As a photographer, the thing that makes you stand out is your editing and photography style. For example my style is more candid and warm, so when I hand over the files to you, I want to give you the style you paid for!
Obviously that isn't the only reason..
File Size
RAW files are HUGE, like huge huge (ask my computer and external hard drive..), making them a pain to send to someone else. Plus whoever would be receiving them would need compatible software on their computer such as Adobe Photoshop to view the RAW images.
Ownership
No one wants their work stolen, not that we thing you would, but you never know! RAW files are proof that the photographer is the one who took those images and could help them prove that if they were ever to have to take legal action against someone for plagiarism. Clients may have ownership to the final product, but not the RAW images unless it was otherwise stated in their contract.
Brand Value
Again, unique style and vision is EVERYTHING when it comes to photography. If you want to stand out you have to be unique. Every professional photographer you will work with will digitally enhance (edit) your pictures to make them look better and portray their personal unique style and vision. If photographers give out the RAW files, anyone could edit those photos however they want and share them online, linking the photographer to a file that could very well not be an accurate representation of their work or brand.
The value of time and effort
After your shoot your photographer will do what is called culling, basically going through the pictures and picking the best of the best for editing. By giving out the RAW files, culling and editing would be a waste of time since clients could do what they want with the RAW files anyways.
You are paying the photographer to give you photos that speak to you because you like their brand and style, so let them do their job and deliver those beautiful moments to you! :)
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