In cosplay, there are those horror stories that everyone has heard. That one convention that had a rather “aggressive” photographer that wanted to take cosplayers to their hotel room. Or maybe that photographer that asks cosplayers to be in inappropriate positions. Or that “one time” where a photographer decided that a cosplay model agreeing to a photoshoot was consent for other inappropriate behavior post-shoot. Of course, this photographer decided to hold their clients’ photos hostage after their behavior was not reciprocated.
Obviously, any of the above abhorrent stories are not appropriate under any circumstance. These behaviors give us pros a bad name, and are found to be unacceptable here at HCWC. Having a photoshoot should be a fun adventure, not a traumatic experience.
At HCWC, our goal is to make a safe and as comfortable of an environment as possible. With safety and comfort in mind, here is a snapshot of a few things that we do for our client’s safety:
-Any member of the HCWC team (or our partners) have to sign a strict non-disclosure agreement to maintain client confidentiality. This means that we will not share any information you give us from the moment you hire us.
-All photos created during the shoot are archived in a 256 bit encrypted cloud server. Any non-convention shoot client gallery is password protected. If you ask us not to share any of your photos for portfolio work, we will not do so.
-HCWC has a strict No-tolerance policy on harassment, bullying, or inappropriate behavior. If you find that anyone on the HCWC team (or it’s partners) is doing something inappropriate, please let us know as soon as possible. We will address it immediately.
-HCWC has a “Public areas only” policy at conventions. None of our team is allowed to shoot in any non-public area (hotel rooms, bathrooms, etc) during a convention that we are attending. Plenty of public spaces to shoot anyway.
-Continuing upon above, we strictly shoot in spaces that we consider "public". If a studio is needed for a specific shoot, we have partnered with over a dozen studios across the US that we can utilize at any time.
-Every piece of equipment that anyone comes in contact with is cleaned and sterilized to CDC and PPA (Professional Photographers of America) standards. All of our team has been vaccinated for COVID-19.
-We encourage an open communication policy. If at any time a client or model is uncomfortable with a specific pose or part of the shoot, we ask they immediately bring their concerns to the attention of our team so we can address it, and find an amicable solution.
-HCWC has a three person minimum policy on a photoshoot. Our team is trained to have at least one person other than the photographer and model involved in the shoot for the sake of redundancy. It’s also nice to have someone hold a light occasionally.
-HCWC has a strict “No Release, No Shoot” policy. This protects both HCWC and the client from any copyright concerns, but also sets expectations for when the client can get their completed photos. We go into further detail Here about our contracts, and what they mean.
