I don’t get it. You bought (was gifted) a picture package of 15 photos. You want more photos and the photographer asks more money for them to get them to you. And now you’re expecting that they’d just dump all the RAW files your way? I find the pricing pretty steep btw but that’s not in question.

Do you go by the bakeries in the evening, expecting they gift you all bread that hasn’t sold? Because you already bought one loaf earlier that day?

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.

They are a business, trying to make a profit. You want something for free. How is this a money grab?

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?

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.

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.

First off congratulations on the pregnancy!

I say this with love, because I know you just want the great photos and are excited about it.

If I’m taking photos and delivering a service based on a contract, the client shouldn’t get to change the terms of the contract without it being mutually beneficial. If they want more photos than stated in the contract, they’d either pay or negotiate a new amount.

You wouldn’t go to the grocery story and say “can I have the rest of those bananas for free, I see you’re about to throw them out.” You could say, “hey I have this amount to give, money is tight, how much can I get for that?” Some grocery stores may just be like “here ya go, all this for free!” Some may be like “get out of here you damned banana loving human!” They’re all different. They may not want to devalue their brand. They may not want people to expect free shots.

All that being said, photographers charge premium prices, especially those that are in high demand. They can and usually do charge whatever the market allows. But they also generally disclose it all ahead of time so there’s no surprises for either side.

I hope the photos all works out. Again congrats on the baby!!

Why don’t you ask them for the unedited photos. Of course you have to pay for it but ask and see if they sell it

I wouldn’t say it’s standard but it’s how it used to be done.

if the package was 15, choose your 15 and move on, ask yourself do you really need 20 more pics of the same shoot?

The photographer is rendering a service for you. If you want to benefit from her service, you must pay for it.

This is not the only business model used by photographers but it is a standard one. If her package includes fifteen photos that is what you get. Why would they give you the rest? Also watermarking and low res is done because many people don’t think there is anything wrong with taking photographers photos without paying for them. For some reason people don’t see this as stealing.

To add to what others have said: the photographer is also conscious of their brand. They want to provide photos that they feel represent them as a photographer, which includes their editing style.

I understand why you ask “why not just just give us the unedited photos if you’ve already taken them and are just going to delete them anyway”. I mean, from your perspective it looks like you’re not asking for any more work from the photographer. But think of it from their perspective: when you show off those photos and tell people they were taken by Photographer X, then Photographer X feels like there are images out there attached to their name which are not representative of their work. Even worse, you could edit them in a way the photographer doesn’t like at all and then they feel like their name is attached to images they wouldn’t have distributed willingly.

Question for you: did this come up before the shoot? Did you sign a contract? Was it mentioned at all that you’d get 15 photos for your $1800 price?

This sounds like a higher end, IPS model photographer. In person sales. Her average sale per session is probably 3$k, 1800 for the shoot (minus costs to wardrobe, studio, make up) and then sales of extra digital images or products afterwards. Good for her - she’s probalby one of the few photographers out there making good money. In your mind imagine she pockets 20% as pure, pure profit cash in the bank. The rest goes to running a business, gear, employees, marketing, studio costs, workshops and learning, monthly fees, insurance, make up artists, etc. So if you have paid 1800, she might keep 600 as pure profit for x hours put into prepping you, shooting your session, editing and uploading the images, and doing detailed skin and hair work on the final chosen images.

She cannot just give you the unedit photos 1) photographers HATE doing that for so so so so many reasons 2) she’d never make an extra sale again if she did 3) it’s her ART so unedited is unfinished. You would never ask a carpenter to just dump wood on your doorstep and let you finish it, nor would you ask a painter to just get most of a portrait done but then give it to you and let you finish it. It’s not how art works.

You could ask her to not delete the extras in case you change your mind.

Meanwhile your chosen images will not be pixilated or blurry or logo’d once you have paid.

You’re working with a professional and not a hobby tog. it comes with a price tag. The big question is: do you love the photos?

I will say I’ve seen photographers go this route a lot. But for future projects I would recommend negotiating with photographer ahead of time. Sometimes you can get everything you got plus a flash drive with all unedited pics. But you wanna make sure you ask ahead of time when they are still willing to “sweeten the deal” Also get it in writing.