Client uploads photos to Instagram - applies filters

I recently did a studio birthday shoot / cake smash with a 1 y/o and sent mom 1 image as a sneak peek within 24hrs. Mom uploads this to Instagram and applies one of those 'vintage' filters... basically turning everything yellow/green. Now her baby looks ill, and she tags my name to the image as 'credit'.

Is this something I should/could have included in the contract? Since she has printing/sharing rights, do I have any say in what happens to the images once they're out of my hands?

*Photography has been a hobby and only recently become a side business for me, so I have lots to learn on the business side of things.

I'd let her be, a happy client spends more. It wouldn't bother me too much on Instagram as most people are aware of the filters and effects there.

What would I do? Not worry about it. Make the client happy.

Opinion:
You got paid, right? She can show all her friends, they'll love the photos with or without the filters, they'll come and pay you too.

If you wanted to nitpick, you could probably go find in your contract where it says that she doesn't have the legal rights to modify your intellectual property. She won't understand, because she paid you for those photos. You'll spend hours and hours of your time trying to convince her, but all that will happen is you'll alienate her and she won't recommend you to any of her friends, nor hire you again.


When you're getting paid thousands or tens of thousands at a time to execute your creative vision from start to finish, then it may be worth your time to protect your intellectual property and your reputation as an artist and a professional. But, it's likely that you're not there yet. When you're shooting moms and kids for a couple hundred bucks here and there, your time is better spent to streamline your workflow, build a client base, bulletproof your contracts, improve your skills and the portfolio that YOU'RE showing to potential clients.

There is a local photographer in town who no longer does photography as a business. One day she went on a Facebook rampage and was calling out clients for "altering her beautiful work and if they wanted sh**ty photos that looked like that they should not have wasted her precious time and that she is extremely talented and very busy and doesn't have time for clients who will not show her work they way it was meant to be seen". 2 weeks later she made an apology on Facebook. 2 weeks after that, her Instagram and Facebook got deleted.

In talking with someone that knows her, apparently after that outburst, every single client she had booked cancelled on her and she was glad because "no one in this hick town is worthy of my talent".

Whoa, Moose, that's a good story! That's when you grab the popcorn and watch someone dig their own grave.

I can't see myself ever going on a rampage like that, or even bringing it up with this current client, I was more thinking about this stuff for future clients. Like Nathan and Bob said, I guess I should be concerned with having a happy client and leaving it at that. Thanks for the feedback folks!

Yeah, its funny in a sad way. Many times we had commented that its not that big of deal and we were called everything from "unprofessional" to "stupid" by this woman. I cannot verify this as true as I was not there but I had heard that she told a client that her photos were "art" and not meant to be displayed or viewed in any other way then what she presented as the final work and that you would never go into a museum and change the artwork on the wall.

I wouldnt worry too much about it. In fact, it might get you more clientele

Is this something I should/could have included in the contract? - Yes, It's fine to add it going forward. For the reasons mentioned above, use common sense when it comes to enforcement.


Since she has printing/sharing rights, do I have any say in what happens to the images once they're out of my hands? -Sure, that's what contracts are for. Once again, Mom clients have a harder time understanding this than corporate clients. A gentle explaination beforehand of why this language is in your contract helps keep this to a minimum.