A common practice of professional photographers is to condition their work upon a set of Terms and Conditions. This is not new or unusual. Virtually all businesses have some sort of terms and conditions that govern their customer transactions.
For some businesses, their terms and conditions might be very simple: “Cash only. No refunds.”
But for some other businesses, their terms and conditions require both a microscope and a law degree to read and understand. For example, look at an insurance policy or cell phone contract. My cell phone contract is ten pages(!!) of eight-point type.
The purpose of a Terms and Conditions is to inform the photography client about such things as copyright ownership, picture usage, cancellation and postponement policies, reshoot policy, terms of payment and anything else that may apply to the particular job at hand.
A professional photographer will always include their applicable Terms and Conditions with every estimate and invoice.
While no one is endeared by having to read pages of “fine print”, it’s important for clients to understand the terms of doing business with a professional photographer. If you have any questions about any terms and conditions, just ask your photographer.
