1. The Photo Shoot booking fee is non refundable, and does not cover the cost of photographs. The booking fee covers the cost of the photo shoot only.
2. The associated swim school and Starfish Underwater Photography charge a booking fee to cover the cost of our travel to different venues, swimming pool hire, and swimming teacher or associated swim school costs and fees. These costs have to be covered even if you do not attend on the day, so the booking fee is non-refundable. We do not profit from the booking fee.
3. You are under no obligation to buy any of your pictures after the photo shoot. If you do choose to purchase any, buying the digital file means you can make as many copies of the pictures are you like, at no extra cost. You are free to choose any printer you like. When you buy your files, you will be sent a Copyright notice which limits your use to personal and family use only (not business use) You may need this copyright permission when printing at a photo lab.
4. Buying the digital files does not give you Copyright of the images. Copyright remains with Starfish Underwater Photography. Digital Files are sold with the following license.
5. You are permitted to make as many copies of the photo as you like for personal and family use, but Copyright remains with Starfish Underwater Photography. You may use the photos online, on personal websites or personal social media pages, but must credit Starfish Underwater Photography with the images. The photographs should not be published or used commercially, or in any other way without permission from Starfish Underwater Photography.
6. If you purchase prints or photo products, you are not permitted to make any copies of these or use the images online. Should you require extra prints you will need to purchase them from the Starfish website.
7. Advertising and Commercial Photography is available but different pricing and licenses will apply.
8. We cannot guarantee excellent results for every participant since it depends on how your child is on the day. We cannot be held responsible for how the subject behaves on the day. This is why we charge for the photographs separately. We do try very hard to get you a great shot though, and succeed most times.
9. Please remember this is underwater photography, and we have a limited amount of time and number of submersions to capture the perfect shot. Once the swimming teacher has released your child underwater, they can turn away, sink down, swim up, pull a funny face, cover their eyes etc. This is out of our control and we can only capture what we see. There is of course Photoshop should your images need a touch of magic!
10, If you fail to attend on the day for whatever reason, the booking fee is still non-refundable.
If your child is poorly or self-isolating for the photo shoot, you may be able to transfer to an alternative date. We cannot guarantee a shoot in the same location so you may need to travel. You may only transfer your shoot once, and should be within 6 months of your original booking.
11. No other filming or photography equipment is allowed on poolside, please ensure any family members or friends attending with you are made aware of this condition. This is for child protection reasons.
12. Avoid feeding your child within an hour before your photo shoot, or 30 minutes if breast-feeding.
13. If your child is very clingy and won’t let go of you in the water and won’t go to anyone else, we may not be able to get a good photo of them and would not recommend attending.
14. At least one parent must be in the water with the child. This includes older children who can swim as we may ask you to assist with positioning. All participants must shower before entering the pool and should refrain from using hair gel, or body lotion etc as these products can ruin the clarity of the water and leave it cloudy.
15. Prices, dates, and products are subject to change. Please refer back to the website for the latest information. If a shoot you have already booked changes, or has to be cancelled, we will contact you and you will be offered a refund or a place on the new photo shoot.
16. Your child should wear a swim nappy with a Happy Nappy (or similar) over the top. This is because a nappy leak can lead to a pool closure, and the end of the photo shoot. Sometimes the Happy Nappy makes the child very buoyant so you may be asked to remove it for a few photos.
17. Please do not attend the photo shoot with your baby in a baby wetsuit, as these make the children too buoyant, and they float back to the surface too quickly.
18. If your child has had Diarrhoea in the 48 hours before your photo shoot, you will not be able to attend. These are standard pool rules and ensure the safety of all bathers.
19. Please be on time for the photo shoot. We hire the pools at set times, and the numbers we can take are limited, so we may not be able to accommodate you if you miss your time slot. If you arrive part way through your time slot, you will have missed the warm up and will get less submersions and less photos to choose from, so please be on time. Your allocated time slot is when the photo shoot will start so please arrive early enough to allow changing time.
20. Please do not enter the pool until you are invited to do so. This includes other pools if the venue has them. We ask that you wait until your allotted time slot to ensure the best results from the photo session.
21. Sometimes things can go wrong and it will be out of our control. If a pool is closed unexpectedly or some other uncontrollable event occurs, which prevents the photo shoot from going ahead, you will be offered a full refund or a place on the next photo shoot. An alternative photo shoot date will be arranged as quickly as possible. Don’t worry, this is quite rare.
22. Your child must be comfortable with underwater submersions, and we expect them to be able to perform at least 3 underwater submersions in a 30 minute period. Each submersion would be 3-5 seconds and they will be released by the swimming teacher. If you are unsure if they are ready, please contact us for advice before booking.
23. We reserve the right to cut a photo shoot short if your baby or child is distressed or ill. We do not submerge distressed children. You will not be entitled to a refund. Your baby’s safety and wellbeing is our first priority.
24. Older children are welcome to come to a photo shoot, but they should practice before attending. Practice opening their eyes underwater, and smiling! Also look at your child’s expression underwater. They should practice expressions you want to see in the resulting images. If your child is not comfortable underwater, we cannot take good pictures of them underwater, so would not recommend that they attend the photo shoot.
25. Group and family photos are very popular but please practice before the photo shoot. Practice exhaling before going under the water (blow out all your air as full lungs will bring you back to the surface), smiling underwater and opening your eyes without goggles. We can arrange you in the best position but we have no control of your expressions and whether you can keep your eyes open under the water. We can advise you on the day but it is helpful if you can practice before as it’s much harder than it looks!
26. Your photos will be available to buy for at least 3 months after your photo shoot. After this time you may still be able to purchase your pictures, but we cannot store your images indefinitely so cannot guarantee how long they will be saved for.
27. A postage and packaging charge of £2.95 is applied to digital file orders on USB stick. This is below the cost price of the USB stick and delivery. Postage is £2.95 on all prints and photo products. We Transfer for digital files is free.
28. The number of photos of each child will vary depending on how your child was on the day. Typically you can expect between 8-15 pictures from a group shoot for babies, but it can be more if your child performed very well on the day. For older children this may be many more since they can submerge more times during the session. For private shoots of 30 mins, you can expect 50-100 images.
29. When you view and buy your pictures, they will have been sharpened and colour corrected in Photoshop. They may also be cropped. Digital files may vary in size due to different crops of the original picture. All digital files supplied with be large enough to print up to at least A2 in size. Digital files are supplied as high quality JPEG’s. We do not sell Raw files.
30. Should the swimming teacher appear in your pictures, she/he will be removed when you purchase the image. Other Photoshop work is also possible, but may incur an extra charge. Should you request extra photoshop work, we will let you know if it’s possible and if there is a cost. (We only charge for really time consuming edits) Photoshop work is only possible on digital files and canvas and acrylic prints.
31. We supply your best photographs in your gallery, it is not possible to include every frame taken.
32. Products and prices are subject to change.
33. All participants take part in the photo shoots at their own risk.
34. It is expected that you will notify us of any health conditions that could be an issue during the photo shoot.
35. We cannot be held responsible for failures of the associated swim school or hosting swimming pool, or adverse weather conditions for the outdoor pools. Conditions such as water temperature and clarity are checked when booking pools, but these are factors out of our control on the photo shoot day.
36. Starfish Underwater Photography shall not be responsible for the loss or damage, of or to, any property or to any person arising from the booking of, or participation in the activities.
37. Free gifts are subject to availability and must be bought within the required time frame. There is no cash alternative available for the free gifts. We reserve the right to substitute the free gift with another product of equal value.
38. We have taken all necessary measures to ensure your safety during the Corona Virus pandemic. We therefore cannot be held responsible or liable for viruses or other diseases that could be contracted on a photo shoot If you are unwell, please DO NOT attend the photo shoot. You can re-book onto another date.
39. Competition winners: Anyone participating in a photo shoot must be confident in underwater submersions. We cannot guarantee a photo shoot in your area, so you may be required to travel. There is no cash alternative to the prize, but we reserve the right to substitute the prize if required.
40. We offer a 14 day money back guarantee on any unwanted products purchased on the website, should you return the item back to us in the original state and packaging. Return postage is at the buyers cost. Faulty Items will be replaced.
Thanks Very Much!