Terms & Conditions

These terms apply when you book a photography session with Silva Studios Photography, operated by Melyssa Silva in Las Vegas, Nevada. Booking a session means you accept them. If anything here does not match what you were told, tell us before your session and we will sort it out — what we agreed with you in writing takes precedence over this page.

How do I book a session?

A date is held once you have paid the deposit. Until then the date is available to anyone else who asks for it. We will confirm your booking by email or text with the date, time and location.

A 50% deposit is required to reserve your date, and it is non-refundable. It comes off the total price of your session. The deposit covers the time we set aside for you and turn away for others, which is why it does not come back if you cancel.

Mini sessions are different: they are paid in full at the time of booking. Minis run back to back on set dates in slots of twenty-five minutes, so a slot nobody turns up for cannot be resold and cannot be filled on the day. Payment in full is what reserves the slot, and the same rescheduling terms below apply to it.

Session prices, the number of edited images included, and session length are listed on the pricing page and on each session page. Those are the prices in effect when you book.

What if I need to reschedule?

Life happens, and we would rather move a session than lose it.

Give us at least 48 hours' notice and we will move your deposit to a new date, subject to availability. Inside 48 hours, or if nobody arrives for the session, the deposit is forfeited and a new deposit is required to book again.

Newborn sessions are the exception in the other direction: babies arrive when they arrive. Newborn dates are held loosely around your due date and we will move them as needed without penalty.

If weather makes an outdoor session unsafe or unworkable, we will reschedule it at no cost to you. That call is ours to make, and we would rather move a session than photograph you in a dust storm.

If we ever have to cancel for our own reasons — illness, equipment failure, an emergency — you get your deposit back in full, or we move to a date that works for you, whichever you prefer.

When do I get my photographs?

Your edited images are delivered in a private online gallery within one to two weeks of your session. You will get a link and can download them from there.

We choose which frames to deliver and how they are edited. That editorial judgment is the service you are hiring, and it is what makes the work look the way it does in the portfolio. We do not release unedited or raw files.

Who owns the photographs?

Melyssa Silva owns the copyright in every photograph she takes. That is automatic under US copyright law and it does not transfer with the files.

What you get is a personal-use license. You may print your images at any lab, share them with family and friends, and post them on your own social media. We ask that you do not crop out or alter our editing, and a credit when you post is always appreciated but never required.

What the license does not cover is commercial use — selling the images, licensing them to someone else, or using them to advertise a business — and entering them into competitions. If you want to do any of that, ask us and we will usually say yes in writing.

Can you use my photographs?

Yes — booking a session gives us permission to use your images in our portfolio, on this website, on social media, and in our advertising. Showing real work is how a photography business gets found, and every photograph you see on this site is there because a client allowed it.

You can opt out, and you can change your mind. Tell us in writing — email is fine — and we will exclude your session from public use, or remove images that are already published. We will take them down from anything we control promptly. Images already reshared by other people or cached by search engines are outside our control, but we will do what we reasonably can.

For sessions involving children, this permission is given and withdrawn by a parent or legal guardian.

What is expected on the day?

Arrive on time — session length is counted from the scheduled start, and a late arrival shortens the session rather than extending it. Bring the wardrobe you settled on using the style guide we send after booking.

You are responsible for the safety and behavior of everyone in your party, including children and pets. We will always work in a way that keeps a newborn safe, and we may decline a pose or a location if we judge it unsafe.

We reserve the right to end a session early, without a refund, if anyone present is abusive or threatening toward the photographer.

What if something goes wrong?

We carry professional equipment and back up every session, but photography carries risk. In the unlikely event that images are lost through equipment failure, corruption, or any other cause, our liability is limited to a refund of what you paid us or a reshoot, whichever you prefer. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Nevada.

Questions?

Email silva.studios.lv@gmail.com or call (725) 400-4388 before you book if anything here needs clarifying. We would much rather answer a question in advance than have a surprise later.