Photography contract

• You photograph weddings, portraits, birthdays, graduations or small events, and you book clients directly rather than through an agency.
• You take a deposit to hold a date and want the client to see, before paying it, that it is not refunded if they cancel.
• Your price is for a set number of hours, and you want that number written down so overtime is a conversation, not an argument.
• You want a delivery promise you can actually keep — a number of weeks, through an online gallery — instead of “soon”.
• You are the client and the photographer has no paperwork of their own: you can send this to them just as well.

Priya runs a small portrait business. A couple, Jordan Ellis, books her for a backyard engagement party in Sacramento: four hours of coverage for $1,800, with $500 paid upfront to hold the Saturday, and edited photos in an online gallery within three weeks.

The app asks for 11 details in 3 short steps: “Who's involved?”, “Event details”, “Payment & delivery”. The ones worth a moment’s thought:

Hours of Coverage

Coverage hours are where a quote quietly becomes a different job. Writing four hours means the fifth hour is something you offer and price on the day, not something the client assumed was included.

Common mistake: Leaving travel and setup out of the count and then staying an hour longer than you planned. Decide whether the clock starts when you arrive or when the event does, and say which in the notes.

Deposit to Hold the Date

The deposit is what you keep if the client cancels — the contract says so in plain words, and it also says the client gets it back in full if you are the one who cancels. The app will not accept a deposit larger than the total fee.

Common mistake: Taking the deposit before the client has signed. Send the link first; ask for the money once the signed copy exists.

Total Fee

The whole price for the booking. The balance — the fee minus the deposit — is due on the day of the event, which the contract states, so nobody has to bring it up awkwardly at the end of the night.

Photo Delivery (weeks)

A number of weeks is a promise you can plan your editing around, and one the client can hold you to. Pick a figure that still works in your busiest month, not your quietest.

Common mistake: Promising one week in October and then shooting four weddings that weekend.

Business Name

Optional. Fill it in if clients pay your business rather than you personally, so the name on the contract matches the name on the invoice and the payment app.

Before you can save, the app checks: Event date must be on or after the agreement date. Deposit cannot exceed the total fee.

• The client wants to use the photos to sell something — on a product page, in an ad, on a menu. This contract allows personal, non-commercial use only. Commercial use is a license, and it is usually priced separately.
• You plan to use recognizable people from the shoot in your own advertising or sell the images. Showing work in a portfolio and using someone’s face to promote a business are different things; for the second, get a model release from each person.
• You need to settle who owns the copyright. The template does not transfer it, and in the U.S. the photographer is generally the author of the photos unless something in writing says otherwise. If the client expects ownership, that has to be agreed and written down explicitly. U.S. Copyright Office — copyright basics
• The booking covers several days, second shooters, albums or prints with their own prices. Put the package details in the notes, or the record will only show the total.

1. You fill in the template in the Agreely app and sign it first.
2. You send the other person one link — by text, WhatsApp, email, anything.
3. They read the same document in their browser, type or draw their signature, and both of you get the identical signed PDF.

Signatures are captured under the U.S. ESIGN Act and UETA, with a certificate page recording who signed, when, and from which device.

• Model release form

  If you want to use someone from the shoot in your portfolio ads or sell the images, get their permission on a release.

• Simple freelance project agreement

  For commercial or ongoing photo work — product shoots, monthly content — where scope and milestones matter more than an event date.