Hello,

I'm shooting a Bat Mitzvah soon, and the family would like additional photos taken on a date that I'm not available. The family wants to hire a different photographer to do that shoot. I would then get the images from him and integrate them into my album.

I guess somewhere in the album it should say "photos on pages 1-7 by John Doe". What if the photos are really bad? Should I care that these photos might "drag down" my album?

-TM

Well Ive done that, however, i didn't even think about the other guys credit. I just left it alone and designed it normally. If they are bad images perhaps you can fix'em up

that's not a line I would cross, just a personal decision. I'm assuming you would need a full release to edit and place them in your book.

I don't think it's really crossing a line. You do need an agreement in writing from the other photographer and giving them credit would be the right thing to do. We had this discussion before the big crash of '06, but basically you need to separate the work that you're doing into photography and graphic design. You are one of two photographers being hired to shoot. You also happen to be the graphic firm being hired to create the album. So instead of thinking about the album as an extension of your photography, think about it as a book that you've been commissioned to design for the client, using a collection of material that they have legal rights to allow you to use. I would put a note in the back of the book giving the other photographer credit for his photos, me credit for my photos and also me credit for the graphic design. Make sense? ;-)

~Bill

That's an intersteing way of looking at it. Thanks!

-TM

i only put images in our books that are from our studio. it's in our contract, too.

this may sound rude...but is there any way to check out the work from the other photographer (like look at his website) before you agree to do this? Actually, just say you can't agree to do it without first contacting the other photographer...they'll have to give you his name, number, and website.

if you dn't like the website, just come back and say 'i've weighed the decision carefully and don't feel it's a good option for us right now.' offer to make a seperate book for that event?

if you do like his stuff, then just shoot him an email and make sure you're on the same page and that he'd be willing to sign an agreement for you to do this. he may not want *his* stuff in *your* book! (i don't know why he wouldn't, but put yourself in his shoes)

only after you've done a little research would i agree.

Thanks Jillian! It had occured to me to ask to see his portoflio. If he's much worse or much better than me, it would be bad.

-TM

Honestly, if the people are hiring them to shoot the photos, I agree with Bill's advice above - you should separate out what you are doing between photography and graphic design. I realize that there tends to be a lot of interplay between our photography and design, but I don't think it should prevent us from helping our clients.

While slightly different, if a client has personal use rights from you and photographer 2, they could conceivably design their own album with pictures from both. They may or may not have any design skills, and they may or may not be getting it printed professionally However, you're in a position to offer both of those, and unless the other photographer is unwilling to give permission for this, I don't see why it should pose a huge problem.

So what is everyone's advice on if a client wants to add images from a guest's camera in their wedding album? Or some pictures from the table cameras? *ugh!* Or their honeymoon images from their own camera? I had this once and I said no....because my name would be on the inside of the album and you have to be a "professional photographer" to be associated with some album companies, so I wouldn't submit non-professional work that wasn't my own, for an album. What do the rest of you think? Just curious....