Terms & Conditions

1. Acceptance of these terms

These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Sam Gross Studios LLC. In these Terms, "Sam Gross Studios," "we," "us," and "our" mean Sam Gross Studios LLC. By visiting samgrossstudios.com, submitting a form, opting in to our email or text message programs, or engaging us for photography services, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated here by reference. If you do not agree, do not use this website or our services.

Where you sign a separate engagement agreement, proposal, statement of work, or event contract with Sam Gross Studios, that document governs the specific engagement and controls over these Terms to the extent the two conflict. These Terms apply to everything the signed document does not address.

2. About Sam Gross Studios

Sam Gross Studios LLC is a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of Maryland, doing business as Sam Gross Studios. It provides headshot, portrait, editorial, beauty, lifestyle, and branding photography, and on-site event headshot activations operating as The Headshot Lounge.

3. Use of this website

You may use this site for lawful purposes only. You agree not to:

• Copy, scrape, mirror, or systematically download the site or its content;
• Submit false, misleading, or fraudulent information, or someone else's contact details without their permission;
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the site, its servers, or any connected system;
• Introduce malware, or interfere with the site's operation or security;
• Use the site or any content on it to train machine learning or generative AI models without our written permission;
• Use any content in a way that infringes our rights or the rights of any person depicted.

We may suspend or terminate access to the site at any time for any reason, including violation of these Terms.

4. Intellectual property

All photographs, video, text, design, layout, code, graphics, and the Sam Gross Studios name, logo, and taglines ("Make the city move," "No off days") are the property of Sam Gross Studios or its licensors and are protected by United States copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

Under the U.S. Copyright Act, copyright in every photograph we create is owned by Sam Gross Studios from the moment of creation and remains with us unless we transfer it to you in a signed writing. Purchasing a session, a print, or a digital file does not transfer copyright — it grants you the license described in Section 9 or in your engagement agreement.

You may not reproduce, distribute, publicly display, modify, or create derivative works from our content except as expressly permitted by these Terms, your license, or applicable law.

5. Inquiries, quotes, and bookings

• Submitting a form on this site is an inquiry, not a booking. It does not create a contract or reserve a date.
• Quotes and proposals are estimates based on the information you give us. Unless stated otherwise, a quote is valid for 30 days and is subject to availability.
• A date is reserved only when we confirm it in writing and, where required, receive the retainer.
• Prices and package contents shown on this site are illustrative and may change without notice. The price in your written proposal or agreement controls.

6. Fees and payment

• Unless your agreement says otherwise, a non-refundable retainer is due to reserve a date, with the balance due before delivery of finished images.
• Invoices are payable on the terms stated on the invoice. Late amounts may accrue interest at 1.5% per month or the maximum rate permitted by Maryland law, whichever is lower, plus reasonable costs of collection.
• Quoted fees exclude travel, lodging, permits, venue fees, rentals, printing, and applicable Maryland sales and use tax unless expressly stated.
• We may withhold delivery of final images until payment is received in full.
• Retail purchases of prints and digital products are final unless the item arrives damaged or defective, in which case we will replace it.

7. Cancellation and rescheduling

• By you. Retainers are non-refundable, because reserving your date means turning away other work. Amounts paid beyond the retainer are refundable if you cancel more than 30 days before the session or event date. Within 30 days, fees already incurred by us — crew, travel, rentals, printing — are non-refundable.
• Rescheduling. We will make reasonable efforts to move your date once, subject to availability, if you ask more than 14 days out. Rescheduling within 14 days may incur additional fees.
• No-shows. Failure to appear without notice forfeits the session and all amounts paid.
• By us. If we must cancel for a reason within our control and cannot supply a qualified replacement photographer, our sole liability is a full refund of amounts you have paid.
• Individual event activations and public ticketed events may have their own cancellation terms, which are stated on the applicable booking page and control for that event.

8. Client and participant obligations

For sessions and event activations, you agree to:

• Provide accurate schedule, location, access, and contact information;
• Secure any venue permissions, permits, insurance, power, and space we reasonably require, unless we have agreed to handle them;
• Ensure that participants are informed of, and where required consent to, being photographed and to how the images will be used and delivered;
• Obtain any consent or release required for minors from a parent or legal guardian;
• Confirm that any brand, sponsor, trademark, or third-party material you ask us to include in an image is material you have the right to use.

We may decline to photograph, or stop a session, where conditions are unsafe, unlawful, or materially different from what was represented to us.

9. Delivery, licensing, and archiving

• Turnaround. Delivery timelines are stated in your agreement. On-site activations deliver finished images at the event or shortly after, as agreed.
• Selection and editing. Image selection, retouching style, and the number of finished images are within our professional judgment, consistent with the portfolio and the scope you booked. Raw or unedited files are not delivered.
• License. Unless your agreement states otherwise, individuals receive a perpetual, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use their finished images for personal and professional self-promotion — social profiles, company bios, speaker pages, résumés, and press. Business clients receive a perpetual, non-exclusive license to use the delivered images for their own internal and marketing purposes. Neither license permits resale, sublicensing, or distribution of the images as stock imagery.
• Attribution and integrity. Credit to "Sam Gross Studios" is appreciated and is required where an image is published editorially. Do not crop out, alter, or apply filters to delivered images in a way that materially changes the work, and do not remove copyright metadata.
• Archiving. We archive finished files for at least 12 months after delivery as a courtesy, not as a backup service. Download and back up your images promptly. We are not liable for loss of files after that period.

10. Model release and likeness

We use images of identifiable people in our portfolio, website, social media, and marketing only where we hold a release or other permission covering that use. Where a release is required, it is presented separately at the time of the session or at the point of capture at an event.

You may withdraw permission for our own marketing use at any time by emailing hello@samgrossstudios.com. We will honor it going forward and remove the image from channels we control. We cannot recall material already printed, distributed, or reshared by others. See our Privacy Policy for more.

11. Text message program terms

By checking a consent box on our contact form, or by texting us first, you give Sam Gross Studios LLC your express written consent to send text messages to the mobile number you provided, using an automatic telephone dialing system or otherwise, for the categories of messages you selected.

Program description

• Non-marketing messages — replies to your inquiry, quote and scheduling coordination, appointment confirmations and reminders, event-day logistics, and links to your finished gallery.
• Marketing messages — special offers, discounts, session and event announcements, new services, and studio news.

These are separate consents; you may give either, both, or neither.

Required disclosures

• Consent is not a condition of purchase. You do not have to agree to receive text messages in order to buy any goods or services from Sam Gross Studios, or to submit our contact form.
• Message frequency varies.
• Message and data rates may apply. Your mobile carrier's standard rates apply to messages you send and receive.
• To opt out, reply STOP to any message. You will receive one confirmation message and no further texts from that program.
• For help, reply HELP, email hello@samgrossstudios.com, or call (301) 889-9264.
• Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
• Delivery is subject to carrier availability and is not guaranteed in all areas.
• We send solicitation messages only between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in your local time, as Maryland law requires.
• No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Information sharing to subcontractors in support services, such as customer service, is permitted.

You represent that you are the subscriber or customary user of the mobile number you give us, and that you are at least 18 years old. If you change or give up that number, tell us promptly so we do not text its new holder. Your consent record — the disclosure shown to you, the page, and the timestamp — is retained as described in our Privacy Policy.

12. Email program terms

If you opt in to marketing email, we will send occasional news, offers, and event announcements. Every marketing email carries a working unsubscribe link and our mailing address. Unsubscribing stops marketing email but not transactional email about an active inquiry, booking, or delivery.

13. Third-party services

We use third-party platforms for scheduling, galleries, payment, messaging, and analytics. Your use of those services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for their availability, security, or conduct. Links from this site to third-party sites are provided for convenience and are not endorsements.

14. Disclaimers

THIS WEBSITE AND ITS CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. We do not warrant that the site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components, or that any information on it is complete or current.

Photography is a creative service. We warrant that our services will be performed in a professional and workmanlike manner consistent with industry standards. We do not warrant any particular commercial result, engagement level, or business outcome from the images.

Nothing in these Terms limits any warranty or right that cannot be limited under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act or other applicable law.

15. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SAM GROSS STUDIOS AND ITS OWNERS, EMPLOYEES, AND CONTRACTORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST DATA, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS SITE OR OUR SERVICES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR ANY ENGAGEMENT WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU ACTUALLY PAID TO SAM GROSS STUDIOS FOR THE SERVICE GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.

In the unlikely event of equipment failure, media corruption, or other loss that prevents delivery of some or all images, our liability is limited to a refund of the amounts paid for the affected work, or a reshoot at our option.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so parts of this section may not apply to you. Nothing here limits liability for gross negligence, willful misconduct, or anything else that cannot be limited by law.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Sam Gross Studios and its owners, employees, and contractors from any claim, demand, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your breach of these Terms, your violation of any law or third-party right, your use of delivered images beyond the license granted, or your failure to obtain any consent, release, permit, or permission you were responsible for obtaining under Section 8.

17. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for failure or delay in performance caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, severe weather, fire, flood, epidemic or public health emergency, war, terrorism, civil unrest, labor disruption, utility, carrier, or network failure, government action, or venue closure. We will make reasonable efforts to reschedule, or, where rescheduling is impossible, refund amounts paid for services not yet performed.

18. Governing law and venue

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them, this website, or our services are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act does not apply.

You and Sam Gross Studios consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state courts sitting in Prince George's County, Maryland, and the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, for any dispute not resolved under Section 19, and each party waives any objection to that venue.

19. Dispute resolution

Before filing any claim, you agree to contact us at hello@samgrossstudios.com and give us 30 days to resolve the matter informally. Most issues are resolved this way.

If informal resolution fails, either party may bring the claim in the courts identified in Section 18, or, where the amount qualifies, in the District Court of Maryland for Prince George's County small claims division. Each party bears its own attorneys' fees unless a statute or your engagement agreement provides otherwise.

Nothing in these Terms prevents you from filing a complaint with the Maryland Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division or any other government agency.

20. General provisions

• Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary or severed, and the rest of these Terms remain in effect.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. We may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• Entire agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy, and any signed engagement agreement are the entire agreement between us on their subject matter and supersede prior discussions.
• Electronic records. You consent to receive agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications from us electronically, and you agree that your electronic signature or checkbox selection has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature under the federal E-SIGN Act and the Maryland Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.
• Survival. Sections 4, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, and 20 survive termination.

21. Changes to these terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. The revised version is posted on this page with an updated date and takes effect when posted. Changes do not apply retroactively to a signed engagement agreement already in progress. Continuing to use the site or our services after a change takes effect means you accept the revised Terms.

22. Contact us

See also our Privacy Policy.