Will you be posting my photos online?
The short answer is this….only if I have your written consent.
Do I want to? Absolutely, but I do not believe I am entitled to sharing your photos online or in any of my marketing materials. The only exception to this are pets I photograph for specific projects I am working on or for specific marketing materials. While I own the copyright to your images, I let you decide if they will be shared online or not. Or you may only agree to allow me to share photos of your pet online. I’m fine with that.
I also do not charge an extra fee to clients who do not want their photos shared.
And there are a couple of simple reasons for this
I want to respect your privacy. We live in the Washington, DC metro area. And that means there are those of you out there who work for certain companies where it is imperative your photos do not show up anywhere online. I’m not going to be the moron who shares your photos when you only want them for your family.
I’ve worked with abuse survivors as well who have left their partners and do not them to know where they are. Again, I’m not about to betray a client’s trust and post photos that would endanger them.
You may also be someone who doesn’t wish to share your life with the world. And I’m ok with that. There is a lot I don’t post online.
I’m photographing a private moment with you and your pet. I primarily photograph Legacy sessions, photos taken before your pet passes away. I have changed my views on sharing these images online. I usually shared those sessions as I would do most other sessions, but I don’t do that anymore. I want to be respectful of your relationship with your pet and those photos can be triggering to see when they pop up when you aren’t expecting them. I want to respect the passing of your pet and if you tell me you are not ready to see those photos online, I will not post them. You should be allowed to grieve your pet in your way and I do not want to add to your grief by post an image you are not ready to see yet. When Lance passed, I wanted to look at every photo I could have Lance and poured over his photos. My husband could not look at them. He still has a hard time looking at them. And I want to respect his feelings. And I will respect your feelings.
The session is a gift for someone. I love when my clients decide they want to gift a loved one photos from their pet’s session. And I don’t want to ruin the surprise by posting your dog’s session that’s supposed to be a gift for someone.
So yes, as much as I would love to share your beautiful pet portraits, with your without you in them, I’m going to be respectful of your privacy and wishes and not share them unless you tell me it’s ok.