Do you password protect?

[MindyRaeL]

Just throwing this out there to those who use an online gallery for proofing and ordering.
Do you use a password for your client galleries? And your reasons for or against it? Have you had clients ask for passwords for their privacy? Or is it done more for copyright protection purposes?
I use Zenfolio, and I don't password protect right now. I've seen it being done on a lot of other sites though, and now I wondering if I should be. I haven't done it in the past, because it seems like more of an inconvenience to customers. And it makes it a little more difficult if they want to share the gallery with friends and family. Simply giving them a web address is easier that giving an address and username and password. Keep in mind, these are normal family portraits, not boudoir or risqué.

[Jim Poor]

I rarely pwd protect my galleries. Never for dog sports as there are often dozens or hundreds of clients per gallery.

Occasionally for private portraits that include minors, but not usually then either.

Usually, in the case of a celebrity or public figure. Partially for their privacy, but mostly because those images are worth more than the average image and I don't want them getting out, to the degree I can control it.

[Jim Bryant]

Nope......however, I know a lot of photographers that do.

[funcrunch]

For me it depends on the shoot. If it's a portrait session I normally password-protect the gallery but ask the client if I can post some of the images in a public gallery, once they have a chance to review them (this is in my contract). For an event like a party I'll normally make a hidden gallery that is not password protected, so that the client and event attendees can view and order photos easily. For an event open to the public I normally do not password protect or hide the gallery.

[candleman]

Yup............. the functionality is there for me for free... so why not flog that as a positive thing.

[APhotoSchool]

I've password protected in the past, but for different various reasons... Mainly, it works well because then you can hide the gallery. I typically don't like to reveal entire shoots (not every SINGLE shot will be an award-winner) and keep people looking at just my portfolio. The password protected shoots are for individual clients or friends where they want to see every shot and angle..

[jdepould]

Typically I just put a noindex, nofollow on it, though if it's something that's under embargo passwords are probably appropriate.

[AnonymousKiwi1]

Originally Posted by funcrunch

For an event like a party I'll normally make a hidden gallery that is not password protected, so that the client and event attendees can view and order photos easily. .

Ooo... how do you do that?? Still learing my way around Zenfolio

[phaither]

i always password protect mine. i find that clients don't like the world to see thier photos before they get to...

[funcrunch]

Originally Posted by AnonymousKiwi1

Ooo... how do you do that?? Still learing my way around Zenfolio

I created a "Customer Galleries" folder inside each of my categories, and set access control to Private. Then I create a gallery inside the Customer Galleries folder with the access set to Public, set a custom URL, and give that to the client. People browsing my categories will not see any of the galleries inside the Customer Galleries folders, only those with the direct URL.