Big (+) on the subject line of writing a contract. Save yourself the headache or arguing about what you did or did not declare will be part of their package! Great write-up!!
You are welcome, this is the one piece of legal advice I am happy to give, pay a legal professional to write your contract. It isn't cheap, but it is just as important as business insurance. They know the difference between a retainer and a deposit (you want to use retainer, tougher to get refunded), and how specifically to word each clause. The best thing to do is look around at examples others have posted, see which clauses you want to use and have it rewritten by a lawyer.
You want to cover your ass from acts of dog (weather, illness, nuclear war etc), you want a sole shooter clause, also a feed and water me clause, a drunk guests cause, some kind of definition of non performance \ arbiter of quality clause, terms for cancellation, terms for renegotiating deliverables, model release, that kind of stuff. Theres loads more but that should get you going. I'm sure others can add what Ive missed lol.
(Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and I do not play one on TV. I'm also not a wedding shooter. Most of my musical work, however, is on a contract basis so I have seen one or two agreements in my time, and have had to negotiate contract-for-services on my own behalf.)
One thing to remember: even "casual" emails can be legally binding. It won't CYA for a big, formal, really-needs-a-lawayer-written-contract situation, but if you're a first-time, one-time wedding shooter undertaking something for free for a friend-who-wouldn't-have-pictures-otherwise, keeping the exchange about what's to be expected and what isn't in writing (rather than phone calls) would be a really good idea. Also, given some of the threads I've seen about "free" weddings in those situations, it might be worth explicitly stipulating something about the prints (ie are they included in the "free"? Are you passing on a disk only, or are you expecting people to purchase prints from your SM account? If so, will it be at cost or at a markup? etc) and also about posting rights (ie can the photog freely post/share/print/publish the shots?). Yes, these are things best drawn up by a lawyer, but I can imagine scenarios where a lawyer-contract just isn't going to happen, so folks have to think these things through for themselves.
Also (and this comes up ALL THE TIME for singers, who are frequently asked to contribute their time and talent to the weddings of friends and relatives without compensation, so I can just substitue the word "photographer" and have it be the same situation ): if you are going to do a shoot for free, offer it to the couple as a "wedding gift" and spell this out.Explicitly. Conversely, (musician) photographer should not be offended when the couple DON'T offer to pay, since it has been presented as a gift. This is, in my experience, the most tactful way around the "will you sing/take pictures at my wedding" scenario. Either you do it as a professional at full-rate, or you offer it as your *personal gift* to the couple. Other scenarios almost-invariably seem to lead to hurt feelings.
Comments
Big (+) on the subject line of writing a contract. Save yourself the headache or arguing about what you did or did not declare will be part of their package! Great write-up!!
~A
Would you be so kind to share what you use?
One thing to remember: even "casual" emails can be legally binding. It won't CYA for a big, formal, really-needs-a-lawayer-written-contract situation, but if you're a first-time, one-time wedding shooter undertaking something for free for a friend-who-wouldn't-have-pictures-otherwise, keeping the exchange about what's to be expected and what isn't in writing (rather than phone calls) would be a really good idea. Also, given some of the threads I've seen about "free" weddings in those situations, it might be worth explicitly stipulating something about the prints (ie are they included in the "free"? Are you passing on a disk only, or are you expecting people to purchase prints from your SM account? If so, will it be at cost or at a markup? etc) and also about posting rights (ie can the photog freely post/share/print/publish the shots?). Yes, these are things best drawn up by a lawyer, but I can imagine scenarios where a lawyer-contract just isn't going to happen, so folks have to think these things through for themselves.
Also (and this comes up ALL THE TIME for singers, who are frequently asked to contribute their time and talent to the weddings of friends and relatives without compensation, so I can just substitue the word "photographer" and have it be the same situation