Why I now offer a raw photo option for all wedding clients

Raw photos are (as the name implies) the raw original photo captured by the camera with the most information contained in the file. Raw files are larger than JPEG files for this reason, and provide much more latitude to change the photos later.

Many people refer to raw photos as the ‘digital negatives’ and that is a fair description.

With the raw photos you can change the exposure, colours or white balance and all of this can be achieved with minimal reduction in quality. The same cannot be said for editing a JPEG file, which is compressed and contains less information.

With AI exponentially improving over time, I believe that now is the ideal (and right) time to offer raw photos to my wedding clients.

Even now, there exists AI powered technologies that can edit and improve your photos well beyond what a normal photo editing process involves.

For example, noise or grain can be removed without any perceivable loss of quality from high ISO (sensitivity) photos for example those taken in a very dimly lit church or reception room. Photo resolution can be increased by using special algorithms and AI to take a 20 megapixel photo and turn it into 100 megapixels. This technology literally exists today…

Just imagine for one moment what things will be like in 5 years or 10 years time? Certainly there will be possibilities beyond our current imagination or wildest predictions.

Only very few wedding photographers in the world offer raw photos. That’s because the finished JPEG file is the result of editing, which might include Photoshop processes or other advanced editing.

When your photographer is capturing an image, they will have an idea in their head of the final image, and that process may involve substantial or complicated editing processes.

Therefore, it makes sense that your photographer would not normally provide the raw photos (and also because of their much larger file size).

I totally understand, respect and appreciate why some photographers will not want to provide raw files (to protect their work and reputation). I just think the benefits for the client are too great (to not provide a raw photo option). It won’t be for everyone, but for those that are tech savvy I believe it will be very appealing.

For all of these reasons, effective from November 1st 2023 I will be offering for all future wedding clients the option to purchase the raw files (of the selected photos) for a fixed price of $100 per hour of coverage for the selected photos.

There is a maximum cost of $750, so if your wedding coverage was 8, 9 or 10 hours then it is still $750.

Please note that purchasing the raw files must be done within two weeks of receiving your final gallery to allow sufficient time to provide the files before archived.

You will also receive as part of this service a license to edit and change these raw photos, and create as many alternative photos as you choose (which is not normally included in the standard JPEG license).

One of the major advantages to purchasing the raw files is that you can also take advantage of the new (and constantly improving) AI photo editing capabilities of Photoshop and other software. This means you can literally reimagine your photos and just with a few words, request changes to your photos such as removal of unwanted background objects or complete replacements of skies (for as many photos as you choose!).

I truly believe that when you look back in ten years time from now, you will be so grateful to hold not only the edited JPEG files, but the original raw files which will provide endless options for alternative editing and preservation of your memories (without any compromises).

For existing or past clients, please enquire to see whether your raw files are still accessible (in some cases they may be if you are interested). As only two copies of your raw files are kept in storage, and this storage is not designed to be a permanent backup - unfortunately it’s not possible to guarantee past clients that your raw files are still available.

But for all future clients from November 1st, this will be a new and exciting option going forward.