Perhaps losses was a an incorrect way of phrasing it, I simply meant that it is hard for photographers to make a decent living... I don't know of many people who get professional photographs taken and while he may be making a good hourly rate while working for you, how many sessions can he get lined up a day etc. In addition there is the infrastructure time and costs that go into having a smoothly running portfolio. On top of that there is post-processing time (which of course would be taken out of the equation if you did it yourself) and travel time (if he came to you, which it sounds like). I don't know what going rates are so I cannot really comment on the price you paid for your shoot and I suspect price varies greatly on localized supply and demand anyhow. I am only saying that it is within his rights for the photographer to ask for a premium for the RAW files or not give them at all. One additional point I hadn't thought of was the EXIF data on the files, which would give anyone who got a hold of the RAW the exact settings used on his camera (they can of course be cleaned off a jpeg but I'm not sure about a raw file).
Its more complex than whether or not he has the RAW file. After reading the rest of the comments on this post I have to agree that it is not very open of the photographer to refuse to sell you the RAW files but it is his choice and yours to hire him.
~Shiva
Keep in mind that giving you the RAW file means that you could make infinite copies of the photograph with no additional cost going to the photographer. And a photographer cannot give concerts to recoup his losses. I do think that this should be a possible purchasing option however, perhaps at a high premium? There are very few professional photographers, and almost none making anything like big money. What if you asked for the photographs as a full sized jpeg? would that suit ok? (I'm not sure how much that would change anything actually but it seems like a middle ground)
Your setup analogy doesn't work very well by the way... an equivalent would be if someone set up all your photographic equipment and let you take the photos... which would invariably come out worse than the professionals, since your equipment is most likely worse and your experience would be almost negligible compared to the pro.
to the photog, congrats on sticking it to the man, you make a fellow (tho non-pro) photog smile =)
~Shiva
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Perhaps losses was a an incorrect way of phrasing it, I simply meant that it is hard for photographers to make a decent living... I don't know of many people who get professional photographs taken and while he may be making a good hourly rate while working for you, how many sessions can he get lined up a day etc. In addition there is the infrastructure time and costs that go into having a smoothly running portfolio. On top of that there is post-processing time (which of course would be taken out of the equation if you did it yourself) and travel time (if he came to you, which it sounds like). I don't know what going rates are so I cannot really comment on the price you paid for your shoot and I suspect price varies greatly on localized supply and demand anyhow. I am only saying that it is within his rights for the photographer to ask for a premium for the RAW files or not give them at all. One additional point I hadn't thought of was the EXIF data on the files, which would give anyone who got a hold of the RAW the exact settings used on his camera (they can of course be cleaned off a jpeg but I'm not sure about a raw file). Its more complex than whether or not he has the RAW file. After reading the rest of the comments on this post I have to agree that it is not very open of the photographer to refuse to sell you the RAW files but it is his choice and yours to hire him. ~Shiva
Keep in mind that giving you the RAW file means that you could make infinite copies of the photograph with no additional cost going to the photographer. And a photographer cannot give concerts to recoup his losses. I do think that this should be a possible purchasing option however, perhaps at a high premium? There are very few professional photographers, and almost none making anything like big money. What if you asked for the photographs as a full sized jpeg? would that suit ok? (I'm not sure how much that would change anything actually but it seems like a middle ground) Your setup analogy doesn't work very well by the way... an equivalent would be if someone set up all your photographic equipment and let you take the photos... which would invariably come out worse than the professionals, since your equipment is most likely worse and your experience would be almost negligible compared to the pro. to the photog, congrats on sticking it to the man, you make a fellow (tho non-pro) photog smile =) ~Shiva