What I Want
– Professional photographs of my wedding.
– Pay an honest rate for those services.
– Permission to do whatever I want with pictures of my (and wife’s) very intimate ceremony.
– Right to say where / when my images end up and how often they appear.
– A photographer who is willing to negotiate a rate to grant me the rights.
– Keep the images private and share with who I want to share them with

What I Don’t Want
– I’m not interested in claiming the photographers.
– I’m not interested in giving credit to anyone but the photographer.
– I’m not interested in selling your work to a magazine, website, yadda yadda
– I’m not interested in hearing that selling the copyright is just not done. That is BULL.

I’m sure that when magazines, newspapers, movie studios, and the music industry commissions an image, their first reaction is to buy all rights to that image. If they cannot buy it, say because the image itself is highly valuable, then a license to use is their best route. Photographers are willing to negotiate with these industries but not with a couple who is about to get married. Why? I think its a mix of outdated culture, arrogance and greed. If you don’t want to give your rights for no additional cost? Fine! No one reasonable would demand that you give it up for free. But at the very least, if you are asked for this by a couple that is getting married then you should offer it at a fair price. Photos of celebrities aren’t leaked by their photographers.

Now, I kept on reading that if you buy a painting, you own that physical painting but you don’t own the design bla bla bla. That is not a fair comparison!!! A third party buying a painting is not the same as subject of the painting wanting to own the copyright to the painting. What a lot of you photographers don’t understand is that buying the copyright is not the same thing as buying the creative credit. If you sell the creative credit, (i don’t even know if thats possible) then you should shoot yourself because that is bad business.

When you photograph a model you or the commissioning company can do whatever you want without getting permission from the model. You don’t need her permission because you paid her to model. If you want to do the same with the pictures you are taking at my wedding then you better be paying us. I’m not interested in getting paid for that so just let me outright buy it.

A wedding party gets in contact with the photographer because they love your work and want to capture an intimate moment not because they want to screw you over. Let’s work together PLEASE.

I hope that makes some sense because I been going crazy thinking about this.

What I Want
– Professional photographs of my wedding.
– Pay an honest rate for those services.
– Permission to do whatever I want with pictures of my (and wife’s) very intimate ceremony.
– Right to say where / when my images end up and how often they appear.
– A photographer who is willing to negotiate a rate to grant me the rights.

What I Don’t Want

– I’m not interested in claiming your work.
I will not give credit to anyone but the photographer.
-

For instance in all of my wedding packages except my entry level package includes 250 digitally retouched images. I spend a ton of time perfecting them, and my couples really appreciate it.

If you weren’t able to get the image files from your photographer, I’d recommend taking a look at your contract. It should have detailed everything you were getting. If he said you would receive them, then threaten a lawsuit. If he didn’t include them for what you paid, then see if you can purchase them separate. Expect to pay $500-2500 for the files though – hopefully you can get the files

I hope you’re sill reading this thread, because you may indeed have legal recourse against your photographer, and you can demand he remove your images.

It is illegal in the UK (not to mention unethical) to use a person’s image for marketing unless that person has expressly signed away her rights in a contract called a “model release.” Since you described yourself as a very private person, it seems doubtful you would have signed such a release.

Check your contract. If you didn’t sign a model release, the photographer has no legal rights to use your image in the ways you described, regardless of who owns the copyright.

Even if you did sign a release, it is only valid if you gave informed consent. That is, the photographer must clearly state the types of things he will use your image for. If he did not, or mislead you to get a signature, the release may be invalid.

Stanford Copyright and Fair Use website has some useful information about the issue, although it is directed more toward professionals rather than customers.

I hope it works out, and good luck.

If so, then I would ask the photog to supply one with out the layover.

It does sound like a bait and switch, which is too bad. If that is how a anyone works to get business, then that does not say good about their character.

Let us know what comes of this.

JM

You summed him up in a nutshell and no doubt he will eventually do this to someone else. I certainly won’t recommend him. I have established a very good relationship with the wedding venue and planners and they are disgusted by this guy, so I guess in the end he’s shot himself in the foot. After all reputation is everything.

Thanks again for all advice provided.

Kindest regards

Jenny

Before you cancel your album, make sure you are not losing your deposit or are responsible for any more money. If so, you might just want to bite your lip and see the results. If they are not to your liking, then you at least have a cause for a refund, otherwise you could end up paying for nothing.

To find a pro in your area that can help you, I would check with your friends and family to see if there are any that they would recommend. Other than that, I would visit a couple of studios and view there products, finished and bound. Sit with the staff and share your story and what you would like to end up with. If they can retouch your photos that you have concerns with and what examples of retouching can they show you.

A lot of folks don’t realize that picking the photos that are to put into the album is just the start. The photos you start with are not “finished” A pro will spend a lot of time going over each photo, enhancing, retouching and cropping were needed. Big difference if done correctly. Then they need to design a album that flows and creates a story of that special day. From there it is sent off to printing, the prints are sometimes sent back for the photographer to evaluate and give thumbs up or down, then they are sent back to be pressed into a book and all.

Good Luck

JM