I recently had a vendor (decorating company) from one of my weddings ask me for images of their work. Do many of you give images to vendors? If so, how do you present them to the vendor? I'm not sure if I should give them prints or a cd etc. If I were to give them a cd, then what kind of print release would I need to give them? The one I currently have is for personal use only. Thanks in advance!

I'm happy to share images with vendors. I ask for a link back somewhere on their website, some word of mouth, etc. I email files if at all possible to save myself that fee. Everyone wins.

Thanks Lacey! I think she would like to get some prints made to show clients, so I guess my next question would be what kind of release to use. Anyone else?

I usually give other vendors whatever images they'd like with the understanding that if it's put online or in marketing we're recognized in some way. We've always just given them the standard print release form- ours states that XX has permissions to print or reproduce the image in print or digital form, it doesnt specify for personal or commerical use but does restrict them from selling the image.

Sorry I missed that part of your question the first time around.

Just whip up a little print out and sign it stating you authorize reproduction rights for business purposes. You can stipulate if they have to give you a photo credit...I don't, but that's your choice.

Great, thanks for all your help.

We ALWAYS let any vendor from a wedding know they can look through the images of the event and let us know what they want for their biz. The only conditions we attach is they can't sell the image and they need to give us credit if they use it.

It's amazing that we keep hearing from vendors that photographers promise photo's all the time but it's rare for them to actually follow through.

If you want to give them a CD, print on the label that the copyright still belongs to us, but they are granted a license to use the images for personal or business use, but images are not for sale without written permission from us.

Hi,

depends on the situation.

If you give a vendor a CD what is likely to happen to it? It will probably end up in a desk drawer waiting until someone "gets around" to doing something.

Also, we don;t want a vendor to grab an image from a CD and pop into Walgreens for a print- then tell people it's our image!!!

I think that if you are able to give something more presentable, it helps. We made a good sized image for a golf club, had our logo put on the bottom, and had it framed. It now hangs in the office of the event co-ordinator.

We made up a little album of images for a local (popular) florist. We now know that when he is showing people his wedding work, he pulls out the album. Guess what, it has our name on EVERY image.

As I said, depends on the situation, but if you can get someone to agree to showcase your work, then make it as good as you can

Regards,

Hugh

Thanks for all the feedback and ideas everyone. I've decided to just give her the cd along with a release. But, I will probably consider doing something different for future requests. Thanks again!

I will +1 this one Mark. I hear the same thing. If you promise to give to the vendors make sure that you follow through with it. It might not be a big deal to you because you have these images all the time. For someone who doesn't have the equipment or experience to get shots like this of their work they are really at your mercy, unless they want to pay someone to come out and shoot their work. They will appreciate it and I haven't found anyone that wouldn't talk you up for being generous with your work.
I usually will make the prints for them and act like I am going to let them pay for them. I guess they might expect that. But then I usually just give them the prints. This has resulted in tons of positive feedback and word of mouth from lots of vendors.