The Best Wedding Photography Contract in the Business

With John Mireles

[Editor's note: One of our goals at WPPI is to keep photographers informed, and one topic we often receive questions about is contracts. This June, Rangefinder/WPPI executive editor Bill Hurter met with John Mireles of Ventana Photography in San Diego, CA. John is a veteran wedding photographer and author of The Photographer's Contract. If you shoot weddings, it's certainly worth checking out.]

Most wedding photography contracts are either hand-me downs randomly collected off the net or purchased from a website that sells divorce forms alongside their photography contracts. Now photographers can rely on The Photo Contract, a specialized wedding photography contract written by high-end wedding photographer and business expert John Mireles. The Photo Contract is unique in that its clauses have been developed in response to many years of real-world wedding situations. Plus, each of its terms has been finely honed by a business attorney specialist so that they pass legal muster.

The Photo Contract includes clauses for:

• Limits of liability in case something goes wrong
• Failure to deliver images from the wedding
• Payment schedule and retainers
• Postponements, Cancellations and Liquidated Damages
• Client cooperation and undelivered work
• Image ownership
• Model Releases
• Dangerous Conditions
• Exclusive Photographer
• Jurisdiction
• And more...

All buyers of The Photo Contract also receive a free newsletter that addresses real-world client issues and suggested business practices that can be used along with the contract to keep wedding clients on the path of happiness. A great contract doesn't just protect the parties once they get into trouble; more importantly, it effectively manages expectations so that trouble can be avoided in the first place.

More information and purchase links may be found at www.thephotocontract.com. The version for sole proprietors sells for $49, and another version for corporations and limited liability companies sells for $59. The Photo Contract comes ready to use as a PDF, however, the terms and conditions may also be pasted into the program of the photographer's choosing.