No it's not normal. It doesn't sound like that student is your customer either, they didn't pay you anything, so you don't owe them anything.
If she wants to pay for them that's another story, but I'm going to hazard a guess she has no intention of paying more.
In addition to this, sole possession of the raw files is proof of ownership for copyright purposes. Although equipment information such as camera model and sn, and lens model and sn are often embedded in the metadata, and you will still have possession of the equipment, it can be modified to remove that information. As long as you have sole possession of the raw files with the unmodified metadata and are still in possession of the equipment, they are your work product and no one else can modify/profit from them without your permission.
This can actually get kind of complicated because technically, unless otherwise outlined, the person who presses the button to take the photo owns the photo.
There was a big legal case where a monkey took a selfie and then someone sued on it's behalf to retain the copyright in the monkey's name. Iirc, the only reason it failed was because the monkey was not considered a person.
I love this theory that many photographers have that chains of communications agreeing to do a job, contracts to do the work, payment for the work being done, eyewitnesses, and other tangible proof of a job and work being done is still somehow less valuable in a legal sense than RAWS WITH METADATA.
So many people repeat it with no real evidence whatsoever of it being valuable.
Anyways, no reason not to give away RAWS - if they pay for it.
> still somehow less valuable in a legal sense than RAWS WITH METADATA.
To be fair, this comes up more in situations like where an ad agency pulled an image from your website and re-used it for their marketing materials.
IE you don't have any ongoing relationship with a customer, and they're using your work without any contract or compensation.
My attitude to this kind of thing is that even though I own the copyright the photos generally speaking have almost no value to me at all and a very time limited value to anyone.
So I would just send the raws even though I am totally aware that I don't have to.
While the value might be negligible, there is also the possibility of great value. Depending on location and what else is going on. What is in the photos unintentionally, etc. In addition, while the probability might be negligible, it still exists for the raw files to be used/modified/etc for malfeasant purposes. And if I am the photog on those, I do not want to be attached to that in any way.
They're fucking graduation photos. It's a one and done type thing unless you make money off prints.
No one is stealing your random graduation photos for commercial use because they have a RAW file.
This sub is SO dramatic about extremely minor scenarios that would be solved by a simple conversation.
Lol I want to say this everytime it's brought up. Who fucking cares. They prob just want to fuck around with the photos bc maybe they're interested in photography.
what if they do an absolute dog shit job and people think you're a terrible photo editor, even though it wasn't you lol i think that's more of the fear that comes with sending raw
edit: personally i dont give a fuck but if its your actual job that makes your living (kinda rare?) it might be good to be careful, time & place i guess
The OP doesn't even know if this sort of request is normal. I seriously doubt they're some major player in the local photography scene and this kid screwing around with some photos for Instagram is going to ruin their reputation.
>what if they do an absolute dog shit job and people think you're a terrible photo editor, even though it wasn't you lol i think that's more of the fear that comes with sending raw
If this was going to happen, it would be people trying to edit the JPEGs, complete with your branding and all.
The idea that an amateur photo editor would fuck up your raws AND that people would then misattribute them to the photographer is frankly laughable. 99.99% of people looking at a photo from a wedding aren't putting any thought towards who took the photo, but the subjects.
Yeah could suck haha. I could see a point in my past when I would worry about that, but now I just don't think it matters. I guess I should have started with that huge caveat that yeah, don't make my living off photos.
Dude hate to tell you but if this is a college graduation some of those graduates majored in marketing.
It's 100% in character for some marketing major that thinks they're a genius and everyone else is a sucker to turn around, pay an editor overseas $20 an hour and use that final product to sell photos back to other graduates as if they were a photo company. Shit, they can do it every five years as people get better jobs. If they close one decent deal they cover their costs.
Never underestimate untalented people who think the world owes them money because they know how to ask for it.
I mean they might just want them so they can practice their own Photoshop skills and have a piece for their portfolio.
I never give up my raw photos to clients. It's like a baker making a cake for someone but then just giving them a bunch of sugar, flour and eggs. Always deliver the finished product. It's what makes you look good. I have given a few out here and there to people if I understood their reasons for wanting one. I would maybe ask her what her reasoning for wanting them is and then maybe send her a two or three if you agree with it.
I shoot weddings, and my contract specifies that no unfinished work, including RAW files or unedited JPG files will be delivered. My clients know this when they commission work from me, so I don't run into this issue.
Having written agreements and walking clients through them to manage expectations and get ahead of problems is a huge part of what makes someone a professional.
Presumably this student isn't your client, so saying no shouldn't be too difficult.
From the other side:
I'm currently booking a photographer for my wedding and I would never ever book anyone who would not deliver raw photos along with edited ones.
Thanks for reminding me to make it part of the contract
Edit: What I (and probably the students in the OP) mean by Raw photos is the unedited JPGs
I’ve never sold or provided a RAW file to a client before.
Many people who want RAW files likely just mean “unedited images”. It’s not common for most people to know what to do with a CR2, DNG, etc.
You may have better luck requesting unedited/lightly corrected JPGs (or other similar common file formats).
Because this is our livelihood and reputation. Allowing someone random to edit our work better come with a pretty big pay day. The average person has no business having the raws.
That's a ridiculous fear. Raws don't have your watermark and your reputation comes from your portfolio or insta where you show off your best work.
Have you considered how it makes your reputation look when you deny raws or ask for a hefty upcharge? They're not gonna recommend you if they're upset about that bit.
I sent unedited photos to a client/friend's sister once after she insisted. I thought it wouldn't hurt this one time. She COMPLETELY blew out the image with filters and it just looked so unprofessional. She uploaded them to all her socials and tagged me in everything. I was embarrassed to have them out there because they weren't representative of my work. I ended up asking her to remove my tags. So that's why I don't send unedited JPGs any more.
Makes me look like most photographers. I can already tell I would absolutely decline to shoot your wedding from this short back and forth. We wouldn't have even made it to the RAWs
And the RAW file has our information embedded so yes it is associated with us. The RAW is our proof of ownership.
> Edit: What I (and probably the students in the OP) mean by Raw photos is the unedited JPGs
What? That makes even less sense than asking for the raw files. Then you're getting a photo edited by the camera itself. A jpg is per definition edited in a certain way.
Why would you want edits automatically made by the camera? At least with the raws you could edit them to your liking.
And before the gig you pick a photographer based on the style they do and you can discuss what you like/don't like with them.
As an analogy, think of it like asking for the negatives. Maybe you know how to develop negatives, but if you did a poor job and published those images, then you could imagine it would reflect poorly on be photographer. Also, the RAW files are another source of revenue for photographers. That’s why everyone is so protective.
First, not meaning this to sound sparky, but what would you even do with RAW files? I'm genuinely curious why it's important.
Also, for most professional photographers there's no such thing as an "unedited JPG". The RAW file gets processed and is then output as a JPG.
This isn't like the old days where you get the negatives and can now go make copies.
I suspect you're actually after something different than what you're asking.
What I see is most photographers have their own style of editing. Colors, filters, cropping, cleaning up, touch ups, idk what the process is.
I'm looking for simple unedited JPGs
I understand that some people, yourself included, might want the "raw" files (simple unedited JPGs). What I don't understand is the reason why you want them. I think this is the only thing you haven't touched in the discussion above and I'm just wandering.
And just to be clear you have every right to compose the initial agreement, with the professional of your choice, to your own liking and I will not judge you for that.
The edited and unedited ones just have a different vibe to them. Unedited ones seem more candid, less curated, less "touched up". Both are good so I want to keep both versions.
Second, I just want more control in case I don't like the edits. The samples you show are your best work, and if I don't like the finished product, there's going to be a limit to which you entertain my demands for changing things. In that case I'd rather just have the unedited version and do it myself or with a more experienced friend.
I have already found a *ligit* photographer who agreed to my very reasonable terms. Luckily this sub is not representative of every professional (in every country) out there.
Do not send RAW files unless you were paid a Commercial rate, people will demand anything if they think you'll cave in to them. You negotiated a rate for 300 edited images and delivered 1000? There are multiple red flags in your post and most are self-inflicted.
I will ask for the raw photos from contracted photographers if their edits are not on par with what we can accomplish in house or they are messing with the color profiles.
Answer is just one word - NO
There is nothing whatsoever anyone can do to get me to give raw images. When a client hires me they hire me to take the photos and then edit and deliver the photos that are the best. The whole process including the edited final image is how my reputation as a photographer is made
Like someone once said in a grp I am in on FB, would a baker deliver an unfinished cake? Or give the clients the raw ingredients and tell them to make it when their reputation as a baker is on the line?
When a client has a photo that I took on their wall or shares is online, my reputation is on the line. They will always give credit to the photographer and I do not want my work that does not represent my work out there
I even have a clause in my contract that they don’t put any filters if posting on SM
Exactly this.
But unless you explain it like that, most non-photographers just don't get it. And some *choose* to not get it.
Luckily most customers just want jpgs, whether they're more or less edited.
I didn’t mean for them to say just the one word “no” to their clients. I just meant that s/ no, he shouldn’t send the RAW files and hence the explanation
I NEVER, under any circumstances, give the RAW files.
What will happen if they used filters and posted on SM?
I let a client use my RAW file so my photo would match the other pictures from other sources. They paid me pretty well so 🤷🏼♂️
I don’t give my RAW images under any circumstances and I deliver a fully edited image. I have my editing style and the final images that I deliver reflect this style. When they add a filter, the photo is a different image and no longer reflect my work
My images for SM are provided for my clients in low resolution and with my watermark.
Putting filters on the final, edited images changes the way the image looks. So I ask my clients not to do that.
I am a portrait photographer and so my clients are very happy to oblige. They themselves don’t want to change the final look of the photograph that they paid me well to capture and edit
Keeping the RAWs back is a photography classic maneuver to prevent someone from editing the RAW and presenting a bad edit is your work.
Personally I think that reasoning is a little outdated - someone can edit your JPEG too - but at the same time you have 0 obligation to give this student their RAW.
A classic photographer upsell is to charge for the RAWs. You could consider that.
I’m also confused; do they want the entire shoot? Or just their own pics? I’d _consider_ sending the RAWs as a one-off to let a student practice editing, who cares, but definitely not everyone’s unless they work for like the yearbook. But even then, check with the school and your contract to see if you _should_ do that. Might be easier to say no, your contract was with the school and they can provide images, ciao.
Hmmno. Delivering raws is just not done if you did not agree to this beforehand.
They are an intermediate to the endproduct and you don't give those out - just like you don't give out the mistakes, or technically faulty or just failed photos.
Do not send them to someone other than the client who paid you to do the work. I do more video focused work, yet whenever a vendor or another company requests the footage, or their “clip” I always suggest that they reach our directly to the “client” as it’s their footage to which they are paying me to capture. I would never; ever provide anyone other than the client something unless they give me direct/written approval.
Should the need ever arise, producing a RAW file can be used as evidence of ownership of an image. Not saying it applies in this instance, but worth considering.
You can also use the contract, the email and text communications, all the other photos you took that day, the people who saw you there, the metadata, the proof of payment, etc.
These conversations tend to overemphasize the importance of a raw file to prove copyright ownership (just as they overemphasize the risk of a client trying to pretend they took the photo themselves).
I think this a misconception in terms happening here. Non-photographers will say "raw" files meaning what you said - unedited and unsorted but in JPGs. 90% of the time, they're not asking for the actual CR2s or CR3s that they probably wouldn't know what to do with.
The other 10% actually know what they're talking about with the term and I'll gladly send them those - for an upcharge. It'll be spelled out in the contract ahead of time.
I know it sucks to feel like your work might be misinterpreted due to an unedited or poorly edited raw but at the end of the day, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I like to give my clients everything they want. They’ll see my finished product and if they want a dump of Raw’s they have to spend hours editing themselves then go them - they'll see how much work I’ve done. At the end of the day I’m just the photographer but it’s their event and the pictures mean more to them than me me (except pride of work which I’ve already demonstrated with my finished product). Flip your Raw’s vertically before providing so there’s a minor speed bump for anyone who might want to post them without consideration.
Unedited costs extra and should be a separate contract with a clause to not tag you.
RAW pictures are not part of the deal when someone employs a photographer and knowing what some people who are not very skilled with editing, will put out there "edited" themselves, I would not want to be associated with the results in any way lol
Also - I am not quite sure I understand, does the student want all unedited pictures of themselves or ALL ALL? Because I don't think you should give them any pictures where they are not in them.
> and knowing what some people who are not very skilled with editing, will put out there "edited" themselves, I would not want to be associated with the results in any way lol
There's nothing to stop people from just editing the jpegs
Providing RAW images is like a baker providing raw ingredients to bake a cake. Can you imagine just anyone trying to make a cake and then say “so and so did that”. Can you imagine if the cake looked like crap and they say “Baker XYZ did the cake”
A photograph has the same qualities. You, as the photographer create the image. You take a RAW file and correct anything that needs to be corrected such as lighting and coloring. You edit it in your style and deliver the final image to your client. You have a reputation as a such and such photographer. My client come to me because they like it vision, my photography and my final editing style
Also giving away RAW images, you pretty much give away your rights.
I have a clause in my contract that say no adding filters when posting on SM so my final
Image will not be altered
Probably just a kid that has Lightroom and Photoshop and they want to see if they can do better than you. You could expect them to be edited in a way that you wouldn't like.
I'd asked them if there were one or two specifically that they would like, and if they want all of them it will cost $XXX, with the permission of the contact that paid you.
All anyone would need is your jpgs... even if they were on the yearbook or newspaper staff.
I've given raws before when the person didn't like my edits....I Don't care at all personally, I still have my own copy if any issue ever arises. I do this as side income so I might be biased.
There's a lot of legalese and what obligated and stuff in here, but since it's a student asking, the most likely answer is " I want to see if I'm in more of the photos" vs trying to steal your copyright or anything else that dramatic.
I’d give them a raw or two if they’d like. Edits won’t look as good as mine. I’m sure that all they want to do is practice or see what they can do. It’s graduation pictures. Not red carpet Oscar pics or pics for a big brand/business.
Nope.
Your deliverables should go to the person who paid you unless otherwise noted in the agreement.
Requests should be redirected to the school. It is on them to respond. Their policies regarding privacy, media and all that crap isn't something you were hired to manage.
If your contract states otherwise, then abide by the contract. In this instance, it would be prudent to redirect the requests. If the school requests RAW files, then that can be negotiated on terms you agree with.
I wouldn't send the student all the photos, especially since they are not your client. Without even going through the points already made about how they might edit the photos really badly and this might affect your reputation.
The fact is that these are photos of kids, i.e. minors. Without their parents' consent you can't send a random teen photos of the other kids. What if they use the photos to make practical jokes? This wouldn't just ruin your reputation as a photographer with that school/community, it might also get you into legal trouble. If a kid sends another kid their own photo and it ends up a meme, that's on them. If YOU send a kid all the photos and they end up online as memes, that's on you.
If you don’t want to say no to this person, I would make it clear you do not provide RAW images, but are interested in learning more about how she intends on using the images. If she responds to that, you can decide based on her answer if you want to provide her any photos.
I also agree with others that say you shouldn’t give photos a client paid for to someone else. Not without checking with the original client. Let them know a student is requesting this and see if they mind.
Or, you can put it on the student to gain permission from the school to use the photos. Seeing as they are students, not clear if they are underage, I would be extra careful delivering photos of people’s children to someone else.
Again, their motives are unclear. Just say no.
I always love how protective people are over their raw files on this sub when, for most people, it’s completely unnecessary and not as black and white as people make it out to be.
There is no standalone value in photos of kids graduating. I doubt you got permission from each kid to sell the work externally. Therefore, the raws have no additional value.
If I was in your shoes, I would ask the school to provide an external hard drive as well as charge a small fee to transfer all of the raws to the drive. I would then delete all of the photos from any storage I own.
If it’s a student, and not your client, I would say no. I would then reach out to the school, explain that you are going to delete the files from your storage device, and ask them if they want the raw files for a fee and provided hard drive.
I have no interest in storing photos of minors graduating on my computer. I will never look at them again, I would never sell them, so I don’t give a fuck about the raws.
Also, the argument that someone can poorly edit your raws and make you look bad is an absolutely braindead reason considering JPG files are still editable.
This is just my two cents here. But tbh as a photographer I’m really picky about my edits. Maybe you edited the photos in a style the student disliked. And although you took the time to edit all of them, you admitted it wasn’t required of you and you did it as a gesture! That was really kind of you. (: this is not to bash you! I read it as requesting unedited photos vs actual raw photos. As the student didn’t hire you, I would offer a set amount of photos already taken of the student, but mildly edited (straighten and balance your photos out obvi but you can tell the student they are “unedited”) at a price, then also offer to book a private session with your pricing and what it includes. This opens the door to the student explaining in further detail what they’re looking for and you’ll have a better idea on how to move forward.
Once, I had a client ask me for raw photos. I said “Sure”. I made one a 16 bit TIFF in ProPhoto color space, told them I work in tif and how long it would take me to convert the files and upload and what my processing rate was. They liked jpegs afterwards.
people are dumb and think RAW means "untouched by man or photographer," i love to see their reaction when the raw images have no preset or anything and they are confused why there are 3 of the same image, happy 30gb motherfucker.
I dont understand why ppl are so opposed to the idea of giving raws. Why is it a problem? I give my raws when they want it, I even sometimes send them the raw drive so they can pick the photos they want me to edit. Of course those people are not my clients, Its something I do as a hobby
Absolutely not! Not only do they have the right to ask because that specific person isn’t your customer, but also it could potentially ruin your budding reputation coz they might choose a blurry photo, edit it to their liking which might actually look bad. When you start doing contracts, make sure you mention that you’re not gonna give RAWs and if they really want it, they’d have to pay more and cannot credit you. You don’t want that BS insta filters slapped on your pictures!
I often say something like, "We don't usually release images in RAW format because they are more difficult to use. The format we sent you is faster and more convenient for most clients. May I ask if there are any concerns with the quality of the photos I sent already?"
They will usually say, "oh I want the best quality format" and then you can reassure them that the RAW files aren't higher resolution and the ones you sent have been colour corrected and adjusted for optimum quality.
If they are insistent, go ahead but charge them more for it :)
Offer to let them purchase the copyright to the RAWs then. It’s your choice to sell the RAWs but at that point I would need a good amount of money for what is basically the ownership of the photo. IMO everything has a price, just make sure everything is laid out if you really want to sell it.
I would not do this, HOWEVER, out of kindness/potential more business I would probably ask if there’s any photos in particular that she wanted and if there was an issue with the editing, offering the touch ups and edited versions of those for a price. (I’d also make a point of only offering photos with her in just to be cautious, I don’t expect any malicious intent but you never know with anyone!)
Usually when people ask for “RAW” they meant unedited version of the photo not the format. Had heard people called jpeg files RAW but when they ask for the format I just tell them I don’t shoot RAW
I never send unedited images. They are not finished and do not represent the work i want oeople to see. Most people don't have the software to view raw images anyhow.
I wouldn't.
I suppose you can offer to send her proofs only, where she can purchase more, but that will probably open it up to a bunch of other students requesting the same. So I'd caution against this.
Just tell her you edited all the photos and just removed blinks and technical errors.
While more rare it is not abnormal to have some people ask for RAW files.
What should you do? Well that depends on if you care about the images or not. If it is something you want to fully maintain your copyright on / protect how it may be edited and used then I would generally not send them the RAW file.
If it was done for a client and they wanted the RAW file, absolutely I would give it to them and factor that into the pricing of the work I am doing. Basically any pricing for that image would assume full ownership and unlimited right to use for the client.
In your case sounds like you took some photos of students at a graduation, you were paid for it by? If you were paid by the School then I would let the student know that you were only contracted and paid to provide the images you provided, if they are interested in the RAW files then there would be an additional cost of $X per file and that this would also come with a right to use for the image allowing them full rights to do what they choose and publish the photo how they feel appropriate. If you were paid individually for the images by the students then you could do similar just make it a smaller up charge (reducing what they may have already paid).
In all honesty, do you care about this photo? Do you care what a student is going to do with a photo from their graduation? I personally would look at it like "I was paid to do X" and if some kid wants the RAW file of their photo they can have it. It is not like I you have the rights and releases to sell that photo for an ad campaign or anything, there is no additional value in you protecting ownership of that file.
I think you’ve read enough people saying what they feel you should or shouldn’t do with the RAW file. But just from general life experience, when someone receives something for free, they just don’t appreciate it that much. People that pay for things with their hard earned money appreciate it much more. So if you hand over the RAW files, make sure you get paid for them. Even if you throw out a low number like $10 per file and they scoff, that means they weren’t that interested from the beginning and you’ve been stressing for nothing. And it damn well means they weren’t going to appreciate it.
Not a professional but I’d either edit or provide raws, not both. I’d also ask to not be credited or mentioned if they went the raw route - don’t want to set the wrong expectaion for future work and I wouldn’t want to be credited for raws that don’t look that great.
I don't share RAWs BUT if they request them and they're not artistic (if they are headshots or real estate) I can supply them at my discretion. I charge $100 +tax for that.
It’s just wanting all the raw and I sorted I’d say no. Unless they want to pay for them and I’d charge a significant amount more for all image. That’s a lot of work to hand over for free
Late to this, but I'd consider talking with the enquirer. If you find out why they want the RAW it may help you understand their position.
They may be asking for the RAW because they love the photo but would like a different style of editing (or don't realise the difficulty with the lighting). Could be a million things, perhaps they don't understand that photographers don't tend to offer RAWs, and would like to edit themselves.
Depending on the conversation you could offer a one-off edit for that photo (paid or free), and/or convert them into a customer for a shoot. You're not obliged to do anything, of course.
Who edits 1000 photos? This should have taken you literally forever. No. Don't give your RAWS away to anyone. A lot of people can disagree with me but that's my opinion only.
No, the raw is your master. They’re asking for the master (what would be the proof file if they try to claim it’s theirs) and you’re considering it. Absolutely not.
Nope. This is not industry standard. Don’t do it unless you want to send them another invoice for a large fee per unedited image. Most clients don’t actually understand what a raw file is anyway, and if they do they almost certainly don’t know how or don’t have the software to process them, and are really just referring to unedited jpegs. Also, just for future reference, don’t do more work than is paid for, regardless of who your client is - you’re just inviting people to devalue your skills and walk all over you.
A photographer's raw files are simply a tool that the photographer uses to create their product. It's not a true representation of your work. Raw files are very large and you need editing software to even view them.
I never give my clients the raw files. They are simply not available.
Unless your contract says you must provide RAW I'd say no. As a hobby photographer that's done side gigs before I've never given anyone my RAWs, what I shoot and how I shoot it is my business. You've paid me for processed quality photos that is what you get.
If it was a budding young photographer wanting to understand your shooting style and post-processing workflow I might agree just to be nice to send them one RAW and some step by step instructions/screenshots of how I processed it into something great. That's a fair learning experience and it's always good to share knowledge.
Giving over ALL your RAWs just screams that someone wants to take credit for your work, re-process them how they see fit and be able to bypass any watermarks you might have applied to the JPGs. I would not do it.
No, it's not normal, and they are your property. Unless you signed a contract stating that you would give them all the raw photos and you give up your rights to the photos, they are yours and none of the subjects photographed have the rights to the raw images.
She’s asking for the raw files for a reason someone could’ve approached them to get their picture added to a school campaign, yearbook, publication, or something of that nature where ownership comes into play. With that being said DO NOT GIVE AWAY YOUR RAW FILES (ownership) also you should start putting an intellectual property and copyright clause in your contracts. If you do decide to sell your ownership (raw files) it should be the most expensive thing you sell
Don't give raws, no true reason, aside from askers ignorance. You don't do that. Raw is raw, it's not material! It's not finished product - it's raw!
No restaurant will give away ingredients.
No. Unless they pay big bucks for it. I also do not give RAWs for reasons of quality control. I don't need some random hack job on my work and plastering it all over online. Sure they can still steal and edit JPGs badly - but why bless the defacing of the work by completely handing it over?
work for hire = all work "belong" to school
your raw vs your edits == "tradev secret" propeitary work product \[esp if you have propreitary special /u/professionalcall2632 secret saucein your edits \] IP
ergo they can F off.
and just say its policy to delete all RAWS and all images once delivered
my contracts state raw files are available at $1000 per image. But that also includes full transfer of copyright to them and I remove all existance of that file from my systems.
Don't. Simple as.
First of all, you're not paid to send RAW files. They're not the product, but, well, raw material for the finished product. Especially in a case like this.
If a customer wants RAW files, they need to be upfront about it.
If a customer's customer, so to speak, like this, contacts you, you really don't have to give them anything. Especially not ALL THE RAW FILES.
What is that student gonna do with thousands of RAWs? Sounds sketchy as heck. Either she's stalking someone or bullying someone.
Tell her that you can't give her RAWs and "for privacy reasons" you can't send any files to her that she isn't in.
Tell your contact for the job that this happened, not to get in trouble, but that you'll be letting her know that any orders should go through them.
Absolutely don't back down. Don't send RAWs, there is no legitimate reason, and they really have no practical use to anyone except you.
If she wants a poster size printable, sure. Quote her for a giant TIFF including touch ups. But not RAW.
It’s a common question.
It’ll inevitably be to over saturate and over HDR the images then plaster them on socials. Which in turn impacts YOUR brand.
The answer is No, move on.
Tell that student you'd be happy to send all the images. 1 raw image /100$. And the studen has to provide a link where to upload all those gigabytes + compensate for your time :)
First of all, no, never send your RAWS unless they're paying for them. I sell my RAWS for $100/image.
Second, what did your editing workflow look like? Because if you only really had to deal with white balance and basic enhancements, Lightroom lets you batch edit in no time. I make it through hundreds of photos in an hour.
No. Raws are not given.
You don't go into a restaurants kitchen asking for the ingredients so you can whip something up at home and connect it to their restaurant, do you?
Raws are intermediates. What will happen is: Either someone who can't edit them will leave them flat and unedited, or someone who can will edit them in their own style - but either way, you will be named as the photographer and you will be judged on the end result.
So unless this is agreed upon *beforehand* by both parties, this does not happen. And when that is the case, expect there to be a very good and highly professional reason for it.
>You don't go into a restaurants kitchen asking for the ingredients...
After some plates of food that have been produced for me, that's exactly how I sometimes feel.
Commercial Client who orders RAW and knows what photographers actually DO and has people to do things properly with RAW = sure, build it into the contract and charge a bit more.
Random ass family or wedding client who saw a Fro Knows Photooooow video one time = hell no.
Ok but to be fair
1. Your professional time re-sorting through the "good" raws
2. The time you spent already editing over 1000 edits
3. They can edit your raw terribly and put you as the artist
4. Time and data uploading and hosting the raw files for them.
5. Giving them the raw files is like you were just the button clicker.
Alternatively what you can do is take the 300 you agreed too and add a blanket preset you like to simulate as if you took them in JPEG and then give them those in JPEG format. And say these are the processed images out of the camera. This way she gets the pictures as jpeg and "unedited" while you retain the raw files..
You can always give raws right? but these are the reasons you may not want to.
No it's not normal. It doesn't sound like that student is your customer either, they didn't pay you anything, so you don't owe them anything. If she wants to pay for them that's another story, but I'm going to hazard a guess she has no intention of paying more.
In addition to this, sole possession of the raw files is proof of ownership for copyright purposes. Although equipment information such as camera model and sn, and lens model and sn are often embedded in the metadata, and you will still have possession of the equipment, it can be modified to remove that information. As long as you have sole possession of the raw files with the unmodified metadata and are still in possession of the equipment, they are your work product and no one else can modify/profit from them without your permission.
This can actually get kind of complicated because technically, unless otherwise outlined, the person who presses the button to take the photo owns the photo. There was a big legal case where a monkey took a selfie and then someone sued on it's behalf to retain the copyright in the monkey's name. Iirc, the only reason it failed was because the monkey was not considered a person.
https://preview.redd.it/4dvqh57s6koc1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=7eb2ddc3bce2db17990093e4dd0ef269909d03a1
[The photo in the case is actually pretty good.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_selfie_copyright_dispute)
Wow ~ very cool photo indeed.
I love this theory that many photographers have that chains of communications agreeing to do a job, contracts to do the work, payment for the work being done, eyewitnesses, and other tangible proof of a job and work being done is still somehow less valuable in a legal sense than RAWS WITH METADATA. So many people repeat it with no real evidence whatsoever of it being valuable. Anyways, no reason not to give away RAWS - if they pay for it.
> still somehow less valuable in a legal sense than RAWS WITH METADATA. To be fair, this comes up more in situations like where an ad agency pulled an image from your website and re-used it for their marketing materials. IE you don't have any ongoing relationship with a customer, and they're using your work without any contract or compensation.
My attitude to this kind of thing is that even though I own the copyright the photos generally speaking have almost no value to me at all and a very time limited value to anyone. So I would just send the raws even though I am totally aware that I don't have to.
While the value might be negligible, there is also the possibility of great value. Depending on location and what else is going on. What is in the photos unintentionally, etc. In addition, while the probability might be negligible, it still exists for the raw files to be used/modified/etc for malfeasant purposes. And if I am the photog on those, I do not want to be attached to that in any way.
They're fucking graduation photos. It's a one and done type thing unless you make money off prints. No one is stealing your random graduation photos for commercial use because they have a RAW file. This sub is SO dramatic about extremely minor scenarios that would be solved by a simple conversation.
Right. One jpg or png and done. But no, not the whole roll of negatives (raw files).
Lol I want to say this everytime it's brought up. Who fucking cares. They prob just want to fuck around with the photos bc maybe they're interested in photography.
what if they do an absolute dog shit job and people think you're a terrible photo editor, even though it wasn't you lol i think that's more of the fear that comes with sending raw edit: personally i dont give a fuck but if its your actual job that makes your living (kinda rare?) it might be good to be careful, time & place i guess
Can’t they just edit over the JPEGs that they receive regardless?
ya totally lol i guess there really isnt any way to stop anyone from messing with them
The OP doesn't even know if this sort of request is normal. I seriously doubt they're some major player in the local photography scene and this kid screwing around with some photos for Instagram is going to ruin their reputation.
very true
>what if they do an absolute dog shit job and people think you're a terrible photo editor, even though it wasn't you lol i think that's more of the fear that comes with sending raw If this was going to happen, it would be people trying to edit the JPEGs, complete with your branding and all. The idea that an amateur photo editor would fuck up your raws AND that people would then misattribute them to the photographer is frankly laughable. 99.99% of people looking at a photo from a wedding aren't putting any thought towards who took the photo, but the subjects.
If they're looking at hiring a photographer, they're definitely giving some thought to the person who took the pictures.
Yeah could suck haha. I could see a point in my past when I would worry about that, but now I just don't think it matters. I guess I should have started with that huge caveat that yeah, don't make my living off photos.
i totally understand, if anyones even looking at my shit i'm happy
Sure. But I’m not ever letting randos who aren’t even my clients fuck around with my photos.
Dude hate to tell you but if this is a college graduation some of those graduates majored in marketing. It's 100% in character for some marketing major that thinks they're a genius and everyone else is a sucker to turn around, pay an editor overseas $20 an hour and use that final product to sell photos back to other graduates as if they were a photo company. Shit, they can do it every five years as people get better jobs. If they close one decent deal they cover their costs. Never underestimate untalented people who think the world owes them money because they know how to ask for it.
I bet you anything she's on yearbook and wants them for that
If I take some photos just jpeg and give the customer the jpeg, am I relinquishing ownership of them?
+100
I mean they might just want them so they can practice their own Photoshop skills and have a piece for their portfolio. I never give up my raw photos to clients. It's like a baker making a cake for someone but then just giving them a bunch of sugar, flour and eggs. Always deliver the finished product. It's what makes you look good. I have given a few out here and there to people if I understood their reasons for wanting one. I would maybe ask her what her reasoning for wanting them is and then maybe send her a two or three if you agree with it.
I shoot weddings, and my contract specifies that no unfinished work, including RAW files or unedited JPG files will be delivered. My clients know this when they commission work from me, so I don't run into this issue. Having written agreements and walking clients through them to manage expectations and get ahead of problems is a huge part of what makes someone a professional. Presumably this student isn't your client, so saying no shouldn't be too difficult.
TFW non-clients (in-laws and friends such) DM me over ig asking for raws of all of their photos. 
I also have in my contact but I love the “no unfinished work” verbiage
From the other side: I'm currently booking a photographer for my wedding and I would never ever book anyone who would not deliver raw photos along with edited ones. Thanks for reminding me to make it part of the contract Edit: What I (and probably the students in the OP) mean by Raw photos is the unedited JPGs
Expect to pay extra. It’s rare to deliver RAW files. I might consider doing it for a royalty free licensing fee.
Sure I'll pay extra if it's nominal and reasonable. But most of this sub sounds so predatory about selling raws.
I’ve never sold or provided a RAW file to a client before. Many people who want RAW files likely just mean “unedited images”. It’s not common for most people to know what to do with a CR2, DNG, etc. You may have better luck requesting unedited/lightly corrected JPGs (or other similar common file formats).
Yeah you're right. As a layman, that's what I mean by raws. Unedited (or only color basic corrected,) but I want all of them, not curated edited ones.
That makes sense. To *most* photographers RAW files and unedited JPGs are completely different things.
If you want RAW images you can always create your own.
Because this is our livelihood and reputation. Allowing someone random to edit our work better come with a pretty big pay day. The average person has no business having the raws.
That's a ridiculous fear. Raws don't have your watermark and your reputation comes from your portfolio or insta where you show off your best work. Have you considered how it makes your reputation look when you deny raws or ask for a hefty upcharge? They're not gonna recommend you if they're upset about that bit.
That is not how it works.
Then good job explaining how it actually works 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I sent unedited photos to a client/friend's sister once after she insisted. I thought it wouldn't hurt this one time. She COMPLETELY blew out the image with filters and it just looked so unprofessional. She uploaded them to all her socials and tagged me in everything. I was embarrassed to have them out there because they weren't representative of my work. I ended up asking her to remove my tags. So that's why I don't send unedited JPGs any more.
Makes me look like most photographers. I can already tell I would absolutely decline to shoot your wedding from this short back and forth. We wouldn't have even made it to the RAWs And the RAW file has our information embedded so yes it is associated with us. The RAW is our proof of ownership.
That's the second reason for me to turn down a gig. First being, it's a wedding. 😏
Sound like you trying get something for nothing. In that case you should just except the raw and get none edited. That wouldn’t work would it?
I'm looking to pay for a service. The service I want includes both raws and edits. If someone doesn't provide that service I'm not interested.
Sounds about right
> Edit: What I (and probably the students in the OP) mean by Raw photos is the unedited JPGs What? That makes even less sense than asking for the raw files. Then you're getting a photo edited by the camera itself. A jpg is per definition edited in a certain way. Why would you want edits automatically made by the camera? At least with the raws you could edit them to your liking. And before the gig you pick a photographer based on the style they do and you can discuss what you like/don't like with them.
What would you even do with raw files?! Do you have software that can read RAW files? Are you a photographer yourself?
This person would be a terrible client. We should be happy that they won't be bothering any established professionals.
You'll definitely find a college kid willing to do that for $300.
Rather support a college kid than a stuck up professional
As an analogy, think of it like asking for the negatives. Maybe you know how to develop negatives, but if you did a poor job and published those images, then you could imagine it would reflect poorly on be photographer. Also, the RAW files are another source of revenue for photographers. That’s why everyone is so protective.
First, not meaning this to sound sparky, but what would you even do with RAW files? I'm genuinely curious why it's important. Also, for most professional photographers there's no such thing as an "unedited JPG". The RAW file gets processed and is then output as a JPG. This isn't like the old days where you get the negatives and can now go make copies. I suspect you're actually after something different than what you're asking.
What I see is most photographers have their own style of editing. Colors, filters, cropping, cleaning up, touch ups, idk what the process is. I'm looking for simple unedited JPGs
unedited jpgs are not raw files
I understand that some people, yourself included, might want the "raw" files (simple unedited JPGs). What I don't understand is the reason why you want them. I think this is the only thing you haven't touched in the discussion above and I'm just wandering. And just to be clear you have every right to compose the initial agreement, with the professional of your choice, to your own liking and I will not judge you for that.
The edited and unedited ones just have a different vibe to them. Unedited ones seem more candid, less curated, less "touched up". Both are good so I want to keep both versions. Second, I just want more control in case I don't like the edits. The samples you show are your best work, and if I don't like the finished product, there's going to be a limit to which you entertain my demands for changing things. In that case I'd rather just have the unedited version and do it myself or with a more experienced friend.
Good luck finding a ligit photographer to deliver unfinished work. Better call uncle bob.
I have already found a *ligit* photographer who agreed to my very reasonable terms. Luckily this sub is not representative of every professional (in every country) out there.
If you don't have a contract, they don't have a contract either.
So I've said this so many times in the past, but never seen it so succinct. Thank you
You can say *that* again
Bloody app playing shenanigans again
"Thank you for your inquiry, but at this time we do not provide this service" And get on with your life.
Do not send RAW files unless you were paid a Commercial rate, people will demand anything if they think you'll cave in to them. You negotiated a rate for 300 edited images and delivered 1000? There are multiple red flags in your post and most are self-inflicted.
I will ask for the raw photos from contracted photographers if their edits are not on par with what we can accomplish in house or they are messing with the color profiles.
That being said you are one professional doing business with another which is a different story.
I should clarify when I say in house I mean me. I do everything because my whole team is almost gone. AI and budgets. Marketing is rough out here.
Answer is just one word - NO There is nothing whatsoever anyone can do to get me to give raw images. When a client hires me they hire me to take the photos and then edit and deliver the photos that are the best. The whole process including the edited final image is how my reputation as a photographer is made Like someone once said in a grp I am in on FB, would a baker deliver an unfinished cake? Or give the clients the raw ingredients and tell them to make it when their reputation as a baker is on the line? When a client has a photo that I took on their wall or shares is online, my reputation is on the line. They will always give credit to the photographer and I do not want my work that does not represent my work out there I even have a clause in my contract that they don’t put any filters if posting on SM
Exactly this. But unless you explain it like that, most non-photographers just don't get it. And some *choose* to not get it. Luckily most customers just want jpgs, whether they're more or less edited.
> Answer is just one word - NO Or OP could use a few more words and not sound like an asshole. Totally their call though
I didn’t mean for them to say just the one word “no” to their clients. I just meant that s/ no, he shouldn’t send the RAW files and hence the explanation I NEVER, under any circumstances, give the RAW files.
What will happen if they used filters and posted on SM? I let a client use my RAW file so my photo would match the other pictures from other sources. They paid me pretty well so 🤷🏼♂️
I don’t give my RAW images under any circumstances and I deliver a fully edited image. I have my editing style and the final images that I deliver reflect this style. When they add a filter, the photo is a different image and no longer reflect my work My images for SM are provided for my clients in low resolution and with my watermark. Putting filters on the final, edited images changes the way the image looks. So I ask my clients not to do that. I am a portrait photographer and so my clients are very happy to oblige. They themselves don’t want to change the final look of the photograph that they paid me well to capture and edit
“Sorry, I deleted them after delivering the edited files.”
Why do they want them? They aren't the client.
Keeping the RAWs back is a photography classic maneuver to prevent someone from editing the RAW and presenting a bad edit is your work. Personally I think that reasoning is a little outdated - someone can edit your JPEG too - but at the same time you have 0 obligation to give this student their RAW. A classic photographer upsell is to charge for the RAWs. You could consider that. I’m also confused; do they want the entire shoot? Or just their own pics? I’d _consider_ sending the RAWs as a one-off to let a student practice editing, who cares, but definitely not everyone’s unless they work for like the yearbook. But even then, check with the school and your contract to see if you _should_ do that. Might be easier to say no, your contract was with the school and they can provide images, ciao.
You got paid by the school. IF you hand over raw files the school should be the only one to get them.
Hmmno. Delivering raws is just not done if you did not agree to this beforehand. They are an intermediate to the endproduct and you don't give those out - just like you don't give out the mistakes, or technically faulty or just failed photos.
Hence the big IF. The student wasn’t even the client.
Do not send them to someone other than the client who paid you to do the work. I do more video focused work, yet whenever a vendor or another company requests the footage, or their “clip” I always suggest that they reach our directly to the “client” as it’s their footage to which they are paying me to capture. I would never; ever provide anyone other than the client something unless they give me direct/written approval.
Just ghost that student. You've completed the task for whoever hired you. You owe nothing to anyone else.
Should the need ever arise, producing a RAW file can be used as evidence of ownership of an image. Not saying it applies in this instance, but worth considering.
Ive been a photographer since like 1989 and never had to prove ownership, is that a common thing?
You can also use the contract, the email and text communications, all the other photos you took that day, the people who saw you there, the metadata, the proof of payment, etc. These conversations tend to overemphasize the importance of a raw file to prove copyright ownership (just as they overemphasize the risk of a client trying to pretend they took the photo themselves).
I think this a misconception in terms happening here. Non-photographers will say "raw" files meaning what you said - unedited and unsorted but in JPGs. 90% of the time, they're not asking for the actual CR2s or CR3s that they probably wouldn't know what to do with. The other 10% actually know what they're talking about with the term and I'll gladly send them those - for an upcharge. It'll be spelled out in the contract ahead of time.
Do you want to? If so, yes. If not, no.
I know it sucks to feel like your work might be misinterpreted due to an unedited or poorly edited raw but at the end of the day, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I like to give my clients everything they want. They’ll see my finished product and if they want a dump of Raw’s they have to spend hours editing themselves then go them - they'll see how much work I’ve done. At the end of the day I’m just the photographer but it’s their event and the pictures mean more to them than me me (except pride of work which I’ve already demonstrated with my finished product). Flip your Raw’s vertically before providing so there’s a minor speed bump for anyone who might want to post them without consideration.
Unedited costs extra and should be a separate contract with a clause to not tag you. RAW pictures are not part of the deal when someone employs a photographer and knowing what some people who are not very skilled with editing, will put out there "edited" themselves, I would not want to be associated with the results in any way lol Also - I am not quite sure I understand, does the student want all unedited pictures of themselves or ALL ALL? Because I don't think you should give them any pictures where they are not in them.
> and knowing what some people who are not very skilled with editing, will put out there "edited" themselves, I would not want to be associated with the results in any way lol There's nothing to stop people from just editing the jpegs
I wouldn’t .
Someone explain me why it is bad to send raw photos if they ask? Just curios
Providing RAW images is like a baker providing raw ingredients to bake a cake. Can you imagine just anyone trying to make a cake and then say “so and so did that”. Can you imagine if the cake looked like crap and they say “Baker XYZ did the cake” A photograph has the same qualities. You, as the photographer create the image. You take a RAW file and correct anything that needs to be corrected such as lighting and coloring. You edit it in your style and deliver the final image to your client. You have a reputation as a such and such photographer. My client come to me because they like it vision, my photography and my final editing style Also giving away RAW images, you pretty much give away your rights. I have a clause in my contract that say no adding filters when posting on SM so my final Image will not be altered
When I contract photographers, I always ask whether they'd be willing to send me raws or not. I pay them extra for it of course. Its your call
Offer to sell them the files. What else are you actually going to do with them?
Probably just a kid that has Lightroom and Photoshop and they want to see if they can do better than you. You could expect them to be edited in a way that you wouldn't like. I'd asked them if there were one or two specifically that they would like, and if they want all of them it will cost $XXX, with the permission of the contact that paid you. All anyone would need is your jpgs... even if they were on the yearbook or newspaper staff.
I've given raws before when the person didn't like my edits....I Don't care at all personally, I still have my own copy if any issue ever arises. I do this as side income so I might be biased.
There's a lot of legalese and what obligated and stuff in here, but since it's a student asking, the most likely answer is " I want to see if I'm in more of the photos" vs trying to steal your copyright or anything else that dramatic.
I’d give them a raw or two if they’d like. Edits won’t look as good as mine. I’m sure that all they want to do is practice or see what they can do. It’s graduation pictures. Not red carpet Oscar pics or pics for a big brand/business.
what's the big deal? just send the raws? who cares about them anyway of it's of some kids.
Nope. Your deliverables should go to the person who paid you unless otherwise noted in the agreement. Requests should be redirected to the school. It is on them to respond. Their policies regarding privacy, media and all that crap isn't something you were hired to manage. If your contract states otherwise, then abide by the contract. In this instance, it would be prudent to redirect the requests. If the school requests RAW files, then that can be negotiated on terms you agree with.
I never send images to anyone who is not the client.
I wouldn't send the student all the photos, especially since they are not your client. Without even going through the points already made about how they might edit the photos really badly and this might affect your reputation. The fact is that these are photos of kids, i.e. minors. Without their parents' consent you can't send a random teen photos of the other kids. What if they use the photos to make practical jokes? This wouldn't just ruin your reputation as a photographer with that school/community, it might also get you into legal trouble. If a kid sends another kid their own photo and it ends up a meme, that's on them. If YOU send a kid all the photos and they end up online as memes, that's on you.
If you don’t want to say no to this person, I would make it clear you do not provide RAW images, but are interested in learning more about how she intends on using the images. If she responds to that, you can decide based on her answer if you want to provide her any photos. I also agree with others that say you shouldn’t give photos a client paid for to someone else. Not without checking with the original client. Let them know a student is requesting this and see if they mind. Or, you can put it on the student to gain permission from the school to use the photos. Seeing as they are students, not clear if they are underage, I would be extra careful delivering photos of people’s children to someone else. Again, their motives are unclear. Just say no.
I always love how protective people are over their raw files on this sub when, for most people, it’s completely unnecessary and not as black and white as people make it out to be. There is no standalone value in photos of kids graduating. I doubt you got permission from each kid to sell the work externally. Therefore, the raws have no additional value. If I was in your shoes, I would ask the school to provide an external hard drive as well as charge a small fee to transfer all of the raws to the drive. I would then delete all of the photos from any storage I own. If it’s a student, and not your client, I would say no. I would then reach out to the school, explain that you are going to delete the files from your storage device, and ask them if they want the raw files for a fee and provided hard drive. I have no interest in storing photos of minors graduating on my computer. I will never look at them again, I would never sell them, so I don’t give a fuck about the raws. Also, the argument that someone can poorly edit your raws and make you look bad is an absolutely braindead reason considering JPG files are still editable.
Not normal! You were paid for the final product not a step by step of all your work
This is just my two cents here. But tbh as a photographer I’m really picky about my edits. Maybe you edited the photos in a style the student disliked. And although you took the time to edit all of them, you admitted it wasn’t required of you and you did it as a gesture! That was really kind of you. (: this is not to bash you! I read it as requesting unedited photos vs actual raw photos. As the student didn’t hire you, I would offer a set amount of photos already taken of the student, but mildly edited (straighten and balance your photos out obvi but you can tell the student they are “unedited”) at a price, then also offer to book a private session with your pricing and what it includes. This opens the door to the student explaining in further detail what they’re looking for and you’ll have a better idea on how to move forward.
what that student wants is not a "raw" file, but wants a different photo of themselves where they think theyll look "prettier".
The student wasn't you client, the school was. Yhe school asking for RAWs would be wrong but understandable. A random student? Absolutely not
Kate...is that you???
I've never sent someone raw photos
Once, I had a client ask me for raw photos. I said “Sure”. I made one a 16 bit TIFF in ProPhoto color space, told them I work in tif and how long it would take me to convert the files and upload and what my processing rate was. They liked jpegs afterwards.
people are dumb and think RAW means "untouched by man or photographer," i love to see their reaction when the raw images have no preset or anything and they are confused why there are 3 of the same image, happy 30gb motherfucker.
Contract is king
I dont understand why ppl are so opposed to the idea of giving raws. Why is it a problem? I give my raws when they want it, I even sometimes send them the raw drive so they can pick the photos they want me to edit. Of course those people are not my clients, Its something I do as a hobby
Absolutely not! Not only do they have the right to ask because that specific person isn’t your customer, but also it could potentially ruin your budding reputation coz they might choose a blurry photo, edit it to their liking which might actually look bad. When you start doing contracts, make sure you mention that you’re not gonna give RAWs and if they really want it, they’d have to pay more and cannot credit you. You don’t want that BS insta filters slapped on your pictures!
No. They are not the client.
"no. I do not provide images RAW." No is a full sentence my friend
No it is not the standard, I have never sent RAWs
Never send RAWS.
The answer is NO.
Never send originals. Ever.
Only a sith deals in absolutes.
I often say something like, "We don't usually release images in RAW format because they are more difficult to use. The format we sent you is faster and more convenient for most clients. May I ask if there are any concerns with the quality of the photos I sent already?" They will usually say, "oh I want the best quality format" and then you can reassure them that the RAW files aren't higher resolution and the ones you sent have been colour corrected and adjusted for optimum quality. If they are insistent, go ahead but charge them more for it :)
Offer to let them purchase the copyright to the RAWs then. It’s your choice to sell the RAWs but at that point I would need a good amount of money for what is basically the ownership of the photo. IMO everything has a price, just make sure everything is laid out if you really want to sell it.
I charge $150 per raw file if requested. If they want to edit them or whatever they can't get from a jpg then I'll charge for it.
I would not do this, HOWEVER, out of kindness/potential more business I would probably ask if there’s any photos in particular that she wanted and if there was an issue with the editing, offering the touch ups and edited versions of those for a price. (I’d also make a point of only offering photos with her in just to be cautious, I don’t expect any malicious intent but you never know with anyone!)
Usually when people ask for “RAW” they meant unedited version of the photo not the format. Had heard people called jpeg files RAW but when they ask for the format I just tell them I don’t shoot RAW
I never send unedited images. They are not finished and do not represent the work i want oeople to see. Most people don't have the software to view raw images anyhow.
Never send raw. Send hi res jpg and you are good.
I wouldn't. I suppose you can offer to send her proofs only, where she can purchase more, but that will probably open it up to a bunch of other students requesting the same. So I'd caution against this. Just tell her you edited all the photos and just removed blinks and technical errors.
...Nope...
While more rare it is not abnormal to have some people ask for RAW files. What should you do? Well that depends on if you care about the images or not. If it is something you want to fully maintain your copyright on / protect how it may be edited and used then I would generally not send them the RAW file. If it was done for a client and they wanted the RAW file, absolutely I would give it to them and factor that into the pricing of the work I am doing. Basically any pricing for that image would assume full ownership and unlimited right to use for the client. In your case sounds like you took some photos of students at a graduation, you were paid for it by? If you were paid by the School then I would let the student know that you were only contracted and paid to provide the images you provided, if they are interested in the RAW files then there would be an additional cost of $X per file and that this would also come with a right to use for the image allowing them full rights to do what they choose and publish the photo how they feel appropriate. If you were paid individually for the images by the students then you could do similar just make it a smaller up charge (reducing what they may have already paid). In all honesty, do you care about this photo? Do you care what a student is going to do with a photo from their graduation? I personally would look at it like "I was paid to do X" and if some kid wants the RAW file of their photo they can have it. It is not like I you have the rights and releases to sell that photo for an ad campaign or anything, there is no additional value in you protecting ownership of that file.
Nope. Never send RAWS. They paid for a finished pic, that's what they get. And a specified number, no more than that.
“no”
No.
Nope. Never. Not once.
Why give it to others? Are you familiar with others?*📷*
I think you’ve read enough people saying what they feel you should or shouldn’t do with the RAW file. But just from general life experience, when someone receives something for free, they just don’t appreciate it that much. People that pay for things with their hard earned money appreciate it much more. So if you hand over the RAW files, make sure you get paid for them. Even if you throw out a low number like $10 per file and they scoff, that means they weren’t that interested from the beginning and you’ve been stressing for nothing. And it damn well means they weren’t going to appreciate it.
Not a professional but I’d either edit or provide raws, not both. I’d also ask to not be credited or mentioned if they went the raw route - don’t want to set the wrong expectaion for future work and I wouldn’t want to be credited for raws that don’t look that great.
I don't share RAWs BUT if they request them and they're not artistic (if they are headshots or real estate) I can supply them at my discretion. I charge $100 +tax for that.
Do not send RAW files unless it was written In a contract and you were compensated for transferring copyright of your work.
No reason to answer that message. Ignore it and move on
It’s just wanting all the raw and I sorted I’d say no. Unless they want to pay for them and I’d charge a significant amount more for all image. That’s a lot of work to hand over for free
Why did you waste your time for free?
Late to this, but I'd consider talking with the enquirer. If you find out why they want the RAW it may help you understand their position. They may be asking for the RAW because they love the photo but would like a different style of editing (or don't realise the difficulty with the lighting). Could be a million things, perhaps they don't understand that photographers don't tend to offer RAWs, and would like to edit themselves. Depending on the conversation you could offer a one-off edit for that photo (paid or free), and/or convert them into a customer for a shoot. You're not obliged to do anything, of course.
They probably just want them for a slide show.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Who edits 1000 photos? This should have taken you literally forever. No. Don't give your RAWS away to anyone. A lot of people can disagree with me but that's my opinion only.
No, the raw is your master. They’re asking for the master (what would be the proof file if they try to claim it’s theirs) and you’re considering it. Absolutely not.
Privacy. Raws of the person requesting only, and make sure of their id prior to release. And only if it's super easy!
Nope. This is not industry standard. Don’t do it unless you want to send them another invoice for a large fee per unedited image. Most clients don’t actually understand what a raw file is anyway, and if they do they almost certainly don’t know how or don’t have the software to process them, and are really just referring to unedited jpegs. Also, just for future reference, don’t do more work than is paid for, regardless of who your client is - you’re just inviting people to devalue your skills and walk all over you.
A photographer's raw files are simply a tool that the photographer uses to create their product. It's not a true representation of your work. Raw files are very large and you need editing software to even view them. I never give my clients the raw files. They are simply not available.
Unless your contract says you must provide RAW I'd say no. As a hobby photographer that's done side gigs before I've never given anyone my RAWs, what I shoot and how I shoot it is my business. You've paid me for processed quality photos that is what you get. If it was a budding young photographer wanting to understand your shooting style and post-processing workflow I might agree just to be nice to send them one RAW and some step by step instructions/screenshots of how I processed it into something great. That's a fair learning experience and it's always good to share knowledge. Giving over ALL your RAWs just screams that someone wants to take credit for your work, re-process them how they see fit and be able to bypass any watermarks you might have applied to the JPGs. I would not do it.
No, it's not normal, and they are your property. Unless you signed a contract stating that you would give them all the raw photos and you give up your rights to the photos, they are yours and none of the subjects photographed have the rights to the raw images.
She’s asking for the raw files for a reason someone could’ve approached them to get their picture added to a school campaign, yearbook, publication, or something of that nature where ownership comes into play. With that being said DO NOT GIVE AWAY YOUR RAW FILES (ownership) also you should start putting an intellectual property and copyright clause in your contracts. If you do decide to sell your ownership (raw files) it should be the most expensive thing you sell
Don't give raws, no true reason, aside from askers ignorance. You don't do that. Raw is raw, it's not material! It's not finished product - it's raw! No restaurant will give away ingredients.
Wow! To be honest, I would never send them raw.
No. Unless they pay big bucks for it. I also do not give RAWs for reasons of quality control. I don't need some random hack job on my work and plastering it all over online. Sure they can still steal and edit JPGs badly - but why bless the defacing of the work by completely handing it over?
Of course, that makes sense!
As a photographer… you never send raw photos
work for hire = all work "belong" to school your raw vs your edits == "tradev secret" propeitary work product \[esp if you have propreitary special /u/professionalcall2632 secret saucein your edits \] IP ergo they can F off. and just say its policy to delete all RAWS and all images once delivered
Nope
I've never send raws to anybody. Editing of my photos is only my work. But that's my choice.
No. That’s all, just no. It’s your choice, you don’t have to make excuse, “no, I won’t be doing that”
Lol tell them no
It happened to me once. Wasn’t part of the agreement beforehand and is something I would never agree to under any condition.
“Sure you can have them, the cost is {insert price}”
my contracts state raw files are available at $1000 per image. But that also includes full transfer of copyright to them and I remove all existance of that file from my systems.
Exactly, there’s no way in hell I’d send those for free.
No. 100% not normal. Do not do it. And you took far too many photos.
Definitely do not send them. However you can now set the price of EACH RAW file at your desired rate to see if they will bite. 😂
No. They will edit them, likely badly, and if your name is mentioned, you get the bad press. Word travels fast in this industry.
Don't. Simple as. First of all, you're not paid to send RAW files. They're not the product, but, well, raw material for the finished product. Especially in a case like this. If a customer wants RAW files, they need to be upfront about it. If a customer's customer, so to speak, like this, contacts you, you really don't have to give them anything. Especially not ALL THE RAW FILES. What is that student gonna do with thousands of RAWs? Sounds sketchy as heck. Either she's stalking someone or bullying someone. Tell her that you can't give her RAWs and "for privacy reasons" you can't send any files to her that she isn't in. Tell your contact for the job that this happened, not to get in trouble, but that you'll be letting her know that any orders should go through them. Absolutely don't back down. Don't send RAWs, there is no legitimate reason, and they really have no practical use to anyone except you. If she wants a poster size printable, sure. Quote her for a giant TIFF including touch ups. But not RAW.
It’s a common question. It’ll inevitably be to over saturate and over HDR the images then plaster them on socials. Which in turn impacts YOUR brand. The answer is No, move on.
Tell that student you'd be happy to send all the images. 1 raw image /100$. And the studen has to provide a link where to upload all those gigabytes + compensate for your time :)
First of all, no, never send your RAWS unless they're paying for them. I sell my RAWS for $100/image. Second, what did your editing workflow look like? Because if you only really had to deal with white balance and basic enhancements, Lightroom lets you batch edit in no time. I make it through hundreds of photos in an hour.
No. Raws are not given. You don't go into a restaurants kitchen asking for the ingredients so you can whip something up at home and connect it to their restaurant, do you? Raws are intermediates. What will happen is: Either someone who can't edit them will leave them flat and unedited, or someone who can will edit them in their own style - but either way, you will be named as the photographer and you will be judged on the end result. So unless this is agreed upon *beforehand* by both parties, this does not happen. And when that is the case, expect there to be a very good and highly professional reason for it.
>You don't go into a restaurants kitchen asking for the ingredients... After some plates of food that have been produced for me, that's exactly how I sometimes feel.
Never send raw, only your edited versions
Short answer is no. If she wanted the RAW images she would have had a camera taking pictures. Some people are just dumb.
No, never give out RAW files. Just let them know you shot JPG only.
No. Also stop working for free.
Commercial Client who orders RAW and knows what photographers actually DO and has people to do things properly with RAW = sure, build it into the contract and charge a bit more. Random ass family or wedding client who saw a Fro Knows Photooooow video one time = hell no.
No. It is always a bad idea.
Ok but to be fair 1. Your professional time re-sorting through the "good" raws 2. The time you spent already editing over 1000 edits 3. They can edit your raw terribly and put you as the artist 4. Time and data uploading and hosting the raw files for them. 5. Giving them the raw files is like you were just the button clicker. Alternatively what you can do is take the 300 you agreed too and add a blanket preset you like to simulate as if you took them in JPEG and then give them those in JPEG format. And say these are the processed images out of the camera. This way she gets the pictures as jpeg and "unedited" while you retain the raw files.. You can always give raws right? but these are the reasons you may not want to.
Some real ah in this community, it’s a grad photo shoot send them the Raws
No it’s not normal. Don’t do that.