Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ's
I am more than happy to reply to your questions, but decided to create this page as lots of the queries I receive are similar to each other. Plus it means I can get on editing your photos. Have a look through the questions and answers below and if there is something I have missed or you need further clarification, then please get in touch here.
Are the photos on your website fully edited? Yes, all images are ready to purchase
Where can I find the photos? Head to the 'client area' page (click here). You will see a number of square boxes either with photos or a coloured box with words in them.. Each box is a different customer's photo gallery.
a) If you are a direct customer, look for the gallery showing an example image from your photoshoot and your name.
b) If you are a parent or performer from either a pre-school or a theatre school, find the box with the appropriate name.
There isn't a gallery on the client area page.
Have the photos been edited yet? Allow up to 3 days for pre-school images,
at least a week for private customers,
up to 2 weeks for events
up to 4 weeks for newborn's & weddings.
You will have been told at the photoshoot of a typical time frame so the above time-frames are approximate. At particularly busy times of year (xmas), you may need to log on a few days after these time frames and I thank you in advance for your patience..
There is no gallery but I know other parents have already placed orders. I am only allowed to upload a maximum quantity of photos onto my website at one time, Therefore to ensure there's room to upload new jobs, I only keep the photos on my client-area for approx 2 - 3 weeks. If you are logging on over 3 weeks since photo day and there is no gallery on the client-area page, it may have been deleted.
I think I have missed the deadline: As written above, if you log onto my website after 3 weeks, the gallery will have been automatically deleted to make room for my more recent photoshoots. But don't worry, I keep photos for 2yrs in archive, so get in touch with the following information, stating you are happy to pay a £6 admin fee to cover the cost of time and fees to recover your images from archive and re-upload them onto my website. I need to know the name of the preschool or theatre school. For preschool parents I need to know your password too.
Why & How Do I pay the Admin Fee? If you require your photos to be re-uploaded and this takes me over the maximum quantity of images allowed on my website, I get a fine, so this fee covers the fine I will incur. It also goes towards the time it takes to locate & upload the photos onto my website from archive. The admin fee will be a 'product' in the product list when you purchase images, so simply tick the box so it appears in the shopping cart.
How Do I get into the Gallery? All gallery's are securely password protected. You will need a password log in code. For private customers I will have sent this to you as part of our communication (email, text, whatsapp etc). For theatre school parents, there will be x1 access password for everyone to use. The 'hint' under the log in field will indicate where to find this access log in password and what the format of the password is if it contains words and numbers. For pre-school parents, find the main pre-school password in the information then locate your child's photo album.
I've found my pre-school gallery & entered the password. How do I find my child's photos? Each child will have their own photo album inside the main pre-school gallery. Scroll through the thumbnail pictures to find your child's face. Each album will be numbered with the same number as quoted on your password card.
What if I have lost my password card? Do not worry. Do not contact the pre-school as they won't be able to help. Log into the album dedicated to your pre-school and get in touch with me telling me 1) the name of the preschool 2) the album number of your child get in touch here
I'm in the pre-school gallery and can see other children's albums, but I cannot find my child I edit the photos one child at a time. I then upload those photos onto my website one child at a time. If you have logged on before all the photos have been edited, then I will have stated this in the information requesting that you log back in later that day or the next day.. PLEASE ONLY GET IN TOUCH if you can see all the other children and your child is STILL not there AND its been at least 2 days since photo day. I will then investigate to find out what has happened. I will need to know 1) the name of the preschool 2) the password on your password card get in touch here
The password does not work, There could be a number of reasons.
1) the album and photos are not be ready to view yet I will usually state in the album information the status, so read that before getting in touch. As such the password will not work until the album is ready to view.
2) you typed the password incorrectly The passwords are not case sensitive so you can use CAPITALS or lowercase. Please note, however, that there are NO GAPS between words or numbers, so the password: hello 2024 would be typed as hello2024
3) I made a typo when creating the password. Sometimes I'm writing 100's of passwords every day so occasionally I make a typing error. Simply get in touch if 1. and 2. above didn't answer your question and I'll amend the password.
I'm in the gallery & can see thumbnail sized photos. How do I see larger versions? Click on one of the thumbnail images to see the enlarged version and scroll through the images by clicking left or right.
Why are images covered with text. In this day & age we are so used to taking screenshots, that un-purchased images on my website can get copied for free. I run a business and obviously cannot give away the photos for free. I would never think my customers would intentionally steal photos from my business but sadly this happens more and more frequently. I have therefore been forced to cover my images with lots of words and sentences to try and prevent this from happening. The images you purchase will not have any words on them.
How To Order: There are a few ways to place orders
1) Press the 'order now' button (when using a computer) or symbol of a shopping cart (when using a mobile phone) and choose which type of jpeg you want to order from the side menu e.g. individual images or the whole gallery. .
2) From the main thumbnail screen you can click a button. The buttons may say 'bulk order', 'purchase whole gallery' or buy a 'package'
You only need to buy ONE digital file of each image.
Do you offer Discounts & If So, How do I get them? Different types of shoots contain different levels and styles of discounts.
1) Spend over a certain amount: These discounts automatically apply in the shopping cart when you spend over a certain amount or add a certain number of different images to your shopping cart.
2) 'promo code' : A promo code may give you a free image or a set amount of money off your shopping cart. This is usually for private shoots and you will know if you have one as I will have already sent the promo code to you before you log into your photos. Remember to type it into the 'promo code' field on the shopping cart screen.
3) Packages: Packages are usually created for event photography e.g. a theatre shoot that has literally 1000's of live action show photos. They will say 'buy x images for £' and appear as buttons in the main thumbnail screen and in the product list. * If you add individual images to your shopping cart instead of taking advantage of one of the package deals, you will end up spending more money than required and I cannot be held responsible if you spend more money. If you want to use the discount detailed in the package, you have to click the package and follow the instructions.
4) Buy Entire Album: I am a business and need to make money, however, I also want you to enjoy the photos so will work out a discount for buying the whole album. To buy the whole album you can either hit the button on the main thumbnail screen or choose the option from the side menu product list.
Do you sell prints via your website? No. I used to, but so many issues over the years from delayed or lost photos in the post, or the print companies (who print the photos on my behalf) printing the wrong image or the wrong sized product, that I realised a large amount of my queries were sorting out print queries. If I stopped selling prints, then I'd have more time to take and edit photos. Plus, I have to pay the print company to print them so I had to add my own profit on top. This meant printed products were quite expensive.
By only selling the JPEG from 2023 onwards, meant you have full control over where you buy them from, what products you order, who large or small and ultimately how much you spend.
What is a JPEG and What Can I do with them? A JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group (pronounced J-Peg) and is basically a method of compressing digital images to make digital photos able to be stored as a file on your phone or computer hard drive. As such, I can email you copies of your photos.
For more information please read this blog I wrote: https://www.michellereesphotography.com/the-value-of-a-jpeg-versus-a-print
When you take a photo using your mobile phone, this is saved as a JPEG digital file.
- Buying a JPEG from my company gives you 'full printing rights' forever. This means as long as you keep the file safely stored on your computer, you can get prints as many times as you like, whenever you want. You can share the images to family and friends by email or on social media.
- If you want to get prints created from the JPEG file, you can take the files into a physical shop (with them saved on to a memory card / memory stick or as a file saved onto your phone). Or you can order prints via a company website. I can recommend www.blueskyprinting.co.uk based in both Chelmsford and Colchester to get prints from in person or on their website in their 'lustre' finish.
- you only need to buy ONE copy of each digital file.
Receiving your order: Head to the shopping cart to check, update & pay for your order. When you complete the payment process, make sure your email address is typed correctly as your images get sent by email. If you want to pop back later, 'save' your shopping cart before logging off.
1) The JPEG images get emailed to you immediately after payment in a confirmation email.
2) You MUST click the link in your confirmation email to 'save' the jpeg files to your computer / phone hard drive BEFORE the link expires.
What if I lose my JPEG file or delete it off my computer? You MUST keep your JPEG files safe. This is only way you can view or get prints from them in the future, If you are worried, then make duplicates of the JPEG files and keep them saved safely on your computer, phone or plug in hard-drive. If you have lose or deleted the file, I will need proof of purchase. When you get in touch to tell me, I will need to know the name and email you entered when you bought the jpegs from me. Then I will see how old the order is. If it's less than 2 years since you ordered, I can re-send the file/s to you. If it's older than 2 years, I will most likely have deleted the files permanently form my records.
Why do you only keep photos for 2 years? When the GDP Regulations (GDPR) changed for all businesses in 2016, I was required to create a policy for all my customers so you know what happens to your data. As photos are classed as data, I have to state in my policy how long I store photos for and I chose 2 years. Over the course of a year I take photographs for over 300 families plus take approx 2000 photos for each theatre show, so storing 40,000 photos over 2 years is my limit. Some of my customers have agreements with me where their images are kept longer, otherwise they are all deleted after 2 years.
I didn't get my photos: I ONLY sell the JPEG digital download file. These are emailed to you. You will NOT get a print sent in the post.
- When you place an order on my website you will automatically receive a confirmation email. (I get a copy of the email sent to you so I know when an order has been placed so can help you locate the email based on the date and time it was sent). Make sure you check your SPAM or JUNK folder.
- In that email is a LINK to press which activates your phone or computer to 'save' the photos onto your hard drive.
- If you cannot find your confirmation email but I have a copy, I can send you the images directly to your email address. This obviously takes time so please do your best to locate the email before getting in touch.
What sized JPEG's will I receive? Every image except live action stage event photos will be the FULL SIZED file. The size is different per image based on the shape and crop I have applied during the edit. The full sized file could be anything from 6mb up to 32mb. As there are usually 2000 live action stage images, I do not upload these at their full size. Instead these will be closer to 2mb each to make it faster to upload. If I take photos for a branding shoot or images for your website or promotional marketing literature like show programmes, posters etc, I will ask to get in touch with your printers to ensure the images are exported at the correct size.
Sharing Images:
1) Images being shared by my business: When you complete an order you are asked to TICK a box to state whether I am allowed to use images from the shoot on my website & social media business pages. This is to show examples of the style of photos I can create for future customers. Without examples, people won't book me. I never state who is in the photo so they cannot be traced or identified by name or location. But I cannot share without your authority and thank you whole heartedly if you tick YES. If you say yes but then down the line change your mind, please just let me know and I'll take them down.
2) Images being shared by you. If you have purchased the images then you can share them as you wish. If you want to tag my business, please simply type www.michellereespghotography..com or my facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/MichelleReesPhotography and my instagram page is @photographybymichellerees
Making copies and sharing images from my website that have not been purchased is unauthorised and against copyright law.