How to Start a Photography Business: PART II - Contracts & Getting PAID

In Part I of the How to Start a Photography Business series, we talked about setting up your business including all the annoying business admin stuff, as well as figuring out what to charge. In Part II I want to talk about contracts and getting PAID aka the most important part of running a successful freelance photography business! Let's dive in.

I learned the hard way, more than once, that you can never be too careful when it comes to getting paid and protecting yourself. I had two situations where a client refused to pay (and many more where I had to reference the contract to limit the hours, delivery quantities, and just limits of my responsibility in general).

The first one was a long time ago, when I was starting out and this was a client I knew and trusted, so I didn't collect a deposit, nor I had a contract because it was a small shoot. She decided to not use the images in the end, and told me she wasn’t going to pay…. I explained that my work was done, and payment is required not based on use, but on work done. I ended up getting paid (she was a real estate agent who worked in the same office as someone I knew, and when she realized that her manager knew what she had done, she couldn’t get away with such distasteful behaviour and paid up) but that’s when I learned that no matter what, you always need a contract or some form of agreement explaining the most basic terms of the job, because you never really know.

The second situation was more recent, and it was with an international client. We had a contract, and a list of emails back and forth to prove the work relationship. It took me a whole year to get paid, as they changed management and ignored my communication for 9 months. I eventually had to publicly shame them on social media to get their attention, and once they saw the email proof and the contract, they made the payment. That agreement saved me - this is why you need photography contracts for all of your jobs.

Look, ideally, I would suggest talking to a lawyer, or if you have a lawyer friend, get them to draw a simple contract for you stating the basics of the agreement and leaving room to fill in the name of the client, specifics of the shoot, and payment, but if you are not there yet, just a simple agreement template online will do the job.

Honestly, just something to protect you. Your photography contracts should have a limitation of liability, a “what if I can't make it” clause, a note on the deposit being non-refundable, a description of the service you are providing, client rights, and photographer rights. Most often than not, just having this is enough peace of mind. It is important to also keep any client communication recorded via email, if possible. If I have a phone call, or a whats app convo with a client, I usually send a follow-up email reviewing the things we covered. Like I said, you just want to have written proof of the agreement.

And most importantly… let's talk about getting paid!

First things first. Deposits. I try to always get a 50% deposit with any booking. This guarantees them that I am holding the date and I am available just for them, and it guarantees me that the client won't change their mind and I'll lose the job or the possibility to book someone else.

With commercial clients, it's a little tougher to get deposits, so usually, I ask for a PO (purchase order number) and I create an invoice.

Most importantly of all: NEVER EVER DELIVER FINAL IMAGES WITHOUT GETTING PAID FIRST. Period. No exceptions. This is the only way you can protect your business.

Once you deliver your final images, there is nothing holding your client accountable. Look, I am not someone to mistrust humans or think the worst, but I've seen it all. From friends, from trustworthy clients, from the nicest strangers… at the end of the day, no one is gonna protect you but you. So never finish the job before getting paid. You will thank me for this advice one day, I promise you.

For commercial clients who have a longer payment cycle, and are simply unable to pay me as fast as they need the images delivered (often this is the case with advertising agencies), I simply ask for some form of “payment on the way” confirmation, before I release images. As long as I have a contract signed, and proof of payment being processed, I can go ahead and deliver images.

This brings me to the next point. Getting paid should be easy for you and your clients. You should have many options for your clients to pay you, so you arent left waiting longer than you should. Because your business isn't just taking nice photos, it's being a professional in every way. From how you show up to a shoot and interact with people, to how you handle payments and invoicing. Be the business boss your clients deserve. For my Canadian clients, I have direct e-transfer available as well as cheques. For my international clients, I have credit card payments, wire transfer, Square, and as a last resource, although the easiest, PayPal as well. Lots of these options have a cost, and sometimes you can build it into your client's bill, but at the end of the day, it's the cost of being in business, and if you need to pay a 3% fee to get paid, so be it.