There has always been an option out there to pay someone else to process a photographer's RAW files.
Lately, it is becoming even more common and many are done overseas. Not long ago, I read an article about the NEWEST thing, paintings made overseas in China from your photographs.
Sounds cool, yes? Well...if you want cookie cutter or you didn't hire an artist as your photographer. And who wants the same old photos when you are getting married in New Orleans?!
Let me explain a little bit more.
Pressing the shutter button and capturing a digital file on a memory card is only half of the photographic process. The file is not complete until it has been post processed. Most professionals shoot in RAW mode, which is the best for capturing all the image information available from your camera. There are those who shoot in jpeg, then deliver the files as is.
Oh the horror!
The art of the image doesn't really begin until the file is 'worked' in computer programs. Even in the film era the negative had to be both developed and printed; each process an art form in and of itself. Printers worked side by side with the photographers to produce a print that best presented the photographer's vision.
So, first and foremost, in my world, the files MUST be post processed by the photographer who shot them. Otherwise it is either someone else's vision or just cookie cutter.
And trust me, the cost of a service like that is built into your rate. I guess if you want someone else's art it's an okay way to go. But if you are hiring your photographer for the art they create, keep in mind it may not be their art. There are so many aspects to the relationship between photographer and wedding couples. It's not just "show up, take some photos, send them off" or pass them to someone else to finish. It's a relationship.
For unique, artistic portraits and photographic paintings give me a call at 504-920-8703 and check out this link to more portrait photography Artistic Wedding Photographs