Christmas 2009 specials

About portraits.

"After you take my portrait, I want to have the digital file so I can make reprints. It is, after all, my face so isn't it my picture?" This is a great question. I get it all the time...The answer: yes and no.

First: a couple of simple definitions:

Copyright: an exclusive bundle of rights belonging to the copyright owner.

Copyright Owner: the person who "authored" the work. The moment the shutter is released and the image is "fixed" to the recording medium or the moment the pencil marks the paper, the subsequent final image is owned by that creator. (The U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 - Title 17 of the United States Code)

Reprinted from Friends of Active Copyright Education website:

There are six exclusive rights that belong to artists and photographers as copyright owners, four of which usually apply directly to works of visual art:

A. To reproduce the copyrighted work;
B. To prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work;
C. To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public.;
D. To display the copyrighted work publicly.

In a nutshell ...

So, yes, they are images of you or your family. But the files or films containing those images belong exclusively to SnowPro Photography. Strictly speaking, they are SnowPro Photography's business assets.

SnowPro Photography does not give or sell away complete rights of any works the studio (Bryan or Dawn) creates. It is soley our intention to protect our creative works and in doing so, our reputation as professional photographers. (SnowPro Photography respects your right to privacy as well as our rights to display. If you do not want us to display your image on our website, let us know.)

There are avenues for which you, as a subject of any photographer, can gain limited rights to any of the four specified rights. Ask us how.

Why does this matter?

SnowPro Photography takes great care to consider, plan and execute a portrait that is commissioned. It is, after all, going to be a representation of you and your family for many years to come. The talent, education and technical expertise are a rare combination in today's technologically savvy world. The abundance we live with today makes high end photography equipment available to anyone with the means to acquire it. We firmly believe that owning the equipment isn't what makes a great portrait or landscape. It's the interaction between subject and photographer combined with the knowledge of when NOT to press the shutter. And while Dawn is an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop (CS3), SnowPro photographers would rather capture the image correctly at the moment of shutter release than to try to fix it in the "digital darkroom."

And even after all is processed and finessed to SnowPro's rigorous standards, we will only print to the professional photographic printing labs that meet our requirements for quality, color balance, archival processes, and copyright protection.

Photographic Reproductions

Prints

We believe that no one has the need for 64 wallet sized prints.

Our value is in designing and making the portrait so, we do not have "pre-packaged" photographic prints. Let us design a "package" that suits your needs, and rest assured that we will not "hold your images" hostage to high photographic reprint costs. They will be high-quality images that you will be proud to display for years to come.

Digital Prints and Social Media Sites

Bearing in mind the above copyright information, SnowPro Photography recognizes the popularity of sharing your family portraits on social media sites (Facebook, MySpace & Linked In) and digital photo frames. We can, when requested, save your finished portraits to the size and quality that your frame requires and make secure downloads available. These are processed separatedly and specially so there may be an additional charge.