Being a boudoir photographer, I get this question a TON about online photo safety:

“How Do I Take My Online Photo Safety Seriously?”

Signing a model release for a boudoir session should be something you take a lot of consideration about. It’s easy for us as boudoir photographers to think it’s not a big deal; in fact I have several nude photographs of myself across my website, blog, and other places. As a boudoir photographer, it makes sense that I would have these types of images up on the internet!

Our society often doesn’t take kindly to women and folx stepping into their power and reclaiming their sexuality. If you’re considering signing a model release for your boudoir shoot, there are a few things to remember. You need to really stop and think about before signing away the sharing rights to your images.

What Images do we Use Online?

Here at The Babes Club we take your privacy VERY seriously. If you decide to sign a model release, you ALWAYS always always get final say on what images we use online. I will never post images online or elsewhere that you haven’t agreed on.

If you sign a model release from our shoot together, the places that I often post images are in our App (available on the Apple App Store and Google Play!), our Facebook Group, my Instagram Feed, or my website and blog. When I post images online I never use full names or even first names. For example if your name is Amy, I would use the name “Miss A” when talking about you on IG or on my blog!

If you would prefer your images to remain private, I totally understand and respect you ten thousand percent! I will NEVER post images online if you would prefer your images be kept private. You also have the option to allow me to post only anonymous images, or to only use images from our session together in-studio like on wall art samples or in album samples.

Once it’s on The Internet it’s There Forever

As a photographer there is one saying I hear quite often. “If you wouldn’t want your image posted on a billboard in Times Square, you should probably skip the model release and keep your images offline”. This is a good way to look at online photo safety. As I’m sure most of us now know, once you post something online, it’s sometimes next to impossible to take it back down. With screenshots and the ability to save images with one click of our finger, there’s no guarantee that once it’s out there that it won’t resurface somewhere else long after you’ve taken it down.

Don’t let this discourage you however! If you’re into the idea of sharing your images online it can be very empowering and give you a HUGE confidence boost. Our community members tend to shower everyone that shares their images with uplifting comments.

Who Should Never Sign a Model Release?

There are certain clients that I will never encourage to sign a model release, even if they really want to. Like if you are a teacher or work with children. If you work in a high level corporate job or job where you hold a high position within your community. I would probably not recommend signing a model release. It’s so unfortunate that this happens. I have heard MANY stories about teachers losing their jobs because they chose to post their boudoir images online.

Do I agree with this?

Of course not! Unfortunately our society still largely views women & folx as sexual objects. Others will often react negatively to us reclaiming our power and sexuality which is absolutely a by-product of these sessions. Every time I hear of someone getting in trouble with their place of employment about images of THEMSELVES that THEY chose to post of their OWN FREE WILL, well it gets me a little fired up and I could probably go on for paragraphs about smashing the patriarchy and all that. So, if you are considering signing a model release it’s very important to consider the implications of sharing. If these images got back to your boss or place of employment, Would your boss care? Would YOU care if your boss found out or saw these images? These are all things to consider before signing a model release for your images to be posted online.

That all being said, I appreciate it so so much when clients allow me to share their images in my online portfolio. By sharing the images from our shoots I’m able to keep a more up-to-date example of what my work currently looks like. Believe it or not, it’s changed a lot over the years! I’m able to show future clients that EVERY BODY is worthy of being photographed, and that every body is beautiful. To all of the clients that have allowed me to share their images in the past: thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate you all so much! To the clients that decided to keep their images private, thank you so much for trusting in my process and creating some artwork for you to enjoy for many years to come.

Do you have any further questions about online photo safety? Post them in the comments for me below. I’ll either reply back or use your question in a future blog post!