Contracts are an essential part of business and photography businesses are no exception.

Anytime you do work for a client, you need to have a written contract. Verbal contracts and handshake agreements are not sufficient, you need a signed, written contract before you undertake work for a client. If you are a working photographer, the key word is working. You are a business and it’s to your benefit that you act like it. If you want to be taken as a serious and professional business owner, written contracts are mandatory and indeed, most clients will expect to use them.

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Making a living as a photographer isn’t easy, and there are more and more people seeking to move into the field every day. For long term success, it’s important that you are professional in everything you do. I’ve often heard it said that the most successful photographers are the ones who are the best at the business side of things and I see no reason to doubt that. When you dot the i’s and cross the t’s in the business sense, you’ll appear to the client as a professional. With that comes the impression of reliability and experience.

A well written contract allows everything to be understood by all parties, and reduces confusion, misunderstandings and incorrect assumptions. The client knows exactly what you are going to provide them and you know exactly what the client expects. Equally, a contract can state what is not expected. An example of this may be exclusivity clauses or the lack thereof.

You’ll undoubtedly find that negotiation is required. You, the photographer, will have one type of contract and your client will have another. Where possible, submit your contract to the client first. Doing so will mean the negotiations are based on it, and it’s to your benefit to negotiate something that your are intimately familiar with rather than the client’s version which you won’t know so well. This is particularly important when the work is being shot in one jurisdiction and the client is based in another.

Most of the work I shoot is editorial in nature, and my contracts always contain a few key points that must be signed and agreed to before work can commence. These include things like usage terms, payment due dates, expenses and terms and conditions. Each field of photography will have different needs and require different contracts. Before you draw up a contract template, consult a lawyer or business adviser in your area.

Contracts are not just necessary for paid work. Sometimes you may find yourself doing a pro-bono job for a client. A contract is just as necessary here when money isn’t changing hands as it is for a big budget commercial job.

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