Why Wedding Photographers Don’t Give RAW Files
(And Why You Don’t Need Them)
The Question Couples Keep Asking
There’s a question many couples ask wedding photographers: “Can we get the raw files?” On the surface, it sounds like a reasonable question to ask. Perhaps they have a purist vision or they want to do their own editing - which usually means applying an Instagram filter. It could be they just, “think they’d be nice to have.” The short answer: RAW files aren’t finished photos—and they’re not what you’re actually paying for.
Most wedding photographers, however, don’t make their raw files available to the client. They certainly don’t give them or supply them as part of the package, and they generally don’t sell them, either. It’s not that they’re trying to keep anything from their clients. There are good reasons for why photographers refuse to make raw files available.
To understand this, however, we need to be on the same page about what a raw file actually is. Many people assume that a raw file is simply the unedited jpeg that comes straight from the camera. This is incorrect, so let’s get into the details.
What a RAW File Actually Is (And What It Isn’t)
What People Think It Is
When you talk about raw files with the average person, they’re going to think it’s simply an unedited photo. Most people are only familiar with jpeg as the standard file format for digital images, and they can be forgiven for doing so. Jpeg has been the most common format people interact with for decades and it’s the only format that most people will ever come into contact with. Any photo that comes from a consumer-grade point-and-shoot camera or a phone is in jpeg format. The word, “raw,” is well-known and generally refers to something that hasn’t been worked on or processed and is in its original state.
This, in a way, is true with the term, “raw photo,” as well. It’s true that the photo is in its untouched, straight-from-the-camera state. When clients make this assumption, they’re not completely wrong. There’s more to it than that, though.
What It Actually Is
Raw files aren’t just untouched, unedited jpegs. A raw file is actually a completely different format. It’s not a standard, universally-useable image format like jpeg. It isn’t even one specific format. Each camera manufacturer’s raw files are different. They all have one thing in common, though: you can’t edit or even view them with just any basic image-viewing app. They require special software to be able to open and work on them.
Think of a raw file as a raw ingredient that you would use to bake bread. It is, by definition, not a finished product. At best, it’s an intermediary step. It needs to be worked with to create the finished product. You wouldn’t walk into a restaurant and ask the chef to give or sell you the raw ingredients for their homemade bread, right? This is what you’re doing when you ask for the raw files: you’re asking for the raw ingredients. This isn’t why you go to a restaurant. You go to them because you want the finished product. It’s the same with a wedding photographer. You’re going to them for the finished product.
Most consumers are used to the jpeg files that come from their compact cameras and phones. These files have been automatically processed by the camera to give them a good amount of contrast and colour saturation so they look good. This is the bread. The finished product.
Have you ever tasted raw bread dough? It’s not very good, is it? It’s not a representation of what the finished product is going to taste like at all. Raw files are the same thing (sort of. You can’t actually taste them). They aren’t a proper representation of the finished product. They don’t have any of the tweaks and adjustments applied to them that a jpeg image would. The files look quite flat and dull, with muted colours compared to what people are used to. You can’t simply post them online like a standard jpeg.
The bread on this sandwich probably tastes a lot better than the dough it was made from, right?
File size is also something most people aren’t aware of. Jpeg files are quite compressed, which means they don’t take up very much storage space. Raw files have very little compression, if any. As a result, they’re huge in comparison. A raw file from even a lower-resolution camera is over 20MB in size, and some high-end professional cameras can give files that are in excess of 200MB each. Think about that: just 5 photos would take up a full GB of storage space! You can’t simply post it on Instagram, for sure.
It’s not uncommon for a photographer to deliver 1000 or more files from a full-day wedding. At 200MB each, that’ll fill up your hard drive really quickly. And that’s just the shots they deliver! Depending on the photographer, there might be as many as 5000 photos taken at your wedding, maybe even more. How big did you say your hard drive was?
Part of the photographer’s editing workflow is the culling process. This is where they go through the photos to remove the duplicates, the closed eyes, the test shots - all the photos you wouldn’t want to see anyway. If you skip this process by asking for the raw files, you’re giving yourself a lot of extra work that can be quite tedious.
And then there’s the question of actually working on the file. Once you get the storage space taken care of and you install special software to be able to work it, you may find it takes quite a while to actually get anything done. If your computer isn’t very powerful, those massive raw files are going to slow things down quite a bit.
Key Takeaway:
Raw files aren’t just unedited images. They’re a unique format that has special requirements and takes up a ton of storage space.
The Real Product You’re Hiring a Photographer For
Remember, you’re not just hiring a technician to push a button. You’re hiring a creative professional to create a body of work that tells a story. The body of work is the finished product. Asking a photographer to give you the raw files is like asking a journalist to give you their notes along with the final, publish-ready story. It’s just an intermediary step toward creating the finished product.
The journalist’s personal style of writing is what makes them who they are and why they get hired. It’s the same with photographers. You hire the person you do because of their unique vision, workflow and look. The artistic editing choices they make that give the photos their signature look - colour grading, retouching, selective brightness adjustments - are as important to their style and the finished product as their understanding of lighting and composition.
Key Takeaway:
Editing isn’t just an extra. It’s part of the service that you’re paying for.
Why Photographers Don’t Deliver RAW Files
Raw Files Aren’t the Finished Product
Asking a photographer to give the raw files is like asking a restaurant to give you the dough for their bread. You’re asking for raw ingredients that need to be processed. It isn’t what you go to them for. Think of it this way: if you want the finished product (and the service that comes with it), you go to a restaurant. If you want the raw ingredients, you go to a grocery store. Wedding photographers are restaurants, not grocery stores. They sell finished products, not raw ingredients. If a photographer gives you the raw files, you’re not getting the full service. They’re essentially delivering an unfinished product. This doesn’t represent their brand or their style at all.
Editing Is Part of the Photographer’s Signature
What if you were to get the bread dough from a restaurant and bake it yourself? It probably wouldn’t taste the same as what the restaurant baked, right? It wouldn’t be a true representation of their work. It wouldn’t even matter if what you did was as good as theirs, better or worse. If someone went to them after tasting what you did expecting it to be the same, they’d be disappointed - especially if yours isn’t as good as theirs.
It’s the same with photography. If you take a raw photo from a photographer and edit it the way you want, it’s not a true representation of their work. If you don’t have the same editing skill as a professional photographer with years of experience, you probably aren’t going to do as good a job as they will. If you post it, people are going to assume that this is the kind of work the photographer delivers. If it’s not a good editing job, it will reflect poorly on them and affect their reputation and business.
Even if you do a decent job, odds are it still won’t be the same as what they’d do. It would still be an inaccurate representation of their style. This is one of the reasons photographers don’t give out raw files: their style is part of their brand. They need to protect their brand and reputation because it’s a vital part of their business.
Key Takeaway:
Raw files aren’t a finished product, they’re just an intermediary step in the process. They’re not designed for delivery as-is.
“But What If We Want Control?”
What most people really mean when they ask for RAW files is that they want control over the photos. Here’s the thing: they do have control. They choose who gets hired to shoot the wedding. This is why a photographer’s style is so important to consider during the hiring process. By choosing the right photographer, they make sure that the editing style is going to be exactly what they’re looking for. It’s no different from having control over the wedding cake, for example. The fact that they didn’t bake it themselves doesn’t mean they won’t get what they want. They chose the baker who can give them exactly the kind of cake they want.
Remember, also, that what the photographer delivers to you isn’t necessarily final. There’s always the possibility of making certain editing requests. If you want colours adjusted a bit or if there’s a shot you think would look better if it were brighter, this is something most photographers are perfectly happy to do.
Do Photographers EVER Provide Raw Files?
It’s rare, but it does happen on occasion. It’s a bit more common in the commercial space, especially with larger companies. The big difference here, though, is that the client usually has a professional editor who understands how to handle raw files properly and who is in communication with the client and the photographer to make sure they get the best results. The photographer doesn’t run the risk of a bad edit misrepresenting their brand because they know the work is going to be done by someone at least as skilled at editing as they are.
On the rare occasion that a photographer will make raw files available to wedding clients, it’s intentional. By that, I mean that the photographer has probably already made sure the client understands what they’re actually asking for and knows what’s involved. A photographer’s reputation and brand image is very important to them.
The files also won’t simply be given. As we’ve discussed, raw files aren’t a final product and aren’t meant to be. They aren’t included in the final deliverables. If you want them, they’re a product like any other and come at a price. That price generally isn’t cheap. Expect to pay a four-figure price for raw files from a wedding, above and beyond the price of the photography package itself.
That might sound expensive at first glance, but let’s look at it this way: If the photographer delivers around 1000 photos from the wedding and they charge you a flat price of $1000 for the raw files, that’s only about $1/photo. It’s really an incredibly low price per image. If you think about it, even $4000 would be a great price for that many photos!
And all this is if the photographer agrees to sell them at all. Delivering the raw files to wedding clients is quite rare and most photographers will simply refuse to make them available in the first place.
Key Takeaway:
Supplying raw files to clients is far from standard. Most photographers simply won’t do it.
So How Do We Have Control?
Instead of asking for the raw files, make sure you ask the right questions before you hire your photographer. That will ensure that the results they deliver fit your artistic tastes so well that you wouldn’t be able to edit them better yourself if you tried. Ask questions like:
• “How many final images do we receive?”
• “What’s your editing style?”
• “Can we see full wedding galleries?”
• “Do you do retouching if needed?”
Questions like these will help you eliminate photographers whose style don’t suit what you’re looking for. Remember, it’s not about finding the best photographer. It’s about finding the best photographer for you.
Focus on the Final Result
You don’t need to have the raw files to have great photos. The person you’re hiring to create them is a skilled professional with years of experience working with people in the exact situation you’re in now. They know how to give you what you’re expecting, that’s why you hired them in the first place. Trust their ability to do the job by trusting yourself to make the right hiring decision. That trust starts with choosing someone whose work you already love.
Curious about whether I’m the right person to deliver the kind of photos you’re looking for? If you’re comparing wedding photographers in Montreal or Ottawa, take a look at my wedding portfolio and then reach out and let’s talk!
Want to know more about editing? Find out more about the editing process!
FAQ
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In general, no. It does happen on occasion (mostly in commercial photography), but it’s very rare.
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A raw file is basically a container that holds raw data from the camera’s sensor. It’s not a standard format and needs special software to be able to open and work with it.
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The short answer? No. Legally (at least in Canada and the US), all the photos taken at your wedding are owned by the photographer unless one of the terms of your contract mentions that the ownership rights are being transferred to you.
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Raw files aren’t meant to be a finished image. They’re designed to be an intermediary step that’s very flexible to work on. Because of this, the camera doesn’t apply any kind of adjustments to the file like it would with a jpeg image.
Think of a raw file as the digital equivalent of a negative.
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Ask them various questions about their shooting and editing style. This will help you figure out which photographer is best suited to give you photos that look exactly the way you want them to so there won’t be a need to go through the trouble of editing them yourself.