As a photographer, you should know your rights. And set the rules and conditions of any photographic job under the agreements. This is where your photography contract comes into play. We want to trust our clients. But sometimes, misunderstandings appear, and everything gets confused.
Don’t forget how essential contracts are for photographers. Read on to get the help you need to cover all bases.
What Do You Need a Photography Contract For?
There are several reasons for entering into a legal contract with your clients. First, this is a misunderstanding, which we have already mentioned. These are usually simple mistakes, but they can still cause headaches and loss of profit.
Contracts also lay the foundation for a legitimate and professional business transaction. Your clients will take the process more seriously. And they will know that there are clear terms and consequences. It also strengthens your image as a business owner if you have an established process in place for them.
Finally, having a photography contract builds trust between you and the client. No surprises, and the customer knows exactly what to expect!
How To Write a Photography Contract?
It can be challenging to know where to start if you don’t know how to draft a photography contract template.
There are many templates of photography contracts online to fill in. These photography contract templates can be a good starting point. Especially if you do not yet have the funds to hire a lawyer to conclude such contracts. However, once you can invest in a lawyer’s time, I recommend doing so. Having a lawyer review your photography contracts ensures they are legally binding documents.
What Should Photography Contracts Include?
You can modify a free template or create your own photography agreement. You can also use a professional and ready-to-use photography agreement template with the help of a solution such as PDFliner. Whichever option you choose, here are 8 points you should include anyway.
1. Extra Fees
You must include a section or more about any possible additional fees. Add these to the amount shown for items outside your regular services.
It can be tolls or serious manipulations in editing. Permit fees for film locations state here as well. You can also mention extended shooting times or delayed payments.
2. Post-Production and Editing
This topic is slightly related to use rights. It’s about how clients can use your images. And whether they can apply any further changes to them. Most photographers want to have complete control over the look of their final photos. This is a direct reflection of your brand. In addition, editing delivered photos is often not allowed.
This section also mentions changes you include in your services. For example, you can perform color balancing and basic edits. But major manipulations can be for extra fees. This includes replacing the head or removing objects in the background.
3. Force majeure Circumstances
It explains what happens in case of difficulties. Or the inability to do work because of things beyond your control. This may include injury, illness, natural disasters, or the loss of digital files.
This section will state what you agree to do in these instances and what the client can expect to receive. Often this will include the return of the fee to the client. Or find a suitable replacement photographer at the last minute.
4. Copyright Ownership and Transfer of Use Rights
This is an important section because it can be of great value in the future if a dispute arises.
You’ll want to keep the copyright and give your client the right to use it. This means you own the photo, but they have your permission to use it.
You can grant usage rights for a fixed period, as is usually for commercial work or life. For personal photos, use rights are granted for life. These are wedding or boudoir photography, portraits, family photos, and others. This is because your clients are not using photos to make money.
5. Payment Schedule
When discussing deposits and advances, you should specify how and when you expect payments. In most cases, when booking, a fee is included in the standard package. For significant works, there may be several payments at different stages of the process.
In addition, do not forget to mention what will happen if payments are rejected or if they are not made on time. This will save you from misunderstanding or delay.
6. Cancellation Policy
This is where you tell your client how and when they can cancel the photography, as well as what fees they should expect. Be sure to mention what you are responsible for if your client cancels.
For example, do they make a deposit and then return part of it? Or is it a non-refundable advance? Think about possible scenarios that could happen to make sure you cover all aspects of the job cancellation process.
7. Summary of What Each Side Will Get
This is the essence of the photography contract. It sums up what each side will get. Enter here the financial amount for the client, as well as what you will provide in exchange for this payment.
It’s also the perfect place to take stock of the date, time, and location for a one-time job. For an ongoing project with a general photography contract, you will not be able to include this information. Each shoot will be slightly different.
8. Contact Information and Names for Clients and Your Business
This may seem obvious. But having full names and contact information for both parties is critical. We live in an era where people negotiate with each other via calls or direct messages on Instagram.
If something happens and you need to contact your client for legal purposes, you must provide the full name and address. It also clarifies if you are signing as a legal entity and not as an individual. This applies to those who have not structured their photography business as a sole proprietorship.
Final Words
As with legal documents, consult with a lawyer as soon as possible. In this way, you can be sure that the wording is legally binding in case of any problems. Finally, as with any document, don’t forget about putting in signatures before starting a project.
