Who do you give rights to...?

[Kustomkarma]

No, it's not meant to be a tongue twister, but at the moment it's definitely a mind twister for me.

I recently spoke with a model friend of mine that just finished shooting with a well known professional photographer. I asked her how are her shoot went - to which she replied that she got all of the images right there on the spot and the photog would also be providing her with some edited ones. Let me preface this by saying, I've got a day job and shoot Trade For on nights and weekends when I can. I don't do this full time, so my workflow is quite a bit slower and I'm very selective about who I give my images to as it's hard to find people to photograph in the first place. I always hold my best images out for print, my portfolio, etc. so I don't give all of them to the model right away and I always try to edit them to make them as perfect as possible before I give them to the model. Part of my reasoning for this is I didn't think anyone would be interested in using or publishing them if they were already all over Facebook, MM, etc. 

Am I being overly protective of my work? Should I give all of the images to the models I shoot? There are times when I'm concerned where my work will end up once it's given to a model - I don't want my name or images associated with illegal or negative / tasteless things.

I always have my subjects sign a model release form before we start and I explain to them where their images will end up. I also inform them before I submit their images to any contests, magazines, etc. My turn around time is usually a couple of weeks for edited pics from a shoot, and it could be months before any images are published. After publication, I always give the model the images that were in print.

What do you guys and gals do and or expect from the models and photographers you work with? Overall, am I working too slowly, not doing enough, being too protective, giving too much away? I know that I'm on a different level than the professionals, so any thoughts on the above would be greatly appreciated as I strive to do the best job possible.

   

[Harlean Carpenter {★}]

If your friend paid for the shoot, it's not uncommon that she would receive all of the images.  It's not automatic, and there should be a release from the photographer accompanying the photos, but if she is paying for a service that results in a product, yes, she will get more of the end product.  TF shoots are a completely different animal, it sounds to me like you have a pretty good handle on those are far as communication with your models, and that is key.  There is very little clearly defined "right" or "wrong" way to do things as far as TF shoots, there just has to be very clear communication of expectations between both parties.  As a model, I certainly wouldn't have a problem with a photographer telling me "I want these shots to be the best they can be because I want to submit them for publication".  As an editor, I get more than a little frustrated when models send me "straight off the camera without even the backdrop stand cropped out" images.

In a nutshell, it sounds like you have a good idea what you want to do with your work and how you want to do it, and as long as that's communicated to the other parties involved, that's really what matters.

[Kustomkarma]

Thanks! That's a well thought out response. I think I'm on the right track here.