Woudl you give client all wedding photos taken?

[Dp-PARIS]

Recently I shot a wedding that was long, around 14 hours on my feet with a second photographer. I have already selected and edited all the photos I think are best. The problem is, the client has asked if it is possible to have all the photos, including all the unedited ones. In total for the day I have around 2k+ photos between the 2 photographers. From those I have around 400 that I have generally improved (slight adjustments to colour, levels etc) and around 100-150 of those that I have worked on for the main deliverables, where I have spent more time polishing each photo. I planned to give them the 150 plus, with some presented in a photo book, gallery DVD/BLU RAY etc and the remaining 250 as extras. I am not comfortable giving them the rest of the photos, as they are unedited, all taken in raw mode, so would not best represent my work. Plus a huge number of those are just duplicates, where we took a few extras of group shots etc. to be able to select the best ones without closed eyes, funny facial expressions etc.

The reason the client has asked for all the photos, is because she thinks she may spot photos taken that she loves, which I may have missed.

What would you do? I am minded to say no, as I really do not want someone to see any unedted photos, thinking that is represents my work. I could spend a few hours doing some basic work on the raw files to improve the levels etc, but I am not keen on spending the extra time.

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[sierramister]

Yes, I would give them a disc and say "Here's the ones that were in focus, composed properly, and lit properly." Who cares how many else you deleted.

[Overread]

do not want someone to see any unedited photos, thinking that is represents my work

This sums it up - people always ask for more than they have paid/agreed too under the impression that you are hiding photos from them; they don't expect lots of out of focus, badly exposed, daft shots when the shutter fired off as you bumped something etc... You don't want nor need substandard, unfinished work being put out there as a display of your skill and talent.

For a wedding I would however go through and pick out photos of individuals and show them - on the offchance that they want an (even poorer quality) photo of more distant relatives since oft people travel a long way to weddings and might otherwise be far removed from the families life.

[Dp-PARIS]

Some good points, thanks for the feedback. I think I will go through the rest (after removing the most terrible ones) with them, as what you said makes sense re: distant relatives etc..

I am meetign them tonight to present allthe photos to them (they have already seen a preview). Hoepfully I will be able to go through the other photos before we meet.

Thanks.

[bennielou]

After I cull the photos, I delete the undesirables, so when I tell them that they recieved all the photos I have, that's the truth. :-)

[Big Mike]

What does your contract say about it?

This should be something that is in the contract and thus discussed up front. You should let them know that you will take a lot more photos than you will deliver and you will use your professional judgement as to which photos you give them.

Many of the photos taken during the ceremony and the formal/family shots will be duplicates. So there is no need to give them more than one of each. But if you are shooting the reception / party, then each shot may be somewhat unique (not counting shots of the speeches). So while the reception shots are less important, I often end up giving them more of those.

Lastly, if your client is bugging you about seeing the culled photos....find one where she (the bride) is making a stupid face or has her eyes closed etc. (or where she generally looks bad) Show her that one and tell her that all the others looked like that.

[bennielou]

LOL Mike, I love your last paragraph. That's pretty good!

[tirediron]

I'm with Mike - I have a section in my contract which states explicitly that I select the images; as Mike said, it's got some fluff about duplicates, etc, but at the end of the day, they only get to see what I want them to see. I did my brother's wedding last summer - he got the same treatment. In a short answer to your question: NO!!!!!!!!!

[bennielou]

I'm with Mike - I have a section in my contract which states explicitly that I select the images; as Mike said, it's got some fluff about duplicates, etc, but at the end of the day, they only get to see what I want them to see. I did my brother's wedding last summer - he got the same treatment. In a short answer to your question: NO!!!!!!!!!

I too have a ditty in my contract about this:

CREATIVE LICENSE
Images are edited at the photographer’s discretion, and delivered prints may not include all images shot. The photographer reserves the creative right to edit and release only those deemed creditable as professional in quality and within the photographer’s artistic standards.

If you don't already have something like this in your contract, now would be a good time to add it.

[Big Mike]

There is a saying (or just something I read somewhere)....

The difference between a good photographer and a great photographer, is the size of their waste basket.

In other words, a great photographer only shows their best work...while a mediocre photographer shows all the photos they've taken.

[imagemaker46]

You should never hand a client an unedited disk of images. I have worked with clients that want to see everything I shot, and I still edit the shoot, all it takes is one bad image to get out and it can affect everything. The only time an editor is seeing everything is when it is on a tight deadline and a runner picks up the card, at which point all the editing should have been done in camera.

[Dp-PARIS]

Thanks everyone. I am not obliged to give all the photos, so I am not going to, though I will certainly give some extras for sure. Keep them happy.

[tallbootsphoto]

I too have a ditty in my contract about this:

CREATIVE LICENSE
Images are edited at the photographer’s discretion, and delivered prints may not include all images shot. The photographer reserves the creative right to edit and release only those deemed creditable as professional in quality and within the photographer’s artistic standards.

If you don't already have something like this in your contract, now would be a good time to add it.

Thank you!

[IgsEMT]

Hope I'm not too late
1. the only people who can see unedited work are my wife, studio that hired me and paying me for editing, and if I'm working at home, parents and my kids - otherwise, NO ONE sees unedited work unless at the time of the shoot some1 like a bride or groom might ask to see one or two pics that were shot.
2. when asked: "How many pictures am I going to get?" There was a time when I used to give approximate number, BUT changed to "As many as it takes to tell a story of your wedding day"
3a. On few occasions I was asked by a client if they were to get ALL THE PICTURES - Some pictures are test shots, some are blinks or half-blinks, etc. These are about 5-15% of the frames. I want you to look at your wedding and enjoy the memories and not wonder I took a picture of a guy with some card things that has 3 colors on it. These are the things that get deleted. I had few instances that clients asked the same AFTER received the job at which point I already deleted the images so told them that.
3b. Some even asked to get non-processed work as well. My response was that I'm being hired for a specific style and if want to work w/ me, have to trust me. Me giving unedited work is the same as giving a roll of NPS film and letting you develop it at CVS. Had few clients that wanted to know how I edited them and wanted to do the same - When clients acquire images on a disk, they only get so w/ a right to print them and share on social network sites. NO EDITING is allowed. I embed the metada w/ that instructions and actually had Walgreens calling me to ask me permission to print (different topic, different thread).

Good Luck

[rub]

Not a chance in he'll.