For an emerging label, photographs are often the first thing a buyer, editor or customer sees. A strong lookbook can open doors that a rack of samples cannot. But a shoot also creates legal relationships: between you and the photographer who owns the images, and between you and the models whose faces appear in them. Getting both the light and the rights right is part of building a professional brand.
Plan the shoot
Before you book a studio, decide what the images are for. A lookbook for buyers needs clear, consistent images that show each look’s silhouette, color and detail. A campaign or editorial story can be moodier and more conceptual. E-commerce images need consistency above all, so customers can compare products.
Write a short brief: the collection’s story, a mood board, the number of looks, the shot list (full length, three-quarter, detail), and how the images will be used. That last point matters for the contracts below.
Think about light
Light is the photographer’s main tool, and a little vocabulary helps you communicate.
- Soft light, from an overcast sky, a large window or a big diffuser, wraps around the body and minimizes harsh shadows. It is forgiving and shows fabric texture gently.
- Hard light, from direct sun or a small, bare light source, creates crisp shadows and drama. It can emphasize structure and sharp tailoring.
- Color accuracy matters for clothing. Ask your photographer how they will make sure the colors in the final images match the garments, especially for online sales.
New York offers endless backdrops, from studio cycloramas to street corners, but shooting in public spaces can require permits depending on the scale of the production. Check the city’s rules before you plan a location shoot.
Who owns the photographs?
Here is where many young brands get caught out. Under U.S. law, as the Copyright Office explains in its Circular 1, copyright exists automatically in an original work of authorship once it is fixed in a tangible form, such as a photograph. In general, the photographer is the author and owns the copyright, even if you paid for the shoot.
There is an important exception: work made for hire. According to the Copyright Office’s Circular 30, a work is made for hire if it is prepared by an employee within the scope of employment, or if it is specially ordered or commissioned and falls into one of nine specific categories, such as a contribution to a collective work, and the parties expressly agree in a signed written instrument that it is a work made for hire. When a work is made for hire, the employer or commissioning party is considered the author.
In practice, many freelance photographers license their images to clients rather than transferring copyright. A license sets out how you may use the images: for example, on your website and social media, in a lookbook, in advertising, for how long and in which territories. Read it carefully before you send images to a magazine or put them on a billboard.
Registration
Copyright protection does not require registration, but registration has benefits. According to Circular 1, for U.S. works, registration (or refusal) is necessary before filing an infringement suit, and if registration is made before an infringement or within three months after publication, the owner may be eligible for statutory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs. If you own images through a work-made-for-hire agreement or a copyright assignment, consider whether registration makes sense.
Model releases and New York law
A photograph of a person raises another set of rights. New York’s Civil Rights Law, sections 50 and 51, restricts the use of a living person’s name, portrait, picture or voice for advertising or trade purposes without their written consent (or, for a minor, a parent’s or guardian’s consent), and allows the person to sue over unauthorized use.
That is why professional shoots use model releases: signed agreements in which the model consents to specific uses of the images. Models represented by agencies typically work under agency agreements that define usage and fees. Make sure the release or agreement covers every way you plan to use the images.
A note on free images
Creative Commons licenses can be a great source of images, and we use only CC0, CC BY and public-domain images ourselves. But a Creative Commons license covers the photographer’s copyright. As Creative Commons notes in its guidance, its licenses do not license other rights, such as publicity or privacy rights, that may apply to people pictured. Using a CC photo of an identifiable person in an advertisement may still require that person’s consent.
A shoot-day checklist
- Contracts signed with the photographer, including ownership or license terms.
- Releases signed by every model and anyone else identifiable.
- Credits agreed. Decide how the photographer, stylist, hair and makeup artists and models will be credited.
- Files and formats agreed: number of edited images, resolution and delivery date.
Read on: building a fashion portfolio and fashion careers beyond the designer.
Find talent in the MOAM directory · Subscribe to The MOAM List · Follow MOAM on Instagram @moam_co and Facebook makingofamogul · Tips and corrections: hello@makingofamogul.com
Sources
- U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 1: Copyright Basics
- U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30: Works Made for Hire
- New York State Senate, Civil Rights Law section 50
- New York State Senate, Civil Rights Law section 51
- Creative Commons, Frequently Asked Questions
Photo credits: “Photographer-studio-1893” by A.H. Wheeler, Berlin, Wisconsin (Library of Congress), via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Editor’s note: this article is general information, checked against official sources in October 2026. It is not legal advice; consult an attorney about your specific situation.
Leave a Reply