Password protecting sales galleries

[gkline]

I just got done doing portrait pictures at a local dance studio. We handed out a card after each shoot and gave the parents a card telling them to go on the internet to order pictures. I did not receive any objections. Also I have been shooting there dance events for over 2 years at our local theater. I have had no complaints until now. There is one mother that would like to have these galleries password protected.

My question is: Would it be too critical to say that I would take pictures down of that particular child or to move them into another gallery that is password protected?

Garrett

[Gatorboy]

Just take down her child's pictures.

[PhotosGuy]

Just take down her child's pictures. I would agree, but OTOH, putting young kids pics on the i-net with password protecting them is something that might make the other parents feel more comfortable?

[poloman]

I shoot a lot of horse shows with younger girls in them. I password protect the galleries. Everyone seems to appreciate it. It also forces contact with me if they don't have the password. I use these opportunities to promote my business in a relaxed comfortable way.
Passwords also make people feel special. Like one of the chosen few. They like that.

[eigga]

When covering large events it is always easier to avoid passwords.

I have it in my contract that the event decides if there needs to be a password or not. If they want it I add it, if not I dont. Most of the time they dont beacuse they get tons of questions about the password.

The few times I had a parent bring this up I have let them know of this policy and that they can discuss it with the event organizer or I would be happy to put their child's images in a separate gallery that is protected. They have always chosen the second option without fuss.

[SYS]

No parents had to ever ask me. I password protect and I let the parents know up front that that's what I do. They appreciate that very much and feel more secure. It's NOT the question of whether their concern is rational or not. It's just the kind of world we live in with nearly a million REGISTERED sex offenders and millions more waiting their turn once they get caught... Blame the sad civilization that is going down, not the paranoid parents...

[poloman]

+1 SYS

[SYS]

"All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my right hand!"

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[eigga]

I understand that but I dont advertise and the ONLY people who know about my website who wouldn't already have access to the gallery are on POTN. I dont advertise and I doubt people randomly type in my site name.

How do you control the sex offenders you give the password to already?

I cover sports and events with 100 to 1000 families. Creating a unique password for each is easy and I have done it. Spending all my time answering calls and emails about the password when I do that is ridiculous.... regardless how you advertise it 25% dont pay attention from my experience so I make it easier on everyone including the organization.

Portraits/weddings/small events are much easier to manage with passwords. I respect everyones business choice and hopefully the OP and readers cand do whats best for them based on this info!

[gkline]

Thanks everybody for the replies. Another question I have is if you do pw protect your site do you monitor your email to see if the user requesting the pw is legit? How would you go about that?

Garrett

[SYS]

How do you control the sex offenders you give the password to already?



You CAN'T control ANY sex offenders without knowing that they're sex offenders. I don't know whether my boys' teachers at their elementary school are sex offenders or not, that is, uncaught and unregistered. I do have a website that tells me who the registered sex offenders are in my neighborhood, and I know exactly where they live. I ONLY give out the password to the parents whose own child is a part of the event, not to strangers who have nothing to do with the event.

[SYS]

Thanks everybody for the replies. Another question I have is if you do pw protect your site do you monitor your email to see if the user requesting the pw is legit? How would you go about that?

Garrett

I only give the pw to the parents whose child is involved in the event. I also use a pw hint with which people can easily figure out what it is if they're involved in the event shoot. The most recent shoot that I did for a piano master class session had the hint of "name of the master class teacher." No one would even have to send me an email to find this out!

[eigga]

"name of the master class teacher." Ya I have done something like that too... like for swim meets I say "type event/heat/lane for password" still get a few crazies asking!

What I was saying is having a password does not protect the galleries from "bad" people and I doubt it helps with reliability issues ....maybe it does who knows

You make great points and each market/event is different. Bottom line is if asked by a parent to create a password for their child you need to comply!

[poloman]

I don't think a password will protect from all possible problems. I do know it makes parents more comfortable.
When you get right down to it, what is to keep a creep from taking their own pictures?

[SYS]

I don't think a password will protect from all possible problems. I do know it makes parents more comfortable.
When you get right down to it, what is to keep a creep from taking their own pictures?

Yup, that's all there's to it. The PW provides a degree of comfort to the parents. Probability-wise it's highly unlikely that a creep would go through the trouble to get pass the PW just to look at kids playing violin, piano, or play Little League baseball....

[Gatorboy]

It's just the kind of world we live in with nearly a million REGISTERED sex offenders and millions more waiting their turn once they get caught...

What does this have to do with password protecting galleries? Are you displaying names of anyone, giving out their home addresses? Doubtful.

[SYS]

What does this have to do with password protecting galleries? Are you displaying names of anyone, giving out their home addresses? Doubtful.

The topic of sex offenders particularly sensitive enough for you to challenge me on it, eh? :lol:

[ssim]

I password protect every gallery for customers, whether they are minors or not. Even at that I had one parent from a figure skating group that did not want her daughter's picture in there and requested a private gallery just for her family. I gave her the option of not having them online or leaving them as is. Some people are just never happy.

I have not had one complaint about people not being able to access the shots. I give the password to one person and they are responsible for fanning out the password. That way if something does go awry then I know for a fact that I only gave it to one person. I will occasionally get a request from someone to access a particular gallery. I copy the email to the original contact and in one case they did not know who the person was and when I tried contacting this person they never would respond. Nothing is fail safe.

I know many photographers that have customers galleries wide open and they don't seem to have an issue. They have run into exactly the issue that you are facing and like many have suggested they just removed that one child's images.

[amfoto1]

I have many thousands of photos from events in galleries online. Some of kids, some of adults, the earliest of which have been online now for as long as least three years.

None are password protected and I've never had a single request that I do so (I do password protect wedding albums, although I'm not sure why).

I just hate putting any more "roadblocks" between my customers and their photos than necessary. I even took down the "copyright" notice that used to pop up asking for them to "agree" before they could enter the gallery. The more clicks to get to the images, the fewer images you'll sell.

It's pretty silly, really. Parents should worry more about what their kid is doing online, or at the mall, or on the way to or from school, or in school, or in church... A photo of them participating in a public activity hardly needs any password protection. The dangerous pervs are sitting in the audience or the bushes just outside the school grounds... or it's Uncle Freddy or Cousin Jethro.

Some online gallery providers are now asking people to enter their email address when they visit, which serves dual purpose as a mild form of "password" protection (very mild... it's only proof against real doofuses who haven't figured out that they can just make up an email address to get inside) and capturing it for marketing purposes.

I really like the idea of leaving it up to the event organizer. Passing the buck off to them, along with the hassles of answering all the "I forgot the password" questions, is a great idea! In fact, I think I'll rewrite my event photography agreement to include that.

I already work with a number of organizers who's liability release forms mention that photos will be taken and publicly displayed.

[Mike R]

No parents had to ever ask me. I password protect and I let the parents know up front that that's what I do. They appreciate that very much and feel more secure. It's NOT the question of whether their concern is rational or not. It's just the kind of world we live in with nearly a million REGISTERED sex offenders and millions more waiting their turn once they get caught... Blame the sad civilization that is going down, not the paranoid parents...

In March, I shot a major cheerleading event at a university with teams that went from the very young up to the college level. I didn't PW protect the gallery and had received an order from a near by state that also had teams present. However this person was ordering over $200 in prints which were from 4 middle schools in my state. I won't go into the details of the conversation I had when I called his home but will say that I cancelled the order. BUT even if I PW protected the gallery, IF he was at the event he would have easily been able to get the PW.

[Gary_Evans]

imo, password protection is much along the same lines of sales prevention.

Parents cant remember the passwords, even with a hint right in front of their nose on screen and I used to get more emails asking what the password was than orders once inside the gallery :rolleyes:

My own personal view is that a kiddy-fiddler will skulk around an event pretending to be a parent and shoot their own images than spend time looking at my websites!!

[SuzyView]

I know PW protection is not the most secure way to make sure parents only get to the galleries, but I did it for the first time this last weekend. It kills sales, yes, but it also gives parents a chance to see all the pictures. If they order something, I'm happy. And the next big event I shoot I will do this again. I have really liked the people at Smugmug for working with me. I had to be walked through the process and it worked well. I give out business cards with the link and the password on it. Parents have been looking, very few orders. I don't mind for my case, I'm charging very little, but for those in business, it is not the best way to sell the pictures.

[gkline]

Thank you eveyone for your replies.

Next year the dance studio will have a clause in there contract about pictures being taken and posting on the internet. Hopefully this will suffice. If I am approached otherwise I will give them other options.

Garrett