Hi there! Let’s discuss an important topic about edited vs. unedited photos (with examples) and why most photographers don't deliver unedited photographs to their clients. Also, at the end of this post, I will tell you why I offer all RAW files to my wedding clients and how I deliver RAWs to my happy clients.

What is a RAW file (unedited photo), and how do we "cook it"?

A RAW file is a chunk of information about light, shape, color, tone, etc., potentially becoming a stunning photograph in a jpeg format. It's like a raw piece of meat, with salt, pepper, some coleslaw, potatoes, and a sriracha sauce stored in your fridge, with the potential of becoming an excellent meal for your dinner, but you still have to cook it.

The RAW file from our cameras will only open on your smartphone or computer with specialized apps like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, Capture One, etc. Before we deliver photographs to our clients, we cull all unflattering photos, edit the ones that will make it to the final gallery, and then, after applying all the magic to each culled RAW file, we export jpeg copies of RAW files to our hard drives. I do all these manipulations in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, and Adobe has an informative article about the difference between RAW and JPEG if you want to learn more.

Examples of unedited RAWs and edited JPEGs.

For viewing purposes, I converted unedited RAWs to jpegs. Next to each unedited photo is a final edited jpeg delivered to my clients. All edits are done by me, one image at a time. Most wedding photographers don't provide unedited images under any circumstances because these files don't represent their vision, knowledge, or editing skills.

I offer unedited jpegs along with all RAWs.
Here is why:

My wedding clients have asked me about RAWs or unedited jpegs a dozen times. And for the first three or four years, I refused to offer RAW files. With time I got wiser and more experienced, and I realized that some couples really want to have every little moment captured at their wedding, no matter how "imperfect" or "not-print-worthy" that moment is to me. That's why now I offer 'All RAWs + Jpegs' as an add-on option to their wedding collection. It costs extra, but it is worth it if you'd like to have every single frame from your celebration. I deliver a Solid State Drive with all RAWs and jpeg copies of RAWs with corrected exposure and white balance.

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The bottom line. Do what is best for your business.

I do what I believe in. It’s not too much of a burden for me to convert even five-six thousand RAWs from a wedding to jpegs and then export it to an SSD and mail it to my clients. Maybe this will change in the future. For now, I will keep this option avaialble for my couples, and if anything changes, I will let update this post.

Cheers! Let me know what you think in the comments below.

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