A contract isn’t about expecting the worst. It’s about making sure you and your client picture the same thing. Every rough job I’ve heard about came down to something nobody wrote down. Here’s what belongs in yours.
One note first: I’m a photographer, not a lawyer. This is what the contract should cover. Have a lawyer in your state look over your final wording, once, and you’ll use it for years.
The basics
- Who: you, your business name, and the client. For a company, the company name and who signs for it.
- What and when: the type of shoot, the date, the location, and how long you’re there.
- What they get: how many edited images, in what format, and how they’re delivered.
- When they get it: your turnaround time, and when it starts (for example, once they submit their selections).
Money
- The total, and what’s included. Session, retouching, travel, and anything extra.
- The deposit or retainer. How much, when it’s due, and whether it’s refundable. Most photographers make it non-refundable because it holds the date.
- The balance. When it’s due, often before final delivery.
- Late fees, if you charge them. The amount and when they apply. A late fee your client never agreed to in writing is one you shouldn’t charge.
- Extras. The price for additional retouches, rush delivery, or extra hours.
Cancellations and reschedules
Say what happens if they cancel, if they reschedule, and if you can’t make it because you’re sick or there’s an emergency. Spell out how much notice is needed and what happens to the deposit in each case.
Who owns the photos, and how they can use them
This is the section new photographers skip and later regret. In most cases you keep the copyright and give the client a license to use the photos.
- Personal use: prints, sharing with family, personal social media.
- Commercial use: websites, ads, packaging, and press, which is usually priced higher and spelled out in an image usage license.
- Your use: whether you can post the photos in your portfolio and on social.
- Editing and AI: whether they can alter the images or use them to train AI.
Releases
If someone recognizable will appear in photos you use commercially, you’ll want a model release. For property and products, there are image and property releases. Keep these as separate, short documents.
The fine print that saves you
- Limit of liability: if something goes wrong, what you owe is capped, usually at what they paid.
- Creative control: you choose the shots and the edit style.
- Raw files: whether you deliver them (most photographers don’t).
- How long you keep files: so nobody expects a copy five years later.
Get it signed before the shoot
No signature, no shoot. Send the contract with the deposit invoice right when they book, and make sure everyone who needs to sign has, like both people in a couple or the person at a company who can approve it.
How I do it in Edit
Edit has twelve templates to start from, including portrait, wedding, event, product and commercial, an image usage license, model and image releases, and AI use restrictions. I tailor the wording once, send it from the project, and every signer signs online with a permanent signing record.