What I do with photos
Nothing that identifies you ever gets published
Before any image goes anywhere, I check it and crop, blur, or delete it if it shows:
- Any person. Not you, not your family, not your kids, not guests, not pets. Only my own hands.
- The outside of your home, your street, a house number, a mailbox, a parked car, or a license plate.
- Anything with your name on it — mail, packages, shipping labels, prescriptions, bills, school papers, monogrammed items, diplomas.
- Family photos, portraits, or personal artwork.
- Calendars, schedules, or chore charts with names and routines on them.
- Screens with personal information.
- Firearms, medication, or financial and legal documents.
I also strip the GPS data out of every photo file. Phone cameras record your exact coordinates inside the image by default. I remove that from every file before it’s published.
Location is only ever described as a town, or as the Shenandoah Valley. Never a street, a neighborhood, or a subdivision.
You choose, and you can change your mind
Before any project where photos might come up, I’ll hand you a short release form with checkboxes. Photos, video, a review with your first name and town — you pick what you’re comfortable with, and blank means no. If you’d rather decide after, I’ll show you the actual images, and you can say yes or no then.
You can withdraw permission any time by emailing or texting me. I’ll take the images down from my site, Google, and Facebook within 10 business days.
One honest limitation: once something is online, other people may have already saved or reshared it. I’ll remove everything I control, but I can’t reach into someone else’s screenshot. That’s true of every business, not just mine.
Questions about any of this? Just ask. Saying no changes nothing about your project.