Photography

1. It depends.

2. It depends.

3. It depends.

4. Generally a boilerplate template is fine. Some people prefer to have an attorney make them up something bespoke, but for someone just starting out, just google "photography contract template".

RE: payments, every job is different and payments will depend on how you want to make your money. I do sports a lot, and those sales are almost entirely online through my web hosting platform that I've set up to take as many payment methods as it will allow for the sake of convenience. When I've shot events, it has depended on the protocol for the people that hired me. Some people want to be sent an invoice and pay via wire transfer, some people want to mail a check, some people will give me cash as I'm about to leave and just trust that I'll deliver what we agreed on. Doesn't matter too much to me as long as I get paid. Deposits are nice, but some people really don't like paying for something until they've seen the finished product. This is where a contract is 100% mandatory because people will screw you if you let them. It's happened to me and it's happened to everyone who does this kind of work for a living.

My only thought is this: If they wish to see the finished product they dont get to see it without a large water mark until you have been paid

1. as many as possible
2. ALWAYS if possible. some larger companies don't do them like fortune 500 companies unless its a very big production and you have the leverage.
3. try to get a deposit to save the shoot date. get paid day of shoot. additional pay for additional edits usage rights etc after shoot and delivered assets. bigger companies will do net 15 net 30 net 60 net 90 but try to keep it down to net 30 unless they are paying like $50,000+
4. chat gpt
5. you also will need a SOW which is a summary of work which is like the contract but a summary without the legal stuff.

I’m a family photographer and this is what I do:

I accept payments through my Pixieset site. Before that I just used Venmo or cash app.

I always always require deposit. They prevent cold feet. I charge 50%

I always get paid before the shoot. I do no take photos without payment in full. Yes editing is work too but, taking the photos is sorta the whole point.

I send my contract also through Pixieset. You could use another method but that’s what works for me.