Ah, a double-whammy question – do wedding photographers give all photos, and do they give the RAW ones? These questions are asked multiple times a year on many different wedding forums. Let’s tackle them one at a time.
Do Wedding Photographers Give All Photos?
The straight answer? No.
In a full wedding day shoot your wedding photographer will take thousands of photos. Among these are duplicates, test shots, and inevitably, a few where Uncle Bob blinked at the wrong time or a waiter walked in front of the lens just as you took a picture. It happens.
Part of our job as professional photographers is to go through these shots, selecting the cream of the crop and making sure you get the very best images that tell the story of your day. What you receive is a carefully curated set of photos that capture all the key moments, without you having to wade through a sea of near-identical snaps. Trust me, it’s all about quality over quantity.
Do Wedding Photographers Give the RAW Photos?
No.
Now, the RAW question comes up a lot on forums. Most photographers – myself included – typically don’t provide RAW photos. But why, you might ask? It’s because RAW files are like unfinished paintings – they need more work to be at their best.
The short answer is, you actually don’t want the RAWs.
They look a bit crap, are massive, clunky to work with (I’m assuming your computer isn’t as fast as mine) and you can’t do anything with them until they’re processed.
As photographers, we put a lot of ourselves into not just taking the photo, but also the post-processing work – adjusting the light, the colour, the contrast. This is where the magic happens, where we make those images really come alive. Giving you the RAW files would be like a baker giving you a cake before it’s been decorated. Sure, it might taste alright, but it’s not the final product they’d be proud to present.
The other issue that comes with handing over RAW files is control. In your contract there will no doubt be a clause that the images remain the Copyright of the photographer, but that you have a license to use them. This is important as it stops anyone from using copyrighted images and claiming them as their own. As soon as you give over copies of the RAW files then proving Copyright becomes a lot harder.
So there you have it! We photographers may not give all photos or RAW photos, but that’s just because we want to ensure you get the most memorable, beautifully finished images from your big day. Remember, we are on your team! Hire suppliers that you trust and you know that they have delivered the absolute best.
I’ve written more information on relevant topics on my resources page, topics related to this one include; does the wedding photographer own my pictures and can they use them without my permission?