My wife and I are expecting our first child. My in-laws got us a maternity photo shoot which costed $1800 for 2 hours. It included make up for my wife and access to a wardrobe. Everything was great the pictures were beautiful when shown. But now she sent us a proofing of about 300 photos to choose 15 for further editing and touch up. All photos she sent have watermarks and are blurry and don’t have the sharpness like when she was taking them and showing us. We asked about this she stated it’s common. Because people try to steal extra pictures by screenshot. We asked about adding a few extra. She wants $100 per 1 photo $300 for 5 and $800 for 20 I was so confused. And asked what happens to the photos we don’t get she said they will be deleted. To which I said but why couldn’t we have the unedited photos if you’re going to delete them, there’s a lot of really good pictures we like. She paused and said that just how things are done and this is standard. Idk it’s really making me want to never deal with a professional photographer again. Cause it seems like a money grab to me. Am I wrong?
You didn’t pay for two hours. You paid for many years of experience, which led to two hours of a professional doing their job for you. Additionally, you’re paying for expensive equipment to take the photos, to light the photos to process the photos, and to print the photos. In order to keep doing this and be able to feed their family they need to be able to charge the fees you were quoted.
Am I wrong?
Yes.
The way this photographer is conducting their business is standard in the photography industry. Here’s a list of reasons why most photographers won’t give you the RAW files
- In the US and many other countries, the person who takes the photo owns the photo. It’s literally something they created and are not obligated to give it to anyone.
- RAW files are huge, and if you do a photoshoot with hundreds of photos, sending those files to the client can be a huge pain
- Many RAW codecs require special drivers to preview on your operating system, and special software to edit. I do send clients RAW photos for an additional fee, and even though I always send them with explicit instructions on how to handle the files I always get an e-mail saying they can’t open them. Literally. Every. Single. Time.
- Photography, particular in the modern era, isn’t just about knowing how to operate a camera and some lights. The editing process is a large part of the skill that goes into being a photographer. With the RAW photos, you could very easily make some wacky edits to them, post them someone where online or in public, and potentially damage the photographer’s reputation since they took the photo.
My in-laws got us a donut shop gift card which costed $18 for 15 premium donuts. Everything was great the donuts were delicious. The shop had about 300 donuts on display and we were able to choose 15 to take home. All the donuts were in a glass display case so we could look at them but not grab them from the customer side. We asked about this she stated it’s common. Because people try to steal donuts if they’re just left out in the open. We asked about adding a few extra. She wants $1 per 1 additional donut, $3 for 5, and $8 for 20 I was so confused. And asked what happens to the donuts we don’t buy she said they will be thrown away because it was the end of the day and they would be expired when the store opens tomorrow. To which I said but why couldn’t we have all the donuts if you’re going to throw them out, there’s a lot of really good donuts we like. She paused and said that’s just how things are done and this is standard. Idk it’s really making me want to never deal with a donut shop again. Cause it seems like a money grab to me. Am I wrong?
I dunno where you buy baked goods man but my local bakery gives stuff away for free or heavily discounted at the end of the day
Are these baked goods of which you speak made specially for you? Would you call it a cash grab if they said no we aren’t giving them to you for free?
I mean I think you’ve hit on why this analogy doesn’t work - the photographer’s products are specific to the client, the bakers are not (and have lost value by the end of the day). No baker would bake a bunch of extra cakes for an order just in case the person happened to buy one.
I think if I went to a baker and they made a bunch of cakes for me and then said here are the cakes in your package and I’ll just throw these other ones away if you don’t pay an extra fee for them I would find that a bit weird? And would probably go on r/baking and be like ‘is this normal?’
They are a business, trying to make a profit. You want something for free. How is this a money grab?
Yeah mate. That’s what I charge.
But just to put things in perspective. All of the editing, the retouching, not to mention the gear and the dresses, all takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money.
I offer a buy out for the extra photos. You can ask her about that if you want them, though many photographers don’t.
It’s sounds like you got a premium photographer, there will be cheaper ones. But seriously, you will be getting some wonderful shots that will be leagues above your average shot.