Delivering RAW Photos Versus Edits

TOM (QUESTION):
 When you deliver the final images to the clients, are you giving them duplicates of the ones you edit? In other words, delivering RAW photos as well as the edits?

PHILLIP VAN NOSTRAND (ANSWER):
As a rule I never give original images to clients, only edits. It’s like showing someone a film that is uncut, or giving someone their food at a restaurant with all the ingredients on a plate, uncooked.

In the past I edited my photos a bit more heavily, making them look “vintage” or film-like, based on the trends at the time. This question pertains more to those kind of photos, where I’m delivering a highly stylized look to my images. During that time, my clients were hiring me for that look that I was showing online, so there weren’t requests for a different kind of image.

As I’ve developed in my career I’ve steered away from heavily edited photos to something more clean and classic looking. The difference between the original photo out of the camera and what my client sees is very minor.

$$$ TIP:

  Save yourself time by remembering what your client wants. It’s important in this business to put yourself in your client’s shoes! They want to see photos faster, see themselves look great, and post them online to show off their lives. If time is money, then don’t waste it by sending out massive original files as well as final edits.