We got some family photos taken today. However, we almost didn’t.

About 2 months ago I scheduled “Holiday Minis” with a local photographer. It was $125 for a 25 minute session, with 15-30 photos retouched. This was a pretty comparable price to other photographers offering similar products.

I paid the $25 deposit at the time of scheduling, then the additional $100 the week of the session. The day before, the photographer sent me the address (it’s an in-home studio) and asked me to print the attached contract and bring it with me.

I read the contract, and for the most part it was super standard and nothing alarming. Until, I read the “Model Release” clause. This portion basically said by signing I agreed to let her use or sell my photos in any way she wanted, including altering them, and that I would never be owed royalties.

I am sure a lot of people don’t think twice about this, and they sign it. My husband and I weren’t pleased. There was a little note at the bottom that said the contract was negotiable. So, we took the unsigned contract with us to the session. I explained the situation and how we didn’t want to sign away rights to our photos. She told me she was happy to just put them on her website and they wouldn’t even downloadable. I was okay with this, but my husband wasn’t. She said she doesn’t do a shoot without a model release. There was some silence and then she said she would make an exception.

We did the session.

It seems that a lot of photographers have a very similar contract. Is it too much? Personally, we don’t want people being able to do as they please with our photos. She could sell our portraits and then next thing you know, my husband is the face of Viagra or something. I know it is unlikely she would do that, but she is asking for the power to.

My husband works a job that requires him to remain very professional, especially in the public eye. He is very private and doesn’t want his face plastered anywhere. I feel like as customers, we should have the right to get photos taken and not have them pasted all over Facebook or the internet.

Here is a portion of the contract. Hopefully it shows up correctly, as I know this app does weird things to edited photos, but I redacted the photographer’s name.

Thoughts? Are they taking it too far?

Edit: I wanted to add, I didn’t receive this contract at the time of scheduling. I felt a little deceived. She almost refused our photos today, and we wouldn’t be able to book another session with someone else on such short notice. 😬