If you've ever wondered what happens to the photos I take of your family – where they go, who sees them, and whether your faces might show up somewhere unexpected – this post is for you. It's something I've been wanting to write for a while now, and the most useful thing I can do is be completely open about it, because you deserve to know and because transparency matters to me, both as a photographer and as a person.


I Always Ask First

For me, consent runs through a lot more than my business policies. As an aunt and as an adult who spends time around kids, I ask before I post a photo of them, and when someone says stop, I stop. Children get to have a say in their own bodies and their own image, and the parents and caregivers in their lives are doing their best to protect that.


That belief puts me in an interesting spot as a photographer. My business exists, in part, because I get to share beautiful images of the families I work with – sharing my work is how new clients find me and how I show what a session with me looks and feels like. At the same time, I want every family to be comfortable with what I share, so I always ask. If you see a photo on my website, on any of my business pages, or in an ad, I have permission to post it.

My model release is separate from my contract, and I send it a few weeks before your session along with my questionnaire, so you're deciding with your session in mind instead of something you signed months ago and forgot about. At the end of your session, when I walk you through what happens next, I'll remind you what you chose – sneak peeks on Instagram if you said yes, or straight to your inbox if you'd rather keep things private.

Family laughing together during an outdoor family photo session in Arlington, VA

Your Privacy Is Never Up for Sale

I've seen a lot of different perspectives online lately, from families who have decided never to post another photo of their children publicly to families who love sharing and are happy for their photographer to do the same. Every one of those choices is valid, and I'm glad to work with all of them.


The number of sessions I've been allowed to share has gone down over the past couple of years, and sometimes that stings a little, I won't pretend it doesn't. But I will never charge you more because you want privacy, and I will never judge you for it – living and working around DC especially, I've always known that not everyone wants (or is even able) to have their personal life visible online.


A few ways I look out for you:

  • I've stopped using names in my captions. Even for families who are excited for me to share their photos and ask for a tag, you'll still see something like "I had such a great time with this family" rather than a first or last name.
  • I follow your lead when you change your mind. I've had families who were comfortable sharing early on, with a maternity or newborn session, and later simply weren't anymore. When that happened, I unpublished the blog post from their newborn session and made sure their photos weren't showing up anywhere else in my marketing, without them having to track down every place themselves. If you start to feel uncomfortable, adjusting is easy for me.
  • I've added more choices. Just recently, I added an option to my model release for sharing a session without showing children's faces, for families who want to be part of my portfolio without their kids being recognizable.
  • I keep an eye on who's following along. If I don't recognize a profile that follows my business pages, someone spam-likes a long string of posts, or something just gives me an odd gut feeling, I hide my stories from them and then block them entirely. I protect myself, and I'm even more aggressive about protecting you.
A family looks out at the cherry blossoms across the Tidal Basin in Washington DC - example of not showing children's faces in photos.

Who Else Sees Your Photos (And What They Can Do With Them)

There are a few steps between your session and your final gallery, so here's who and what is involved.

My Editor, Kami

During busy stretches, I sometimes work with an editor named Kami to help me keep up. She uses the same editing software I do, I've trusted her for years, and she's a wonderful human being. When I send her a gallery, her intake form includes a release section where I note whether she can brag about your session in her own portfolio, and she has always respected that, without exception.


Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop

I edit primarily in Adobe Lightroom, and on rare occasions in Photoshop. Adobe has started labeling some of its tools as "generative AI," which I think has caused some confusion, and if you've ever seen an AI label on one of my images, that's likely why.


What I use those tools for is everyday cleanup: removing a piece of trash in the background, taking out a branch that ended up growing out of someone's head (it happens), or clearing a group of strangers out of the frame, especially if someone wandered through in neon. It's the same kind of fix the heal, spot removal, and clone stamp tools have always handled, and it's part of the light retouching that makes your photos look their best.


Beyond that cleanup, I don't run photos of your family through generative AI – no AI-generated faces, bodies, or backgrounds, and no uploading your images into AI apps. That's in my contract, and it's also a matter of ethics for me, because images of your family aren't going to train anyone's machine.

I also ask that you not run my photos through generative AI on your end. A lot of these tools were built on artists' and photographers' work without permission, credit, or payment, and that's not something I want to contribute to from either side.


AI and My Writing

One last thing: I do use AI tools, mostly for SEO – keyword checks, meta descriptions, the technical side of blogging – and sometimes as a second set of eyes on captions. Second only to the camera, writing is the part of this job I love most, but SEO and tracking keywords are a real challenge for me, and I'm one person with limited time. I'm not putting your photos into those tools, and I've put careful thought into how I've set them up.

Family photographer in Arlington, VA editing session photos on a laptop

Why This Matters to Me Beyond the Business

Photography is intimate work. When you invite me into your family's life, even just for an hour, you're trusting me with the people you love most. The images I make end up being memories you pass down – the photo your grandmother cries over when she sees it on canvas for the first time, the one that goes up on your wall and stays there.


Getting permission, protecting your privacy, and being honest about where your photos go are all part of how I honor that trust. And the families who choose not to share are every bit as valued and cared for as the ones who are happy for me to post.

Framed family portrait displayed on a gallery wall in Northern Virginia

Questions Before You Book?

If privacy is part of what's kept you on the fence about a family session, I hope this gave you a clearer picture of how I work. You're always welcome to reach out with questions before you commit to anything, and once you book, you'll get a full prep guide that walks you through everything from what to wear to what to expect on the day.


Get in touch here, and feel free to bring your privacy questions with you.