Photographers and unedited images?

[Jadefeather7]

I’m currently trying to find a photographer for a family photo shoot. I have a certain number of images in mind. The photographer I like can only provide 10 images in the budget that I have. I asked if she could give me another 10 unedited but she said she can’t. I don’t really understand why not?

Your photographer has to make a living and pay her/himself a salary. They also have to cover business costs, like their camera and computer equipment, software, car, possible studio space, website hosting, gallery hosting, insurance for equipment and public liability. Their salary has to be enough to give them holiday pay, maternity pay, sick pay and a pension. They will have taken all of this into account when working out their pricing for sessions. To give a client double the amount of images is not fair on them or on their other clients who have to pay for these images if they want them. I think you're unreasonable for expecting them to fit their business and salary costs into your budget and what you can afford. If it's outwith your budget then the best thing you can do is to find a cheaper photographer. And unedited images are rarely released as it's unfinished work, like an un-iced cake or a dress that hasn't been sewn together. There's also the risk that you may edit them badly and the photographer won't want future clients to think this is the normal standard of work they supply.

Because the photos are their product and advert and a bad photo can reflect badly on the photographer

My ex is a wedding photographer and basically while it seems fussy, most do not give out "raw images". This is because a decent photo requires multiple steps so the raw ones are often disappointing. This then is a bad advert for the photographer. The one time my ex did it, the person plastered the photo around saying what bad quality etc it was.

....Because it's a business?

Their 'product' really is their skill and you can't have that for free...

Seriously? Why would they give you another 10 pictures for free?
Don't be ridiculous

That's like saying to a writer 'just write me a cheap article with typos in and spelling errors, I don't mind'.

It's still their work and it's still going to reflect terribly on them professionally if it gets shared with people. Especially as the customer sharing them is unlikely to say 'oh, I wanted to save a few quid so I insisted on having the raw photos despite the photographer not being comfortable'.

People are going to say 'oh gosh, who was your photographer?' so they can avoid them. It's hugely damaging.

I'm Just being nosey (for semi professional reasons) but what is your budget/what are you paying?

How are they giving you the photos? Prints or USB etc

Because it’s their business, how they make a living. If you want unedited photos just take your own 🤷🏻‍♀️

People are cheeky fuckers when it comes to photographers. Always wanting discounted rates, or worse, free pictures in exchange for “the exposure”.

I asked if she could give me another 10 unedited but she said she can’t. I don’t really understand why not?

Because if you want 20 photos then you need to pay for 20 photos

McDonalds wouldn’t give you the ingredients for 10 extra burgers to take joke and cook for free

*home

When you buy a book are you happy to get 10 complete chapters and 10 half written ones ?

What a pisstake 🤦🏼‍♀️

You want 20 photos? Pay for 20 photos.
How entitled are you.

So, do you ever go to Tesco with only enough money for one loaf of bread and ask if they will let you have two?

It really is the same thing!

I think that by asking for unedited images you are asking for them to deliver substandard images that could potentially damage their brand.

What might happen - You may not like the unedited versions and then complain how rubbish they were, and then word gets around and they lose potential bookings.

It's a business that likes to give 100%, that's a good thing really but it comes at a cost

I'd really like a Range Rover but I can only afford a Honda. Can I have one anyway?

It’s a negotiation point. When I’m working with clients if they have a budget in mind we will offer to reduce the time spent or to have a more junior person do the work which inevitably reduces the quality of what get but means they can get something for what they are able to pay. I would have thought that raw images could have been made available at a lower price so that I’m getting the number of images I want and she’s getting something for the work she does in taking those pictures that will otherwise just get deleted. Obviously if there’s a really terrible image that would effect her reputation then it shouldn’t be shared

It’s not a negotiating point. The photograph will take maybe 50 images, select the 10 best ones and work on those. The 40 rejects aren’t free. They’re rejects the photographer doesn’t think are up to standard. They aren’t part of negotiations. If you wanted 20 photos, the photographer would take more.

I get what you’re you’re after, but unless there’s a huge relationship, it’s not going to happen. I had a relationship like this with someone who my firm hired but this was in the days when medium format film was still shot, scanned and retouched as digital cameras didn’t have enough pixels. I did this for years with the images the photographer produced so by the time full digital rolled around, there was enough trust to hand me the thousands of raw images at reduced cost and have the production part be done in-house by our graphics department.

That’s not going to happen here.

The last time we had a photo shoot I saw the unedited images and honestly I would have taken most of them as is. It may just be because I’m not a professional or because I have lower expectations.

There are two solutions to this OP:

1. Find a cheaper photographer and risk the photos not being of the same quality.

1. Increase your budget so that you are paying the going rate for what you want.

It’s not a negotiating point. The photograph will take maybe 50 images, select the 10 best ones and work on those. The 40 rejects aren’t free. They’re rejects the photographer doesn’t think are up to standard.

I agree it's not a negotiating point but I'd be disappointed with somebody calling themselves a photographer only getting 10 acceptable photos out of 50 when they are taking portrait photographs. I would think it acceptable if they were taking wildlife photos but taking photos of people who a biddable and predictable means there should be more than 20% of the photos which are acceptable.

My husband is a photographer. Threads like this remind me why he tears his hair out.

It's only a negotiating point if both the seller and the buyer are interested in negotiating. The photographer is not. They've set their terms, it's up to you to decide if you want to take them or not. YABU to think you can dictate how someone else runs their business.

There is actually a much cheaper photographer (the one I used last time) whose quality is very similar in my opinion. The only reason I’m not going with her is because I think the pictures will end up looking samey because she doesn’t have a lot of variation in her photography. That’s why I was looking elsewhere. I found one other local to me who I liked but she’s quite a lot more expensive.