The Client Book · Edition One
Contracts
Four photography contracts: a portrait session, a wedding or event, an image usage license, and a print release the client keeps. Open the Word file, fill every bracket, sign it on the day.
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Contract 01: the retainer.
This is the retainer exactly as it appears in the Portrait Session Agreement. The wedding contract carries the same clause against the coverage fee. Fill the brackets, delete what you do not use.
3. Fees and payment
Session fee: [AMOUNT], due on or before [DATE / THE SESSION DATE].
Retainer due at signing: [AMOUNT]. The retainer reserves the date. It is earned when this agreement is signed. It pays the Photographer for holding the date and turning other work away. It is not a prepayment of the session fee, and it is not credited against the session fee.
The date is not reserved until the signed agreement and the retainer are both received.
4. If the Client cancels or reschedules
• Rescheduling more than [NUMBER] days before the session: one new date at no charge, subject to availability, within [NUMBER] months. The retainer stays with the booking.
• Cancelling more than [NUMBER] days before the session: the Photographer keeps the retainer, to the extent the law allows. The session fee is not owed.
• Cancelling within [NUMBER] days of the session, or not arriving: the Photographer keeps the retainer, and [NONE / A STATED AMOUNT] of the session fee is owed, because the date can rarely be rebooked that late.
The retainer is kept because the Photographer turned other work away to hold this date. If the Photographer rebooks that date, the amount kept is reduced by the fee the new client pays for that date. The Photographer does not keep the retainer and also keep a full fee from a new client for the same date. In some states a retained amount must reflect real loss. That is one of the reasons to have this read by a lawyer where you work.
If the Photographer cancels and no new date suits the Client, the retainer is refunded. A retainer is not kept after the Photographer’s own breach.
Most templates call it non-refundable and stop there. This one says what the money is for: holding the date and turning other work away. If you rebook the date, the amount you keep drops by the new client’s fee, because in some states a retained amount has to reflect real loss.
Which contract do I need?
Find what you are about to shoot or sell. Open the contract beside it.
The Studio Bundle
Emails, releases and contracts in one download.
Twenty emails, eleven releases and four contracts. $45 against $57 bought separately.
Questions
What do I get?
The four contracts as a PDF in US Letter and A4, editable Word copies of all four, together and one file each, a printable one-page guide to which contract you need, and a plain-English license.
How do I fill them in?
Open the Word file, fill every bracket, delete what you do not use, and save it under the client’s name. The PDF is the same text, laid out to read and to print.
Is a retainer the same as a deposit?
No. A deposit is part of the fee and comes off the total, the way email 03 in The Client Book: Emails describes it. A retainer pays for holding the date and is not credited against the fee. Use one or the other, and make sure your email and your contract say the same thing.
Is this legal advice?
No. These contracts are a starting point, not legal advice, and neither the author nor Sterling Grey Studio is your lawyer. Deposit rules, cancellation terms, minors and consumer contracts vary by state and country. Have a lawyer in your own state read them once before you rely on them. That single review costs less than one dispute. Carry liability insurance; these contracts do not set an amount and are not a substitute for a policy.
How was this made?
I built The Client Book with AI assistance and edited, directed and approved every line. I chose the emails, the releases and the clauses because they are the ones photographers get stuck on. Nothing here is legal advice.
Do I get updates?
Register your copy and every addition and correction to Edition One comes to you free. There is no newsletter to escape from.
How do I pay?
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