The Value of A Professional Photographer, or, “Can I Have All the Unedited Photos?”
caleb kerr
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Do you really want to look through 5,000 of these?

Honestly, yes I do. I’m not a photographer, I’m a web developer. I’m going to make the analogy that the 5,000 photos you take are like the code that I write, some of it is brilliant, but most if it is an unreadable mess. When I finish a website, I am not selling my source code, unless the client specifically asks for it. I sell the website.

Your photos (after you finish editing them) are your product, and it’s okay that it is the only thing you want to sell. But I want to give the client perspective. Photography is fascinating! It’s incredible that the little device you carry around can capture life. You’re freezing time. That’s… wow.

Clients are extremely complicated, because they don’t know what they want, and they are picky. Photography, when it comes to portraits specially, is tricky, because people will want you to make them look like models. And you’re a photographer, not a wizard :) However, I do believe that clients should have options. For example, in your Megan, for The Fittest Games, the picture on the left (which I assume is edited) is better than the edited one. It captured a moment and it isn’t overtaken by the distracting light behind Megan. Same goes for Tatiana’s photograph for A2 Swimwear.

So don’t give clients RAW files, because those are yours. But maybe consider giving clients the option to have almost virgin JPEGs? I hope I gave you some insight into the client’s mind, and as you say, communication is utterly important.