There’s a photographer I met through flickr who lives in New York and writes a blog for Amazon. I ran across an article of his today that talks about unauthorized use of digital images and the stickiness of copyright law. That’s a big issue (and one I won’t pretend to know everything about), but I would like to talk about it for a minute or two.
We provide all our clients with the high-resolution digital files of their shoot. Always have and always will. It’s my philosophy that if you pay for our service, you should get the results. I don’t like the traditional wedding photographer model that says you pay for the photographer to show up and take pictures and then you pay again to have the pictures printed. Now, not every photographer follows that model (I know I’m not alone!), but that’s sorta like paying a plumber to come fix your kitchen sink and than having to pay him again every time you use the sink. And I think that providing those files is a huge value. So our prices will reflect that.
A few of our brides and grooms have posted their wedding photos to facebook for their friends to browse and enjoy, in spite of the online gallery we had already set up for them. Many more email their favorites around to their friends and family instead of directing them to the website. This is possible because we give them the files on disc. And I know a lot of photographers who complain about this behavior, saying that it kills their sales and hurts their exposure. As long as they’re telling people who took the photos for them, I’m fine with it. It tells everyone they know how much they like their photos, and I couldn’t ask for a better endorsement than a happy bride or groom. 
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