Can we have the Raw Files ?

Raw files

Often when couples are looking to book you as their wedding photographer they have some questions. One that occasionally comes up is if they can have the Raw Files…. Here is what they are any why professional wedding photographers don’t supply them.

The RAW files are the original ‘on camera’ digital files and are not supplied to our clients. Part of the work we do is to edit your RAW files to give them our signature look and feel as well as fix any imperfections with the files.

High resolution Jpeg files are then exported at the same size and resolution which means you will have fully edited usable images that can be viewed, printed and published anywhere.

I keep copies of your RAW files for up to five years and your edited jpegs forever in case you lose your copies. This way I can provide you with a free backup in case of emergency.

I always make sure my edit includes a lovely variety from your day telling your story.

Coming to you from Your Perfect Wedding Photographer, the blog explains:

“When you hire a wedding photographer you are not just hiring them to provide a service, yes they will be there all day taking photos, however for a wedding photographer that is just a small part of the job and what you are paying for. Once they day is over your photographer will go away and edit your photos, over the course of the day they will have taken hundreds if not thousands of photos.

Do you really want your photographer to just go and print all these photos off and give them to you? Wedding photographers are not hiding anything from you, however what they are doing is putting together a beautiful story.

If you go and watch a film you know it has been edited, on DVD’s you can watch different ending sometimes and you can also see deleted scenes, some of the scenes are not needed for the film or the storyline, when it comes to the end there are different scenes, however there maybe only one ending that truly reflects the story and that is what is used.

Again the same can be said to a book, it would be like asking a photographer to hand over a memory card, USB, or DVD of raw images is akin to asking an author to present you with their book in manuscript format, unedited, unformatted, and including the paragraphs and chapters that didn’t make the cut.”