Yajhil Alvarez wrote:
I always tell models that I will give them 4 retouched images of my choice.  I usually end up giving them about 6.  I don't give people unretouched images because:

1. They tend to post them as is, even after I tell them not to, which is a big no no to me.  I like my work to look a certain way and I see unretouched images as unfinished work so someone posting my unfinished work is rude as hell, in my opinion.

AND

2. They tend to post the unretouched images but with added effects they applied, which makes them look horrible, which again is a big no no for obvious reasons.

I personally feel that if a photographer is proud of their work, they wouldn't just give out all of their images like that for people to use however they want.  Doing so implies that (a) the photographer thinks all of their work is perfect right out of the camera which is unrealistic and never true or (b) they don't care enough about their work to edit things down and pick what best represents both themselves and the model.

There was only one that that a model gave me a good reason to let her have the unretouched ones.  We did a shoot together, she was fantastic, she asked for the unretouched images and I reminded her that I don't do that.  She then told me that the reason she was asking is because she studies herself and likes to see what she does that works and what she does that doesn't.  I totally believed her because in my lifetime I have only come across 2 fantastic models, her and another girl.  What does that mean?  Well, she doesn't take a bad picture and her poses are always good.  I didn't have to direct her at all.  That's why I sent her small, watermarked versions of the images. 

Aside from that though, my general rule is not to give out unretouched images because my work represents me and I take pride in what I do, so people don't like my rule then they can work with someone else.  I think that when a model chooses to TF with a photographer the model should LOVE the photographer's work enough to trust them to choose the best images.  Asking for unretouched stuff to me usually comes across as someone not trusting me/liking my work or someone wanting to be greedy and get more images out of me than we agreed to so that they can then use them in some terrible manner.  So if they ask and I say no and then they get mad at me for saying no even though it was made clear to them from the beginning I will simply not work with that person again.

We can agree to disagree on this but this is how I feel about it.