I'm going to try and not bring up #Sepiagate in this blog post - - starting right now, that is...
Let me start by saying, I deliver raw footage to 100% of our clients. I have since day 1 and I've NEVER charged extra for it. I'll why explain later.
The Vendor Table Podcast recently posted a Instagram reel allllllll about how against delivering raw photos they are. I believe this was in response to the #Sepiagate drama. Damn it...alright starting now!
Anyway, the hosts of this podcast both seem to be in agreement that delivering raw photos is exactly like "going into a restaurant, going up to the chef and asking for the individual ingredients to a dish" vs just receiving a cooked steak on a plate.
After this (completely ridiculous) photography/culinary analogy, they dive into the "who owns this?" dilemma - - which, I don't know if it's even a dilemma as long as it's clearly stated in your contract, but that's beside the point...or is that the point? If ownership of these files is that important to you, you'd think that would be outlined in your contract, right? Yes or Yes? 🤨
But let's just say (for the sake of arguing) that it's not in your contract. You send a client the raw photos, or in our case, the raw videos, and just like that - - you no longer "own" that photo/video. Do I really have to be the one to say this?
WHO CARES?
Is it really some photographer's/videographer's fear that a client will have access to these raw photos, edit them terribly (or quite possibly, not at all), post them to IG and it will negatively impact their business? Are you afraid that one of their 276 friends will comment saying "this photo/video sucks. Who took this?" And the client will answer, "[Insert Your Company Here]" And their friend will respond, "WOW - Never hiring THEM for my wedding!" All the while, this person's 64 years old and already been married for 32 years.
The hosts of The Vendor Table Podcast's argument is "if the client edits the photos in their own style, it's not what the photographer wants out there as a misrepresentation of their professional work." I get what they're saying. But again...
WHO CARES???
As an established photographer/videographer, do you not already have dozens (hundreds?) of samples of your finished work posted publicly on your own forum? What does it really matter? I'm of the mindset that it doesn't. Like, at all. And here's what I said...
As you can see, 438 people seem to be siding with me on this pictorial discourse, which isn't saying much. That's only ~2% of the amount of people that give the reel a ❤️ and the reel has ~1M hits. A few of the replies are complimentary, but most of them aren't. I've been called a hypocrite. I've been told my work is trash. But I at least explained my reasoning as to why I deliver raw footage to 100% of our clients...
I'll close this with what I've been saying all along. I've shot upwards of 500+ weddings, lifetime. 100% of those clients have received raw footage. A lot of that raw footage is flat out UGLY to look at. Which is why I put a disclaimer in the email that I send out with every raw footage download link that says: "REMINDER: Files are raw and unedited. Any unwanted camera movements/adjustments/coloring/etc. will be corrected in your final edit."
To date, I haven't had a single negative thing happen in my life both personally or professionally from my clients having access to their raw footage. In fact, I've mostly received nothing but praise and thanks. So to the professionals out there who are afraid to (for whatever the reason may be), just let go. Let go of your fears. Let go of your self-consciousness. And just hit send. Maybe it'll make you feel better. Or maybe, it'll get a whole bunch of strangers pissed off at you on the internet. But as long as the sales continue to roll in, once again...
WHO CARES?????????????
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