It’s on the rise, it’s the other dreaded question photographers hate being asked because the answer is going to make you mad, and it’s going to low key insult the photographer.

The question or proposal is usually along the lines of ‘Hey can I get a discount if you give me RAWs and I edit them myself? Or Can I have the RAWS because I want to edit them like instagram?’

The answer is NO.

The answer will always be NO.

If you hire a professional photographer to take photographs of you, you are hiring them for their skills not just with a camera, but their editing and style. Asking for the RAW files is an insult, it says you do not value their talent and appreciate their work.

Editing to a final product is PART OF THE ART and OUR JOB. We do not take editing lightly, and it seriously hurts us to have to find a nice way to tell you no to this request instead of out right saying you are insulting us, our profession, our talent, and our years in this field.

If you want to edit photographs for instagram or to save money, take them yourself. Make them your own from composition, capture to the editing. If you can’t do everything a professional can do then please remember that when you hire them because they can do all that and more.