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Model release question
Selling with transviews
Model release question

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1. After I shoot portraits of clients, if I want to display those photos in my studio, do I need their model release and permission? 2. If the subject is, say, a singer, and after obtaining a model release and permission for my studio display, can my brother also display that same photo in his office? The singer is already a public figure, what if the subject is just another pretty person? 3. Same scenario as above, what if I put the subject into another landscape picture digitally? Do I need another set of model releases and permission?
Nathan

Dear Nathan:
Being in the photography business is a great thing. Several rules that I believe are good to live by are as follows. Never do anything with the customers image without their written permission. In addition, if I decide to do something in the future with their image that I feel they might or might not want me to, I will speak to them about it personally and get their verbal permission. At this moment, with the model release I already have legal permission to do what I wish but it is important to respect the feelings and rights of others so as a pure courtesy to my customer (also known as a friend), I will call them and tell them what I am up to and that I just wanted to be sure they are happy with it. They are usually very aware that I took the extra step out of respect for them and are all smiles about it. It makes a very good impression and you protect your relationship with the customer in the process. There is little benefit to doing something that will hurt someone's feelings or cause them to feel betrayed. Taking care of others is always the best way to take care of yourself and your business.
Another one of my rules is that the truth is most important. Always tell the truth about everything. Even if you make a big goof, spell it out and deal with it. The grief of having a customer catch you in a lie just to cover up a simple mistake is just not a good thing. The truth requires no notes to help you remember what you said and it’s just the plain old right thing to do in the first place.
If you believe your work may include digital manipulation or alteration of the setting then you need a model release that covers just such situations and possibly even use in electronic media such as the Internet. Your release should include a line similar to the following :
“created on or prior to _________________, for public display and/or in all media and in all manners including composite and/or enhanced representations, for advertising, trade, educational materials or any other lawful purposes.”
This is not intended to be legal advice and you should have a proper release made with the aid of a lawyer. I make my own releases and word them carefully so as to be correct but to not read as if we are going to do something terrible to the customer. I then have them looked at by a lawyer for minor corrections We must indeed protect ourselves but we also need to respect the client as well. My policy is just this. If a customer came to me 2 years after giving me total release with their images and requested that I not use them anymore, I would comply if anyway possible out of respect for my client. In 19 years of business it has never happened and believe it or not, the majority of my releases are from Boudoir sittings which is our largest speciality. The trust that I earn from my customers allows me to literally go years between people who say no to signing a release.
I am sure others would take issue with this but to me being a public figure makes no difference in what I can do with the images. I get the same permission paper signed for everyone. And that is what I call it. A permission paper. Not a model release which has some degree of negative stigma attached to it.

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Selling with transviews

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Hi Scott
I have a question about labs. I have been using Dale Labs for most of my developing needs. They offer a service where you get slides and prints from print film. Is this a good way to go, or is something lost in the process. Just wondering what your take on this is.
Thanks again.
Harry

Dear Harry:
The slides you are referring to are usually called transviews. They are produced at the time of proofing. Transviews are ok for slide projection in a sales presentation but have certain limitation that I should bring to your attention. First let me mention that my chosen method of sales involves a small opaque projector for projecting original proofs. As will all things, I have reasons for what I do. Simply put, you can project slides for your customers but it's very difficult to show them more than one at a time unless you run a pair of projectors at the same time. If you do, you will then have to swap slides all the time if your clients want to see number 6 side by side with number 14. It's just not a good way. Today, many studios are using one of the digital methods of instantly projecting images on a large monitor. This is fine but not my personal choice because you still are limited to only one image at a time unless there is a way to show different images side by side at the same time. What I prefer is rather low tech but works well because you don't need much to do it and it is extremely fast. I can place two paper proofs side by side in the projector and swap them with others instantly. I can move the stand with the projector back and forth changing the size of the image instantly. Here is a case where technology could get in the way of a nice sale. Sure, you have to wait for previews but the trade off is the potential for much larger sales without pressure to the customer. You don't have to talk them into anything. People will often buy it if they see it. That is what we do with the projector. Project the image inside real picture frames in all the available sizes. Once the customer sees the larger options in a real frame in front of them, no sales pressure is needed. Making a good sale is important but even more important is making it honestly without pressuring the customer or manipulating them. We literally go years without having a customer call us the next day having changed their mind back to the old 8 X 10. Our sales of 24 X 30's and 20 X 24's occur with over 75% of our portrait sittings. It's nice to know that when the deal is done that it is likely to stay that way.

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Revised: November 04, 2004.