling RAWs, I also wonder how their SOOC shots look. These folks might have a reasonable objection to offering RAWs.

I've seen raws from one other wedding tog (I'm designing an album for their ex clients after the tog went bust). They reluctantly released the raws to the ex client. I can see why they were reluctant having now seen the files.