Hey friends, I hope this finds you well. I wanted to share a little bit of information with you, this is info that I get asked all of the time from clients and newer photographers as well. The question of copyright and restrictions over how others can use your work. The one thing I want to stress is, whenever someone creates an image it is legally theirs. It doesn’t matter if they went the extra mile to have that work copyrighted or not. The image is theirs! 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.
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.
