Ownership of photographs

My jurisdiction is: Texas

My jurisdiction is: Texas

I am a professional photographer who has been in business less than one year. What I want to know is who actually owns the photos that I take? Many of the photographs that I take I would love to use on my website or in my portfolio, however, I do not want to run into any problems with the posting of these pictures if I am required to have a written release.
I often take photos at events, ie: childrens birthday parties, school functions, public events etc. which often times is impossible to get releases, but I need to know what the law is so I can proceed properly.
If you feel that I need to list this under a different catagory, please advise. This is my first posting. Thank you

I am a photographer, as well. The photographer is the owner of the photographs that he/she takes, regardless the venue, subject matter, etc. You are offering them a service by taking their photographs. They then have the option whether to purchase a material good from you in the for of those photographs. At all times, YOU - the photographer - maintains copyright control of the photographs you take.

You may wish to seek a second opinion from an attorney, but that is the law as I understand it.

Best of luck!

While the advice is well intentioned, I'd be very, very careful as to posting photos without a proper release. Additionally, you mentioned a host of different types of events - public parties as well as private parties where it is quite clear that the expectations of the host of his child's 4th birthday might not include any "implied release and right" to a photographer to keep private photos for the photographer's use. Additionally, when you're at a 'public event' the property is owned by someone and that someone may claim that your being on the premises means that ownership of any of the proceeds belongs to them. As you can see, it's more complicated and most people would and should have the right to say that they don't want their image exploited by anyone with a camera and the ability to take their picture. Also note the right to privacy laws that exist in several states to deal with issues like this as well.