A Brief Guide to Professional Photo Restrictions
The other day in a Facebook group someone made a comment about purchasing their own camera to take their own product photos because they were tired of waiting for photographers to send them images. Now I can’t speak to knowing if they ware expecting free or paid images but this was upsetting to me on so many levels. But from the tone of the post and having worked with this person before I will air on the side of the expectation free images. As industry professional we always say we don’t work for exposure and asking a photographer to ‘send you pictures’ from a shoot can be taken as such. r
Here’s the example. I get hired to photograph a house. there’s an interior designer, a real estate agent and florist. Only one person is paying me and in this example its the Interior designer. But the agent and florist both ask for photos. Neither of them are connection of mine, meaning we haven’t met before that day, and we aren’t friends. But they’ve just asked me to give them free work with the pretense that they’d ‘shout me out on social’ well that’s the equivalent of saying LOTS of exposure.
Many photographers will do this if they are shooting weddings and may even provide an album for a venue but that’s avenue they’ve built a relationship with. Key phrase BUILD A RELATIONSHIP with a these vendors before you ask for free images or ask for discount.
So here are a few tings to keep in mind when asking a photographer for ‘free images’. Be thankful. It would be the same if they asked for a free make up session from a make up artist or an interior designer to style their living room for free. The photos that a photographer hands over to you are part of their life’s work. It has their name or branding so there are a few important restrictions to note when it comes to the professional digital images that you receive.
To follow is a list of other notables to remember when you use images from a photographer or ‘download’ anything from the web.
1) Copyright. The digital images that your photographer provides you with have a copyright, which means the photographer has the option to use those photos to market their work and services anytime in the future. We are however also respectful of our clients so if there are any images that you would prefer to keep private, it’s best to let us know about it ahead of time so that we can honor your wishes.
2) Image type. We aren’t able to provide you with the original files or raw images. All images given to the client have been cropped and have been edited. If you do require further touch ups we would need to provide you with a quote.
3) Image altering. While we appreciate your business and welcome the sharing of our photos on social media platforms, we ask that the images not be altered in any way as this is against our copyright policies.
What constitutes image altering?
- Adding filters or editing photos in Photoshop
- Removing our logo or studio name
- Color correcting or including transitions from color to black and white
- Clipping people or objects out of the original shot
So why do we have this as a restriction? Our photos are a representation of our work so when a customer alters an image it directly impacts our name and brand in the industry. When we present you with final images, they have already been through our editing process and don’t require further alterations. When images are altered, the results are not always reflective of our original work and can then be mistaken for ours. We greatly appreciate your loyalty and cooperation in this matter.
We are happy to give a quote if you want images to be edited in a specific way or if you want further alterations made.
