Why Your Photographer Won’t Give You the RAW Files

You probably wonder WHY your photographer will NEVER give you the RAW files from your session. 

As photographers we have heard it all.. ‘I know how to edit photos, ill edit my own’ ‘can we have a discount if you dont edit the photos’, ‘Can you shoot our session but our photographer friend can edit them’…. no, no, no and more no!!!! 

For a photographer offering RAW files is us handing over half a job… do you go to Woolworth and ask to buy a cow when you want a bottle of milk?  Of course not, even just reading that in your mind you’re thinking ‘WHY would someone do that?” Correct? Its the exact same for photographers. 

As a photographer our job is so much more then standing behind a camera clicking a button. Our final, end product is to created ART!! This includes how we shoot, the poses, the angles, the lighting, it is then transferred into how we edit our images, and this here, is why you will NEVER have a photographer offer THEIR work in RAW files, because it simply isn’t THEIR work. 

We as photographers hold value in the end product, its part of WHY you book in particular photographers, Its what made you love our work, so asking us for RAW photos really devalues US as professional Photographers, it discredits our work and our creativity so PLEASE consider this next time you go to ask.