I saw this post on mom*tog’s blog and I thought it was super helpful.  Thankfully, she has generously given permission to copy this information.

First of all, I want to say that I love it when my clients post their professional pictures on their facebook profiles, personal blogs, etc.  I frequently tell clients that they are welcome to “steal” images from my blog and I have not disabled right-clicking for that reason.  There are, however, a few things to remember when using these images.

1)  DO ask your photographer what their specific policy is on taking pictures off of their blogs.  Some photographers encourage it and some don’t allow it.  If this is important to you this is something you should ask BEFORE you hire your photographer!

2)  DO include your photographer’s name and website under the images (a link would be super nice!).  That’s just the polite thing to do

3)  DON’T crop out their logo.  Most photographers use their blogs to advertise their work and do so as a courtesy to give their clients a sneak peek.  If a client crops out the logo then how will other people know who took the picture?

4)  DON’T edit the picture in any way.  Taking the pictures is only half of a photographers job.  The other half is editing.  If you think you can do a better job or want to edit out some of your wrinkles or use selective coloring please don’t show and/or tell your photographer.  That is super insulting.  If you don’t like your photographers editing enough to want to edit it yourself than maybe you need to find another photographer next year.

5)  DON’T try to print from the files on the blog.  For me specifically I know that the files I upload to my blog are too small to be printed in a 4×6 size.  It’s not cool to invest in a family session and then print the images off of the blog and not pay for prints.  Make sure you know how much the prints cost before the session to avoid sticker shock.  Same goes for scanning prints that you already bought.  Not cool!

So there you go.  I feel like a lucky photographer because in general my clients have been very courteous and thoughtful when using blog images.  Thanks to all of you!