The valuable missing piece when using the Chef's analogy in raw Image requests
Image by:@jaywennington
It is a fairly common occurrence to see posts in photography groups on how to handle client request’s for raw files. While there may be a few requests for the actual camera raw file format like .CR2 or .NEF, 99.99999999999999999 percent of clients are NOT asking for the raw file format. They are asking for the raw result; the unedited version of the image as opposed to the edited one.
Regardless of whether a client is actually asking for a raw file format or not, every post of this nature will undoubtedly have the following response given by someone: Would anyone ask a chef to give you the raw ingredients?
The chef analogy
A chef won’t give people raw ingredients, just as we photographers don’t give our our raw ingredients out either - it’s an uncooked meal.
While this analogy provides a visualization that we hope is helpful to demonstrate why raw files aren’t ever given, let me ask this. Has any chef ever been asked to provide the raw ingredients by a restaurant patron? A couple is seated and the server comes to take their order. “I’ll have the chicken parmesan, but could you just give me the raw ingredients on the plate?”
I know, now you’ll say that’s the point right? It would never happen in that scenario and it should not happen to us if clients understood the absurdity of the request.
The valuable missing piece of the chef analogy
There is one thing that I have NEVER seen presented on a menu in any restaurant ever. It is the word “cooked.” Why does that matter?
When someone goes to a restaurant, they already fundamentally know their food will be cooked, with the exception of an actual raw food restaurant. So no other restaurant ever needs to say that food will be cooked. You can choose your doneness as in cooking a steak, perhaps adjust the seasoning, and there may be variations on a cooking method for marketing purposes such as ‘oven-baked,’ but everyone assumes the basic cooking prerequisite is satisfied.
So no client would ever think or expect any other product would be offered except for a cooked meal. If someone went to a restaurant and offered a “cooked” meal, they would wonder what other kind of meal there would be, right? If that modifier is included, it somehow makes it sound like there is another product, and that’s the valuable missing piece.
We’ve done it to ourselves
I get the frustration of being asked for unedited images. What makes clients ask for them? Partially we have done this to ourselves. We are using the equivalent of the word “cooked” to indicate the existence/ call attention to another product: the “uncooked.” In our case it is the word EDITED.
Just as someone inherently understands their food will be cooked in a restaurant and no other option exists, we need to ensure that clients inherently understand that we have one product for sale — a photograph. When we introduce the word EDITED, we create another product in the client’s mind — the UNEDITED. And because only edited photographs are the ones for sale in our packages, it can cause the assumption that the price is based on the editing, and not the photograph. And here comes the question — can we get the rest of the unedited ones for free, just to keep? Note that unedited and raw are typically the same thing in a client’s mind — because they mean raw as in an unaltered state rather than an actual file format.
When someone seeks photography from a professional, the underlying assumption is that the product is going to be produced professionally, similar to a meal being cooked and presented in a restaurant by a qualified chef. Being produced is all the steps, not just one. And that’s what the price is for - the complete end-product. I really can’t imagine that years ago, film photographers were selling dodged-and-burned-darkroom processed photos. People knew film had to be developed and didn’t need the specifics. I argue that today they don’t either. Especially because clients edit their own photos with social media filters and other apps and I don’t want them thinking that what I do is the same. Because that erodes my value as a professional in their eyes.
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Why do we do this?
Especially when we are starting out as new photographers, we want to look and sound professional and that often means we will place the word “edited” or variations thereof such as “hand-edited” in our pricing collections. We wish to show value to clients, and we may be compelled to do so mainly because we aren’t confident with asking for money. So we pad our offerings to sound like there is a lot that clients get, that we are qualified to take their money, or to sound different from the competition (which is a myth because anyone can add those words - writing them out doesn’t make you unique from others). Thing is, we then create this perception that the cost is based on the editing and not the photograph itself. While editing may add time (and therefore cost), this is all back-end process to produce a photo and it has backfired for us to point it out, instead of demonstrating value.
When a client looks at your images, they should already sense that you are professional and that you are heads and tails above what any regular person can create with a phone or entry-level camera. Your editing shouldn’t be sold in a price list, but demonstrated through the portfolio of finished work. When the photograph does its job, there is no need to point out that you are editing. Indeed, tools like presets, editing agencies and AI editing tools are replacing the need for us to edit, allowing us more time spent on the real deal - the taking of the photograph. Because good editing relies on a well-taken photograph and it’s hard, if not impossible, to fix a badly taken photo. The emphasis for us should always be in the taking of the photo, because that’s the only place where we literally cannot be replaced. Editing styles can be learned by others that you outsource to, or by an AI editing tool. You as an artist ARE the OG and the part of the process that carries the real cost. You cannot outsource yourself and your unique artistic eye and choices.
How I solved this problem
I removed the word EDITED from my client vocabulary years ago. I haven’t felt the slightest detriment where people wonder if I edit my photos. It helps to focus the client to the one and only thing that’s important — the final photograph — and not to send them off on tangents that end up in requests for unfinished fragments that aren’t on offer. My brand and my portfolio speak to my expertise and skill and I don’t need to point it out. And not a single person in years has ever asked me for unedited images because there is no reference to call their attention.
Even if we remove the word from our photoverse, it is possible people will ask because they’ve interacted with other photographers who still use the word in their business. I was asked once a few years ago, and simply told them that the price is per photograph and not per edit. So an unedited image is the same price as an edited image; however, because of the standard of excellence that I hold my business to, only finished product is provided as part of a full and comprehensive service. This negates any thoughts that an unedited product could be cheaper because there is only one price and it’s only for a photograph that’s prepared to my standard.
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