HOW TO HIRE · PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO · CHECKED OCTOBER 2026
How to hire a family photographer in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.
Family photographers need no licence in the UK. Here is your privacy right in the pictures, who owns them, and what the package should include.
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THE 60-SECOND VERSION
Hiring a family photographer in five steps
- Look at whole sessionsAsk for a full gallery from one family session, not a page of best shots from many.
- Find out what the fee includesSession only, or images too? How many digital files, and at what size?
- Decide about online useYour family photos are yours to keep private: say in writing whether the photographer may post them.
- Plan around the childrenTime of day, length of session, breaks — a family photographer who works with children will ask.
- Get the delivery date in writingWhen the gallery arrives and how long it stays online.
BEFORE YOU BOOK
Check before you book
No register applies
No licence or register applies to family photographers in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, and none is needed to photograph children. Full galleries, references and a clear written booking are the checks. No law requires a family photographer to hold insurance. Parks and estates sometimes need permission for paid shoots, and a studio should have public liability cover for visitors.
Ask for one complete family gallery and a recent client to ring. Ask who arranges any location permission, and whether they hold public liability cover.
Your privacy right in commissioned photographs
Section 85 of the 1988 Act gives anyone who commissions photographs or a film for private and domestic purposes the right to stop copies being issued, shown in public or put online. The family photographer owns the copyright but needs your permission to use your family photographs in a portfolio, advert or competition.
Agree in the contract whether your images may be used, and where. legislation.gov.uk →
Copyright and your licence
Section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 makes the author — the family photographer — the first owner of the copyright in your family photographs. It passes to you only by a written assignment signed by them (section 90); what you normally receive is a licence.
Read the licence clause: can you print them, share them with relatives, order prints elsewhere? Ask for a written assignment if you need the copyright. legislation.gov.uk →
ICO data protection fee
A family photographer keeps your contact details and photographs of your children, which is personal data. A business or sole trader processing personal data must pay the ICO data protection fee — £52 or £78 a year for most small businesses — unless exempt, and is then listed on the ICO's public register.
Search the business name on the ICO register and ask how long the files are kept. gov.uk →
VAT
A family shoot is standard-rated: VAT at 20% applies to the session fee and also to the files, prints and albums sold afterwards. Over the £90,000 registration threshold a trader has to charge VAT and show it separately, next to its VAT number.
Ask for the VAT number, and whether the price of the session, the prints and the album each already include the 20%. gov.uk →
A good answer: A full gallery, with the in-between shots, not just the favourites.
A good answer: A clear list: time, number of edited images, digital files or prints, and the price of each extra.
A good answer: Only with your written consent — and you can say no, because the photos were commissioned for private use.
A good answer: Short sessions, breaks, play, and a plan for the moment someone has had enough.
A good answer: A delivery time in weeks and a gallery expiry date.
A good answer: Personal printing allowed, in writing; some packages tie printing to the photographer's own lab.
A good answer: Yes, a searchable business name, and a deletion period.
Getting the quote right
- Who actually attends the shoot — the photographer whose portfolio you saw, or an assistant or associate, employed or subcontracted
- Session length, location or studio, and the number of people included
- How many edited images, in what format and size
- Whether digital files are included or sold separately
- Print or album prices if you want them, as separate lines
- Travel to a location, and any location fee
- The rebooking or cancellation terms
- The VAT number, with VAT on the session and on any print order as separate lines
Walk away if
- Only a handful of highlight images, never a full gallery
- A low session fee with every image sold separately and no price list
- Your children's photos posted online without being asked
- No delivery date
- A licence that bars you from printing your own photos
- Pressure to buy at a viewing session
What a family photographer costs: £100–£395 per session
Family photographers price by the session, with digital files, prints and albums often sold on top; check what the session fee alone buys. Family Photographer price guide →
Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.
KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE
Family photographers near you, with the badges that matter shown
ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.
Or post the job free and let them come to you.
- BookingDate, place, people, what is included, and a word on online use — in writing.
- PlanningClothes, timing around naps and meals, and any must-have groupings.
- The sessionA relaxed pace, breaks for children, and the photographer guiding without forcing.
- EditingSelection and editing to the delivery time agreed.
- DeliveryA private online gallery or files, with the licence terms stated.
- Session fee
- The charge for the photographer's time; images may be extra.
- Digital files
- The edited photographs as downloads.
- Viewing session
- A meeting to choose and buy images after the shoot.
- Licence
- What you may do with the images — print, share — rather than owning the copyright.
- Private gallery
- An online gallery only you can open, for a set period.
- Portfolio use
- The photographer showing your images to promote their work — only with your consent.
AFTER
When the job is done
Hiring a family photographer: questions people ask
No. No licence applies to family photographers in any UK nation, and no law requires a criminal record check for photographing children with their parents present.
Not without your consent. Section 85 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 lets you stop photographs commissioned for private and domestic purposes being published.
The photographer, unless they assign it to you in writing. You get a licence to use the photos; check it allows printing.
£100 to £395 a session, typically around £195. Digital files, prints and travel move the price. Session prices, and what files they include, are in the family photographer price guide; add your town above for photographers near you.
The session, what images and files you get, delivery time, your consent or not to online use, the licence, and cancellation.
Say so in writing. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires reasonable care and skill; you can ask for a reshoot or a price reduction.
MORE GUIDES
More hiring guides in photography & video
Family photographers near you
Sources — checked October 2026
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 11 — first ownership
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 90 — assignment
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 85 — privacy of commissioned photographs and films
- gov.uk — pay the data protection fee
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
- Citizens Advice — more help with a consumer issue
- gov.uk — make a court claim for money: court fees
- VAT rates — VAT rates for goods and services: standard rate 20% on most goods and services
- GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register