What's Your Backup? Before you head out the door to photograph a wedding, there’s a few things you’ll need: cameras, lenses, good shoes and plenty of backup. The best backup you can have though isn’t just an extra camera or CF cards; it’s a well-written contract that helps to protect your interests, manages client expectations, and spells out what happens if the unexpected should happen. Although hiring an attorney to prepare a wedding photography contract can cost a lot of money, for less than the price of a CF card, you can purchase "the best set of terms and conditions in the industry." (July 2007 WPPI Newsletter) But There are Plenty of Free Contracts Posted on the Internet! Of course there are. We've seen a lot of homemade specials posted online and passed around on forums. They tend to be amateurish and missing even basic protections. A contract that hasn’t been reviewed by a skilled legal professional can be worse than none at all: You may think you’re covered when you’re not. It's not enough to have just any contract, you need one that does the tough business of setting customer expectations and protecting each party's rights.  
 You Wouldn't Shoot a Wedding with a Stranger's Camera So why would you rely on a contract of unknown provenance to protect your business? The Contract's primary author, John Mireles, has 15 years of photography business experience. Prior to that, he handled commercial litigation for a national insurance company. In addition, attorney Joan Walsh, senior partner for the business law firm of Foster & Walsh, has reviewed and modified each provision of The Contract to ensure that it's enforceable and compliant with the law. Mistakes are Beautiful Well, they weren't beautiful when they happened to us, but they're great for you because The Wedding Photography Contract incorporates the lessons learned from 27 years worth of combined photography business experience. We've written each clause to specifically address real-world situations that you're likely to face as a professional wedding photographer.    - Limits of liability in case something goes wrong - Failure to deliver images from the wedding - Payment schedule and retainers - Postponements, Cancellations and Liquidated Damages - Client cooperation and undelivered work - Image ownership - Model Releases - Dangerous Conditions - Exclusive Photographer - Jurisdiction - And more...   Your Choice: Ready-to-Use or Customize as You Like The Wedding Photography Contract download includes ready-to-use MS Word and PDF forms that you can either fill out on your computer or print out and fill out by hand. You can also modify the content  and layout or copy and paste the text into your own database or text editing program.   The terms may be easily modified to meet the needs of your business and the legal requirements of your country, state or municipality. Click to Purchase http://www.wppionline.com/newsletter/Jul07/studio-and-screen.tmlhttp://www.fosterwalsh.com/Contracts.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2