Professional & Portrait Photography Policies

We are delighted that you are considering Lavender Oaks Farm as the location for your photos. Our General Photography Policies listed below are intended for all guests, but a photography permit is required and must be purchased for those who wish to use Lavender Oaks Farm as a backdrop for posed or directed photography. We ask all photographers to please help us to maintain the integrity of our lavender farm by honoring these policies. They are intended to ensure that Lavender Oaks Farm can fulfill its mission of providing our visitors and community an enjoyable and educational Agritourism experience on our 60 acre farm in a beautiful natural setting of aromatic lavender fields, historic barns, and majestic forest. We love our furry friends, but we do not allow photography with animals.

ABOUT OUR FARM AND LAVENDER BLOOMING SEASON

Lavender Oaks Farm is home to 4,000 lavender plants in 9 varieties. Our blooming season begins mid-May, peaks in June, and continues through summer. There is incredible life in our lavender fields during blooming season and it is very common to see several varieties of butterflies, dragonflies, honey bees, bumble bees, and birds sharing a love of lavender, and fluttering about the flower buds in quite a relaxed and dreamy state by the calming scent of this amazing crop. Lavender is an evergreen and quite beautiful year-round, so capturing this plant in any season is breathtaking. In addition to lavender, we grow Cascade Hops that are planted in a unique form creating a frame of gorgeous vines. Our Cascade Hops peak in June and continue to remain an intensely thick verdant green vine until late Fall. Other notable sites found on our farm include: Elegantly restored century-old timber frame barns, 3 log cabins, a ¾ acre pond, trails, winding pathways, wildflowers, a pasture, garden, and an abundance of timeless settings provided by nature.

IN THE MOMENT PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographs are a wonderful way to remember your visit to Lavender Oaks Farm. For your own enjoyment, visitors (including Professional Photographers without clients) are welcome to take in-the-moment photographs of plants, individuals and subjects that capture the events of your visit. These are informal photographs shot spontaneously and quickly without artistic intent. Guests should still observe our General Photography Policies listed below. You may share your photos of our lavender farm on social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We would love to be tagged!

DEFINITION OF PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

Lavender Oaks Farm defines portrait photography as all wedding, engagement, quinceañera, family, maternity, portfolio, prom, graduation, and any other posed portraiture of individuals by professional photographers, as well as semi-pro, pro-am or amateur photographers, whether paid or unpaid. Lavender Oaks Farm reserves the right to further define Portrait Photography on a case-by-case basis.

LAVENDER OAKS FARM WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS

All Professional Photographers hired to photograph a wedding and/or reception held at Lavender Oaks Farm are not required to purchase a permit for the date of their event, or any engagement photo shoots included in their wedding package. Please email us to schedule your engagement photography sessions. Lavender Oaks Farm does request a link to all digital files be provided of all wedding photography shot on our farm. Lavender Oaks Farm will always provide (tag) full credit to the photographer for all images used in our advertising and social media.

DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY

Lavender Oaks Farm defines commercial photography as styled fashion shoots, advertisement and promotion by Commercial Photographers and Videographers. All commercial photo shoot information must be submitted in advance to Lavender Oaks Farm for approval. Lavender Oaks Farm reserves the right to further define Commercial Photography on a case-by-case basis. Artists seeking to make independent films must also contact us for approval in advance. For commercial and independent video requests, please email us at info@lavenderoaks.farm. Please note that drone photography is not permitted, unless previously approved by Lavender Oaks Farm for a wedding or special event.

ALL PORTRAIT AND COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY SCHEDULING

All portrait photography must be approved and scheduled in advance, and the following information must be provided with your request and emailed to: info@lavenderoaks.farm:

1. Name, Email, and Phone Number of Subject(s)2. Time and Date Request of Session3. Are you requesting “Sunrise or Golden Hour?”4. Purpose of Session (engagement, senior portraits, family, other?)5. Business Name/Address, Personal Name, Email, and Phone Number of

Photographer6. Website URL, or Social Media site of Photographer

Once we receive your request, you will be contacted by Lavender Oaks Farm for payment of your permit. Please note that we prefer that the photographer reserves the session. Photographers who do not pre-schedule may be approached by staff members during their photo session regarding scheduling and payment.

Portrait mini-sessions: In order to fulfill our mission regarding a positive visitor experience, Lavender Oaks Farm prohibits photographers from scheduling mini-sessions, unless prior permission has been granted.

Reservations and Permit: Please note that payment must be made in advance to reserve your session. Reservations are approved and accepted seasonally, and depend on previously scheduled farm events, or private events. Photographers that arrive to our farm without a reservation will be asked to fill out our reservation form and may or may not be granted access to photograph our farm dependent on current farm activities, events, time of day, and visitors currently on our land.

Artists and Nature Photographers:

When visiting on their own, artists and nature photographers need not register. But they must adhere to the guidelines listed below, avoiding damage to plants and disruption of other visitors or Lavender Oaks Farm activities.

Artists or nature photographers seeking to bring a class for a field trip to Lavender Oaks Farm, or photo clubs seeking to visit, must register their groups in advance. Such groups may be asked to restrict their activities to certain locations on our farm depending on the time of year, hours of operation, previously scheduled farm events, and the size of the group.

The image, logo and name of Lavender Oaks Farm may not be used by outside parties without permission. If you plan to show or sell your work, please provide location credit.

PRICING & HOW TO RESERVE YOUR DATE

Please email us at info@lavenderoaks.farm to request a photo session date with the required information listed above. Confirmation for your session date will be emailed with an online invoice via Square. All payments will be due upon receipt.

RESERVED 2-HOUR "OUTDOOR" SESSION PERMIT** (NO MINI-SESSIONS!)

$75: 1-6 people in off season (December to early May) $100: 1-6 people in lavender season & fall season (mid-May through November) Please contact us for rates for groups of 7 to 15 people (No mini-sessions) SUNRISE OR GOLDEN HOUR PHOTO SHOOT Between 8 and 10 a.m. or 5 and 8 p.m.: additional $50 surcharge.

**One Session Permits (both reserved and non-reserved) are good for ONE photography session, with a maximum 2-hour time limit. If shorter than 2 hours, pro-rating does not apply. This is for outside use only and does not include indoor photography of our main historic barn.

Wardrobe Changes: Will you need a dressing room? Our Main Barn with our Bridal Suite and restrooms remains locked outside of hours of operation.

Restrooms Only unlocked during off hours: NO CHARGE

Bridal Suite & Restrooms unlocked during off hours: $75

INDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY OF OUR MAIN HISTORIC BARN:

WITH OUTDOOR PERMIT: Additional $75

WITHOUT OUTDOOR PERMIT: $150 (Does not include lavender fields or any outdoor farm area!

NON-RESERVED 2-HOUR SESSION PERMIT

Walkup sessions with no reservation: No guarantee of availability!

$100: 1-6 people in off season (December to early May) $125: 1-6 people in lavender season & fall season (mid-May through November) $225: Groups of 7-15 people (No mini-sessions)

GOLF CART RENTAL WITH DRIVER FOR PHOTO SHOOT

Beautiful photo opportunities abound at Lavender Oaks Farm To help you take advantage of as many of these opportunities as possible, we offer a 6-seater golf cart ride for photo shoots. Our driver will transport clients to prearranged farm locations to capture your perfect picture.

GOLF CART RENTAL GUIDELINES

• Golf cart rental service is offered first come, first serve based on availability, and weather-permitting. Reservations are held with advance payment only and must be made 2 weeks prior to your photo shoot, based on availability.

• Rental fee is $50 for 2 hours, and $25 for each additional 30-minute increment.

• A maximum of 5 passengers may accompany the driver.

• All passengers must be seated with a seatbelt. No children may ride on an adult’s lap, and children’s car seats are not permitted.

• No pets are permitted, with the exception of service dogs.

FREE PHOTOGRAPHY PERMITS FOR ACTIVE MILITARY AND FAMILIES

Lavender Oaks Farm offers free photography permits to all active military and their families. Please schedule your photo shoot and include the required information above to: info@lavenderoaks.farm.

STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHER DISCOUNT

Individual student (high school, college or university) photographers with valid IDs are subject to the same guidelines that apply to portrait and commercial photography. They must also schedule in advance, and the fee is $10 year-round. Please include a photo of your current Student ID with your email request.

PARKING: All vehicles must adhere to our speed limit of 10 mph when entering or leaving our farm and all vehicles must park and remain in our upper parking lot during your entire visit. No vehicles may drive around our farm to various location sites. Prior permission must be received to drop off passengers, and unload equipment at our Main Barn.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Lavender Oaks Farm and its facilities are subject to weather variations and temporary closures. We will attempt to reschedule should a session need to be canceled, but there will be no refunds. Shooting dates may be adjusted in the event of inclement weather; any changes must be agreed upon by Lavender Oaks Farm. We do try to post closings for inclement weather on our Social Media and Website and will notify any Photographers as soon as possible as to any closings.

OLD MACDONALD’S FARM RULES/GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHY POLICIES

Lavender Oaks Farm may photograph visitors and program participants on occasion for Farm-related promotional purposes. By entering Lavender Oaks Farm, visitors are granting their permission to be included in such photographs. Lavender Oaks Farm never publishes or posts any photographs of minors without prior consent from their parents/guardians.

Lavender Oaks Farm maintains a no-smoking policy.

No pets allowed! We love our furry friends, but please leave all dogs, cats, and other pets at home. No pets may be brought to Lavender Oaks Farm for photographs, unless previously arranged for a wedding or special event. All Guide Dogs are welcome on our Farm!

Balloons, kites and flying lanterns are prohibited. Please contact us for the full list of props and items that are prohibited.

No glitter, confetti, rose petals (real or fake), or other items to be “tossed in the air” may be brought to our Farm.

Drone photography is not permitted, in order to ensure our visitors' safety and privacy.

Moving or removing plants (inside or out) or structures that are part of the Farm—such as benches, containers, displays, plant signs, fences, etc.—is strictly prohibited.

No photographers, assistants or subjects may step in flower beds, on top of our lavender rows and the white weed fabric lining our raised lavender beds, hang from our timber frame barn beams, climb on our rock wall, or venture off our designated paths. Climbing or mounting equipment in trees or on buildings is not permitted.

All photo subjects must be fully and appropriately clothed. Swimsuit photo shoots are not permitted.

All cords or wires must be placed and guarded (NOT TAPED!) in a way that doesn’t alter the pathways and put visitors at risk. Permission must be received before plugging in ANY equipment to ANY of our electrical outlets!

Photographers will be held accountable for their actions and those of clients, crew members and subjects if they damage Lavender Oaks Farm facilities and property.

RELATED RULES

Clients must arrive camera-ready, as there are no dressing room facilities, unless previously arranged. Please do not use our public restrooms for wardrobe changes without prior permission from Lavender Oaks Farm.

Present your permit to our staff inside our Lavender Oaks Farm Shoppe immediately upon arrival.

Set up your shoot in a manner that does not impact visitors or disrupt events and maintenance.

Thank you and we look forward to welcoming you to our farm!

QUESTIONS: info@lavenderoaks.farm 919-909-7417