For many couples having a set of the digital files from their wedding day is very important. In a digital era of media, it’s the equivalent of having the film negatives. This is something that many couples look for in photography packages while researching professional photographers. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of confusion about what really is considered the “digital negatives”. All photographers work and edit differently, so it’s very important that you are clear with what they will deliver to you after the wedding day.
Some photographers will give you a disk of final edited jpg’s that will only print as large as a 4×6 print. Others will give you a set of final edited jpg’s that are full resolution. This means they are of high quality and can be resized to print many different sizes such as 4×6 or 16×20. You will also want to make sure you that you are getting the final edit on the images. You want your images to look fabulous when you get them on disk. The jpgs should be color corrected, exposure adjusted, turned to black & white if desired and sharpened.
Recently I’ve been hearing of photographers being asked by the couple if they will include the RAW files from the wedding day. What this means to photographers is the original image that was shot in camera with NO editing done to it. This could have been shot as a JPG or as a RAW file in camera, either way there is no reason why you would want these files. They are very large and will take up a ton of space on your hard drive. No professional photographer with experience would give these files out. Why? Because everything that leaves their studio represents their name. Would you buy a wedding dress from Vera Wang that needed to have the zipper sewed in by you? No, you want a finished product.
You are hiring a professional for many reasons; their experience at weddings, their creativity, and their skills at editing images. Trust them, the professional photographers out there want you to have the best images, best albums and best prints. If you meet with a photographer who is willing to give you any kind of file you ask for, stop and ask yourself if this person is doing it just to book your wedding date because they are lacking experience. If this is the case, then you will most likely be disappointed with your final images and no one wants that!
Yummy! Great pictures on their site. We’re definitely heading there for our next date night. Great find!