First time I've had this request...

[bfitzgerald]

Email from a potential wedding client.

"we wish to get all the unprocessed and unedited images along with the processed images"

Previously I got a question about copyright, and I explained I would not hand over copyright of any images, but that clients are free to use images for their own personal use (ie in relation to CD images provided)

I have once given raw files to a commercial company upon request. But never a client in any other regards.
The only people I can think of who'd want unprocessed photos are photographers. I've not yet responded to this enquiry.
Whilst I'm not heavily into PP myself, handing over raw files to clients is a subject I've read others having request for.

[pakodominguez]

Email from a potential wedding client.

"we wish to get all the unprocessed and unedited images along with the processed images"

Previously I got a question about copyright, and I explained I would not hand over copyright of any images, but that clients are free to use images for their own personal use (ie in relation to CD images provided)

I have once given raw files to a commercial company upon request. But never a client in any other regards.
The only people I can think of who'd want unprocessed photos are photographers. I've not yet responded to this enquiry.
Whilst I'm not heavily into PP myself, handing over raw files to clients is a subject I've read others having request for.

For my own wedding I hired a photographer who works for a friend of mine and I just backup his SF cards: 2000+ raw files that I did process myself.

There is a price for everything. Just set your price for this kind of service. I don't like the idea of giving away the files (other than low resolution) but clients are asking more and more often for high resolution files. SO I charge in consequence (the amount of what I expect to earn on an event like that)

[KevinBarrett]

An extraordinary request might be worth an extraordinary re-negotiation of the contract. Perhaps this surprise comes at an awkward time, perhaps where your position to turn them down or ask for additional compensation is at its weakest. Would it bee too awkward, in the future, to figure this scenario into your normal pricing estimates?

[bakubo]

Email from a potential wedding client.

"we wish to get all the unprocessed and unedited images along with the processed images"

I would send a nice email with a happy tone. Congratulate them for choosing your Premium Wedding Photo Package where they get the original photo files for the price of nnnn. Having a client choose a more expensive option is usually something that makes the photographer happy. Choose your price and convey your happiness that they have chosen this path. It will be interesting to see what they say.

[pakodominguez]

Email from a potential wedding client.

"we wish to get all the unprocessed and unedited images along with the processed images"

I would send a nice email with a happy tone. Congratulate them for choosing your Premium Wedding Photo Package where they get the original photo files for the price of nnnn. Having a client choose a more expensive option is usually something that makes the photographer happy. Choose your price and convey your happiness that they have chosen this path. It will be interesting to see what they say.

you can even add one more "n"...

[bfitzgerald]

When I get an email like this warning flags fly up a bit. It could genuinely be someone who's into photography wanting to get the most complete package.
Or it could be a difficult customer who wants to "micro manage" every aspect of the wedding and photography.

It could even be a wind up from a competitor (though likely not)
I've dealt with a few difficult people in the past, and I get a vibe if a job is worth doing. In this case I think it's probably wise to not get involved.

Photography is selective, that's why we delete shots and don't show shots. Nobody wants your "dud" shots. Some shots don't work maybe because of a strange facial expression, someone blinked etc etc. I had to explain this to someone before and actually did show them a few samples of why xyz shots were not accepted.

Much as I try to get things right in camera, unless the person has a good working knowledge of raw processing, the unprocessed shots are not going to be that useful to them.

[Birma]

My guess would be that it is someone who plans to do prints / re-prints themselves and is hoping to save on the cost of getting a professional to do this for them. As KB and Pako have said I think you'd need to factor this in to your charges if you were expecting to make money out of the prints. I can't believe anyone would want dud shots, raw or otherwise.

Like all other aspects of professional photography I think this is part of the issue of everyone taking and processing more pictures themselves and this having a perceived devaluation of the value of a professional. I got married before my interest in photography. I just wanted a nice album of pictures to help remember the day. I couldn't even tell you what camera the photographer used (film, medium format I think). If I was getting married now I can well imagine wanting the RAW files myself partly as a back-up, but also to allow me to use the pictures myself in the future.

[bfitzgerald]

I replied back explaining about raw and basically told them that "all the photos" is not a viable option. I explained about inappropriate facial expressions, occasional technical issues, and the obvious about photographer choice.
I have in the past shown a client "a reject sample of photos"

Nothing wrong with them on a technical level, but goofy facial expressions and closed eyes etc pretty much demonstrated my point. As Gordon Ramsay says "mistakes don't leave the kitchen" and for us "mistakes don't leave the computer"

The reality is despite not wanting to do CD only jobs, it's impossible to avoid nowadays. Whilst there is a place for the print still, the big margins photographers used to get on print sales is for the most part pretty much over. I don't have a problem with that if the fee paid is appropriate for the work done. You don't really save much time as the files have to be prepared for print anyway.

I also mentioned the "raw thing" ie unless you have knowledge of the software they're not going to be much use for end clients.

I'll see what I get back on this one, but I have my doubts.

[Deward]

I had a client not only request the "original, unedited files" but they also wanted the SD card. Long story short, I finally got the 16GB SD card back after about 6 weeks but, they had re-formatted it so it could no longer be used. $20 down the tubes ....., lesson learned.

[UrsaMajor]

When my son got married, his wife chose a photographer whose previous work she really, really liked. At the wedding, I walked up to him and told him that even though I had some nice equipment (At the time, I had the Zeiss 85mm f:1.4 that a friend had loaned me on my camera), I was not "competition" that would cost him any print sales.

His response was to say that he considered the current market for wedding print sales to be very, very poor, and that he set a flat rate price for weddings that assumed zero print sales. His price included shooting the event for a certain time prior to the wedding ceremony, and a certain time after the cake was cut at the reception, plus delivery of post-processed files of all images that did not have serious flaws such as unflattering facial expressions. If desired, he would provide prints for an extra fee, but the customer was free to obtain their own prints elsewhere from his files if they preferred.

He said that - as a consequence - he had no problem with me taking as many images as I desired, as long as I took care not to block his view.

FWIW, my daughter-in-law was very, very pleased with the images he provided. IMO, he DID do a nice job, especially considering that the lighting was sometimes very challenging because the wedding and reception were outdoors before, during, and after sunset.

- Tom -