Legal Question

[Photo2007]

I live in Nevada and I have just started to take digital photos and am hooked...I attended an "open to the public" horse event thinging I would love to take some horse pictures...But I found the people more facisinating...I have what I feel is a great shot of the backs of three people looking on and listening to the clinician..Their faces are not reconizable...The clinician's is...I wanted to enter it in an amature photo contest at a local event...Do I need releases even though I am not selling the photo or using it for commerical profit...I believe they are only giving out Ribbons as prizes ...But also, if there were a cash prize whould I then need releases...Denise in Wild Horse Territory, State of Nevada

[Orgnoi1]

As this was not taken on public property then I would say that anything more then a ribbon and you would need a release from the clinician at a minimum, possibly a release from the event location if it was a serious prize... that would cover your bases... the people you cannot recognize I personally wouldnt worry about.

Easy way around worrying about the release from the clinician would be to print him or her a nice picture in frame and give it to them... always a nice way to smooth out issues like that... and get in good with them for future potential shoots...