Why do you give away your images?

It seems to me that most photographers (or is it just new ones?) are now giving away high res CD's with wedding packages. It seems like now anyone thinks because they took one class in HS/college they can buy a Digital Rebel and shot weddings. Because so many people started doing this and gave CD's most clients want this and now most "expect" it. I have had to start adding CD's to my packages because so many ask for it. The CD's I include thou are low res and basically a Proof CD so they can view the pictures but not be able to print from them. When shooting with film you would hardly ever hear of a photographer that would give away their negatives. If they did sell them they were very expensive to buy them. In a brochure I picked up at the photo center of a store talked about copy right issues. It stated that just because someone purchased a CD form a professional it does not give them the right to reproduce the photos with out a release. With that said we all know it is done all the time and even pictures are scanned to reprinted.

So my question is why do we now give away "digital negatives" and don't think nothing of it?

#1. We don't want to be bothered with printing?

#2 We don't have access to labs to print the quality or sizes we need?

#3 We don't know how to use Photo editing software to correctly format picture for printing?

#4 Because every one else is so we have to to keep competitive.

#4, however mine is not mentioned that not giving full res. My packages did come with prints, and if they persisted, I would throw in a CD of images too.

I asked a similar question a couple of weeks back. Not sure how quickly you'll get responses from a lot of the regulars as they are all at a get-together in NY today but here's my post so you can get some of the feedback there:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=391472

#4.

I think partly because we live in a digital society today. People have different uses for their pictures than they did 20 years ago.

You don't have your friends over to flip through your wedding album anymore, you email your pictures to them or post them on myspace/facebook.

Business models change and evolve along with society.

I don't. I sell my full-res CDs at a price higher than I would likely ever sell in prints. I don't offer a low-res web-sized CD until they spend $500 in prints, then I throw that in for free - heavily watermarked and with my copyright notice included in the files on the CD.

bndgrl wrote in post #4244851
I think partly because we live in a digital society today. People have different uses for their pictures than they did 20 years ago.

You don't have your friends over to flip through your wedding album anymore, you email your pictures to them or post them on myspace/facebook.

Business models change and evolve along with society.

Absolutley spot-on. I think it's the way the business (and clients) are evolving. Their requirements change - we must also change.

TJ

TeeJay wrote in post #4244912
Absolutley spot-on. I think it's the way the business (and clients) are evolving. Their requirements change - we must also change.

TJ

I agree. times change and as much as it annoys some photographers out there, this seems to be the way things are going nowadays. its also about being competetive. If togs in your area have great packages etc then you have to be right up there with them.

Theres been so many clients out there who ive spoken to and they are all wanting hi-res images on a cd. I dont have a problem with this and if it helps me bring in the clients then im happy

This issue comes up in all genres of photography. As mentioned the practical aspects of displaying images has moved to the computer more often than not. We may find ourselves in the same predicament as the music business. It may come to charging appropriately for our time and giving away the end result. With technology enabling an end user getting an acceptable print from Costco or even their home printer the prints become a commodity and secondary to the photographer. Sure we are used to making very nice profit from prints but ship has sailed for many customers.

Though you have a point, I am so happy to see digital world is capturing the killing of green forest to be turned into waste paper by us.

After all Light of transmission as old fashion slide show or image on monitor, is much richer and vivid that light of reflection from a paper...

And no I am neither Al Gore nor a relative of him.

We offer the high resolution disks to our clients, but at a much higher price than our prints and only in addition to our packages. It's one thing to offer them, but another to give your work and your services away.

In searching for photographers myself, I found that most of the ones that included the hi-res images with their package had fairly high-priced "shoot and burn" packages and they were very talented photographers who can charge a good rate without the product. I only asked one why he chose to do it that way and he told me that $3.5K was a creative fee that he felt he was worth, and he had no desire to deal with prints on top of doing a minimum one wedding a week for the entire spring, summer, and fall. He told me if I wanted an album, he could do one for me in the winter, so my guess his answer would have been #1.

I think it depends on your philosophy in what you are providing.... Giving up a hi-res CD can avoid some of the problems with printing. One can think about this at an hourly rate...
Work an 8-10 hour wedding and post process and your done. VS, Do the above, plus design an album, sit down with couple again and pick out pictures, send out and receive, bring them back to client. Have the Bride say...oh, the color on that one is different than you showed me on-line , I don't like ( insert complaint here) about the picture. Giving up the printing services avoids many potential issues to some. With the no printing options, You got paid for your services for the wedding and processing, you job is done.

I agree times change, so must the business. As much as it sucks. I offer a low-res CD with all packages for emailing and uploading only. I do not offer a high-res CD. I let them know in advace that printing the images is as much of my servies as taking the photo and that is what they are paying for.

#4, but I sell it, not give it away. Even with selling the CD I still get the occasional thousand dollar print order, but they're becoming more and more rare.