Yay, my first post here!
My daughter goes to a co-op preschool and my job at the school is the classroom photographer. I take pictures of the children at school for events like Halloween parties and what not and post them on the school website. Now after 2 years of doing this, I think I got pretty decent and am thinking about starting a business photographing children's birthday parties. If I want to use pictures I took at school on my photography site as part of a slideshow (just as an example of my work, not selling prints or anything), do I need model release from all the parents in my daughter's class? I was thinking of giving the parents 5x7 prints of the shots I want to use as compensation of sorts. Or do I need to only use pictures of "clients" I've taken? What about pictures I've taken as a guest at my daughter's friend's birthday party (of other children I don't know personally) - can I post those on my website?
I'm trying to think about this like if someone else was using my kids pictures on their website, so I feel like even if it's not legally required, it would be a good courtesy call to ask the parents. I won't have any information on the site (name, age, etc.) - just a picture. Lastly, can I just email them or do they really need to sign a physical release form in person?
Thanks in advance!
