As I professional photographer, I shoot all images in the RAW photo file format. RAW files are the untouched photos straight from the camera. Here is why I, and most photographers, do not give out RAW files.
RAW Files Are Meant To Be Edited
With a film camera, you have to get your photos developed to see the images. RAW photos are essentially the digital version of film, and editing + exporting is the developing process. These files capture the most amount of data in a photograph in order to edit as well as possible (this also makes the file especially large and difficult to store — which is why photographers use external hard drives to store these file types).
Unedited Photos Won't Look Good
An unedited photo on your phone might look okay, but for RAW photo files, the photos can look washed out, or have an especially dark area that needs to be brightened up (like when shooting at sunset). Even for the proof galleries I send, I still edit the photos somewhat to adjust lighting. What you don't see with black and white proof galleries is that the colors can be way off or washed out due to how the camera captures them in the RAW image. Like the point above this one made, RAW images are meant to be edited.
RAW Photos Require Professional Software
You are unable to edit, or even view RAW files without professional photography software that supports the file type.
Editing Is Part Of The Process
An unedited image is like a half-done painting. Photography is my art, and even if the problems of RAW images taking up lots of computer storage space and needing professional software to view the images were solved, they would still be incomplete as these images are my art. I have not only taught myself how to take photos properly to capture the best images for you, but I have also taught myself editing techniques that add a special touch to the photos and bring them to life.
I Just Want The Best Result For You — Trust Me!
The reason I edit photos isn't to keep the unedited versions from you, but it's to give you the best result possible! It's to bring out bold & beautiful colors, and to create images as beautiful pieces of artwork for you and your family.
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