A commissioned shoot produces images you are licensed to use rather than images you own, unless the agreement says otherwise. What that licence permits, and for how long, is worth settling before the shoot rather than when you want to use a photograph on a vehicle.

The thing businesses get wrong

Paying for photographs is not the same as owning them.

Under Canadian copyright law the photographer generally holds copyright in a commissioned photograph unless the agreement transfers it, and what you receive is a licence to use the images in specified ways.

That is normal practice and it is not a problem when it is understood. It becomes a problem when a business assumes ownership, then wants to use an image on a vehicle wrap, a billboard, or a resale of the business, and discovers the licence does not cover it.

The conversation to have is before the shoot, in writing, and most photographers are entirely reasonable about it when asked at that point.

What to settle in the agreement

The vehicle and signage question is the one most frequently omitted and most frequently needed later, since a business that gets a wrap done two years after a shoot wants to use the good photographs.

Where the people in the photographs sit

A separate permission from the photographer's.

Staff appearing in a shoot should agree in writing to their images being used, and the agreement should say what happens when they leave. A team photograph containing somebody who departed and objects to still appearing is an avoidable problem.

Where customers or their property appear, the same applies and matters more, since a property is identifiable and the customer did not sign up to be marketing material.

Models or actors, if used, come with their own usage terms that are frequently narrower than the photographer's licence.

When a shoot is worth commissioning

Being honest, since phone photography covers a great deal.

Worth it: the small set of images that will be used repeatedly and prominently. The homepage image, the team photograph, portraits of key people, and the premises.

Not worth it: ongoing work documentation, which changes constantly and is better captured on a phone as jobs happen.

The useful arrangement for most small businesses is a modest commissioned set for the fixed elements, plus a continuous phone-photography habit for everything else.

That combination costs a fraction of shooting everything professionally and produces a site that is both polished where it matters and current everywhere else.

The brief

What determines whether the shoot is useful, and it is frequently left to the photographer.

Give them: the shapes you need, since a website needs horizontal images and social needs vertical, and reshooting for the wrong aspect ratio is expensive. The specific placements, so they know what has to work as a wide banner. The people who must appear. And examples of what you want it to look like.

Also worth specifying: space in the frame for text, where an image will carry a headline. A beautiful photograph with the subject dead centre cannot take a headline without covering it.

How photographs age

The practical planning consideration.

Portraits date through people leaving and through appearance changing. Premises photographs date through renovation and signage changes. Vehicle photographs date the moment the fleet changes.

Work photographs age slowest, which is another argument for the ongoing phone habit.

Budgeting a modest refresh every few years, rather than one large shoot expected to last a decade, produces material that stays current and spreads the cost.

Where the files should live

A practical point that costs businesses money.

Originals at full resolution belong in your own backed-up storage, not only on the photographer's server. Photographers close, change systems, and archive old work, and a business asking for files from a shoot six years ago frequently cannot get them.

Take delivery of everything at the time, store it properly, and record what the licence permits alongside the files, so somebody three years from now knows what they may do with them.

The style decisions that make a mixed set look coherent are a separate question, covered in choosing a photographic style and sticking to it.

Frequently asked questions

Do I own photographs I paid for?

Generally not automatically. The photographer usually holds copyright unless the agreement transfers it, and what you receive is a licence to use the images in specified ways.

What should the agreement cover?

Permitted uses including signage and vehicles, duration, exclusivity, whether you may edit, what files you receive, portfolio use, and what happens if you sell the business.

Which permission is most often omitted?

Vehicle and signage use, which businesses want two years later when a wrap is done and the licence does not cover it.

What about people in the photographs?

Staff should agree in writing, with terms covering what happens when they leave. Customers and their property need separate permission, since a property is identifiable.

When is a commissioned shoot worth it?

For the small set used repeatedly and prominently: the homepage image, team photograph, portraits, and premises. Ongoing work is better captured on a phone.

What should the brief specify?

The shapes you need, since websites want horizontal and social wants vertical, the specific placements, who must appear, and space in the frame for text where a headline will sit.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

About to commission a shoot?

We write the brief around where the images will actually be used, and make sure the licence covers the vehicle wrap you will want in two years.

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