Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 October 2026

At Luke Hardy Photography, we take the privacy and security of your personal information seriously.

This privacy policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how it is used and stored, who it may be shared with, and your rights in relation to that information.

Luke Hardy Photography is a trading name of Never Settle Media Ltd, which acts as the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.

This policy has been prepared in accordance with applicable UK data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

If you have any questions about this policy or how your personal information is handled, please contact:

Luke Hardy Photography
Never Settle Media Ltd
Email: luke@lukehardyphotography.co.uk

1. Information We Collect

Depending on your interaction with us, we may collect and process information including:

• Your name and your partner's name

• Email addresses

• Telephone numbers

• Home or correspondence addresses

• Wedding or event venue details

• Wedding dates and timings

• Information supplied through enquiry forms, questionnaires, contracts and other correspondence

• Names of family members, wedding party members or other people supplied for the purposes of organising photographs

• Payment and transaction information

• Photographs in which you or other individuals appear

• Video footage in which you or other individuals appear

• Audio recorded as part of our photography and videography services

• Email addresses supplied by people accessing online galleries

• Technical and website usage information collected through cookies and analytics services

We may receive information directly from you, from your partner or another person involved in organising your wedding or event, or as a natural result of photographing or filming an event.

2. Why We Use Your Information

We process personal information where it is necessary to operate our business and provide our services.

This may include:

• Responding to enquiries

• Providing quotations and discussing our services

• Managing bookings

• Preparing and managing contracts

• Planning photography and videography coverage

• Communicating with clients before and after an event

• Photographing and filming weddings, events and sessions

• Editing photographs and films

• Delivering photographs, galleries, films, albums and prints

• Processing payments and maintaining financial records

• Providing replacement copies of photographs or films where available

• Maintaining an archive of our photographic work

• Displaying selected work in our portfolio and promoting our photography business where appropriate

• Operating, securing and improving our website and services

• Complying with legal, accounting and regulatory obligations

3. Our Lawful Bases for Processing

We rely on different lawful bases depending on how and why information is being processed.

Contract

Where you enquire about or book our services, we process information where necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to perform our contract with you.

For example, we need your contact details, wedding information and venue details in order to plan and provide your photography or videography.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal information where it is necessary for the legitimate interests of operating a professional photography and videography business, provided those interests do not override the rights and interests of the individuals concerned.

This may include:

• Photographing or filming guests and other attendees at weddings and events

• Editing and delivering photographs and films

• Maintaining appropriate business records

• Protecting and backing up our work

• Maintaining an archive of completed photography

• Protecting our business in the event of a legal claim or dispute

• Using selected photographs or footage to demonstrate and promote our work where appropriate

Wedding photography necessarily involves photographing individuals who have not entered into a contract directly with us. Our legitimate interest is to document the event our clients have engaged us to photograph or film and to create an accurate and creative record of that event.

Legal Obligation

We process and retain certain information where required to meet legal, tax, accounting or regulatory obligations.

Consent

Where we specifically rely on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us.

Where clients have concerns about particular photographs or footage being used publicly, they are encouraged to contact us. Clients may also notify us before their wedding or event if they do not want their photographs or footage used for promotional purposes.

4. Photographs, Video and Audio

Photography and videography are central to the services we provide.

Photographs, video and audio recordings may contain personal information because individuals can be identified from them.

During a wedding or event, we may photograph or film clients, guests, suppliers, venue staff, children and other people present as part of documenting the event.

Where video coverage is provided, audio may also be captured using cameras, microphones or recording equipment. This can include ceremonies, speeches and other moments throughout the event.

We do not normally collect contact information directly from wedding guests unless they choose to provide it, for example when entering an email address to access an online gallery.

5. Portfolio, Website and Social Media

As a photography business, examples of our work are an important part of demonstrating our services to prospective clients.

Selected photographs and video may therefore be used for purposes including:

• The Luke Hardy Photography website

• Portfolio galleries

• Instagram

• Facebook

• Social media content

• Sample albums

• Printed promotional materials

• Wedding fairs

• Industry features, publications or competitions

• Advertising and promotional activity

Where appropriate, this processing may be based on our legitimate interests in displaying and promoting our professional work, subject to the rights and interests of the individuals concerned and any applicable contractual arrangements.

If you are a client and do not want photographs or footage from your wedding or session used for promotional purposes, please let us know.

If you appear in an image or video published by us and have concerns about its use, please contact us at luke@lukehardyphotography.co.uk and we will consider your request.

6. Client Management

We use Studio Ninja as our client relationship and studio management system.

Information held within Studio Ninja may include:

• Enquiry details

• Names and contact information

• Wedding and venue information

• Contracts

• Questionnaires

• Quotes

• Invoices

• Payment information

• Emails and other client communications

Studio Ninja processes this information on our behalf to enable us to manage enquiries, bookings and clients.

7. Online Galleries

We use Pic-Time to host and deliver online photography galleries.

Clients and other people with access to a gallery may be asked to provide an email address when accessing or downloading photographs.

Information provided through Pic-Time is processed in accordance with its own privacy and data protection arrangements.

Pic-Time may also provide facilities through which clients or guests can purchase prints and photographic products. Orders placed through these facilities may involve information being processed by Pic-Time and its selected professional print laboratories for the purpose of fulfilling the order.

8. Albums and Printed Products

Where you order an album directly from us, photographs and information necessary to fulfil that order may be provided to professional photographic laboratories and album manufacturers.

We currently use Saal Digital for certain album products.

Only the information reasonably required to manufacture and deliver the requested products will be shared.

9. Video Editing

Where video services are provided, selected video and audio files may be securely shared with trusted professional editing service providers acting on our behalf.

These providers receive access only to the material reasonably necessary to carry out the editing services we have requested and are expected to handle that material securely and confidentially.

Files may be transferred for editing using secure cloud storage services such as Google Drive.

10. Payments and Accounting

Payments may be made by bank transfer or through Stripe, including where Stripe payment facilities are integrated with Studio Ninja.

Payment providers process payment information in accordance with their own privacy and security arrangements.

We use Xero for bookkeeping and accounting. Relevant transaction, invoice and client information may therefore be processed through Xero where necessary for accounting, taxation and business administration.

We do not store complete card details ourselves.

11. Email and Communications

Our business email is provided through Microsoft 365.

Emails and information you send to us may therefore be processed and stored using Microsoft's services.

We do not currently use client or enquiry information to send general marketing newsletters.

We use contact information primarily to respond to enquiries, manage bookings and communicate with clients in connection with our services.

12. Storage and Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the personal information and creative work in our possession.

Photographs, video and other working files may be stored across:

• Password and account-protected network storage

• Redundant local storage and backup systems

• External storage devices

• Password-protected computers

• Cloud services used as part of our workflow

• Pic-Time for delivered photography galleries

• Vimeo for completed films

Our network storage uses redundant drives to reduce the risk of data loss caused by individual drive failure. Additional copies may also be retained on external storage devices.

No electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We regularly review the practical security measures used to protect client information and creative work.

13. Vimeo and Video Hosting

Completed wedding films may be uploaded to Vimeo for hosting and delivery.

Films hosted on Vimeo may be publicly accessible depending on the settings used for the individual film. This means that individuals appearing in a film should be aware that footage may potentially be accessible online.

Where you have concerns about the public availability of a particular film, please contact us.

14. Website Analytics and Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies.

We use Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors use our website, such as which pages are visited and how people interact with the site.

Analytics and other non-essential cookies are used subject to applicable cookie and privacy requirements.

Where consent is required, non-essential cookies should only be activated after you have made your cookie preference.

You can change or withdraw your cookie choices through the cookie controls available on our website where provided.

15. Who We Share Information With

We do not sell personal information.

Where necessary to operate our business and deliver our services, information may be processed by trusted service providers including:

• Client management and booking software providers

• Website and analytics providers

• Email providers

• Online gallery providers

• Payment processors

• Accounting and bookkeeping services

• Professional print laboratories and album manufacturers

• Professional video editing service providers

• Cloud storage and file-transfer providers

• Video hosting providers

• IT, backup and technology service providers

• Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where necessary

We only share personal information where there is an appropriate reason for doing so and seek to limit the information shared to what is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

We may also disclose information where required by law or where reasonably necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

16. International Data Transfers

Some of the technology and service providers we use operate internationally or may process information using infrastructure located outside the United Kingdom.

This can include providers of client management, cloud storage, gallery hosting, payment processing, accounting, analytics, email and video hosting services.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we rely on the safeguards and transfer mechanisms required by applicable UK data protection law, where those requirements apply.

Further information about the safeguards used by a particular service provider can be requested by contacting us.

17. How Long We Keep Information

We do not keep all information for the same length of time.

Our normal retention approach is as follows.

Enquiries that do not result in a booking

Enquiry information may initially be archived within our client management system.

We periodically review older enquiry information and aim to delete or anonymise personal information when there is no longer a reasonable business need to retain it.

Booked clients and business records

Contracts, invoices, transaction information and other records relevant to our business, accounting, taxation or legal obligations are normally retained for at least the applicable statutory retention period and may be retained longer where reasonably necessary, for example in connection with a dispute or legal claim.

RAW photographs, video and audio

Original RAW photographs and unedited video or audio files are retained temporarily as part of our production and backup process.

These files are normally deleted after the completion of the relevant wedding season. In practice, RAW material from the previous year is typically removed around the beginning of the following wedding season.

Clients should therefore not assume that original RAW photographs, video footage or audio recordings will remain available permanently.

Delivered photographs

Final edited photographs may be retained indefinitely where storage allows.

This archive is maintained both as part of our photographic record and so that we may be able to assist clients who lose their own copies.

However, archival storage is not guaranteed and clients should maintain their own secure copies of all delivered photographs.

Online galleries

Pic-Time galleries do not currently have a routine expiry date and may remain available indefinitely.

We nevertheless reserve the right to remove galleries in the future and clients should not rely on an online gallery as their only permanent copy of their photographs.

Completed films

Completed films may be retained indefinitely where reasonably practicable, including through our own backups and video hosting services such as Vimeo.

Clients should also retain their own copies of completed films.

18. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis on which we process your information, you may have rights including:

• The right to be informed about how your personal information is used

• The right to request access to personal information we hold about you

• The right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information

• The right to request erasure of your personal information in certain circumstances

• The right to request restriction of processing in certain circumstances

• The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests

• The right to data portability in circumstances where that right applies

• The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

These rights are not absolute and exemptions may apply. For example, we may need to retain certain information to comply with legal obligations or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

To exercise any of these rights, contact:

luke@lukehardyphotography.co.uk

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

19. Automated Decision-Making

We do not use personal information to make solely automated decisions about individuals that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

20. Data Breaches

We take reasonable measures to prevent unauthorised access, loss or disclosure of personal information.

If a personal data breach occurs, we will assess the nature and potential impact of the breach.

Where required by law, we will notify the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) within the applicable timeframe. Where a breach is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of affected individuals, we will also notify those individuals where required.

21. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first so that we can investigate and respond.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator.

Information about making a complaint is available from the ICO at ico.org.uk.

22. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes to our services, technology, suppliers, business practices or legal obligations.

The date at the top of this policy will be updated whenever significant changes are made.

Contact

For questions, requests or concerns relating to privacy or personal information, please contact:

Never Settle Media Ltd trading as Luke Hardy Photography
Email: luke@lukehardyphotography.co.uk

Last updated: 1 October 2026