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faqs sections THE FORMAL STUFF HOW DO I COMMISSION
YOU?
There is a minimum deposit to pay which secures the commission for your day. Until the deposit is received, it is at my discretion (depending on work coming in) whether to hold the date open for you and for how long. Once the deposit is paid, the date is reserved exclusively for you. The prices which apply are those at the time of commission, not at the date of your wedding. If I decide to restructure my pricing to keep pace with inflation and other market forces, this will not affect you if you have already commissioned me through the payment of the deposit. Part of the initial service is a portfolio visit to your home, which I would commend to you before commissioning me. The appointment of a wedding photographer tends to be a very personal decision and this would enable you to meet me and talk through your preferences and requirements before you make a decision. Within an approximate radius of 100 miles from London, this is free and without any obligation. If you do commission me through payment of the deposit, there is a minimum period of 4 hours within the South East of England and 5 hours elsewhere. Beyond that, the position is flexible and there is no need to decide at this early stage how long you would wish to me to attend. I do not take on any other work on a client's wedding day, so you can format my attendance later, if you wish. If, for instance, you are thinking of 7 or 8 hours, you can decide when you have fixed other wedding arrangements closer to the date and have a better idea of what you would like to have covered. Yes, provided that you ask for it in writing before a period of 90 calendar days prior to the date of your wedding. Unless there is a failure on my part, a 20% administration charge will be deducted before the balance is returned to you. Within 90 calendar days of your wedding, the deposit is not returnable at all if you seek to cancel the commission. This period applies because the payment of the deposit takes my services off the market exclusively for your wedding and I turn other work away. As people tend to book photographers well in advance, it is unlikely that I would receive another commission close to any given date, so the deposit also acts as compensation in the event that commissioned work is lost through no fault of my own.
The balance of the fee is due in full after your wedding, on the date I deliver the prints to you. This is usually around two weeks after your wedding or, if you go on honeymoon, when you return, whichever is the later. You can defray the end cost voluntarily in your own interests by paying more than the deposit or via instalments in advance, if you wish, but I do not require this. My position is that you should not have to pay for photography (beyond the deposit) until you have received it and approved it. In return, please take into account the fact that this places the balance of my fee right at the end of the payment process. As soon as the deposit is paid and the commission is secure, I can send you an agreement immediately, unless you wish to think further about how long you would wish me to attend. A written agreement is encouraged at some point before your wedding but not necessarily on payment of the deposit. Also, we can complete a brief together nearer your wedding day. The agreement is the standard document containing all the protective clauses for both of us in the context of wedding photography generally (a sample is enclosed in the information pack). The brief is where you specify your preferences and instructions for me to follow on the day photographically. So, the agreement is fixed but the brief is variable. Both documents together detail all the arrangements between us. Under the fixed agreement, I undertake, amongst many other things, to hold and maintain business insurance, including public liability and professional indemnity cover, and to make all reasonable efforts to secure for you a stand-in photographer if unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances prevent my attendance (see the next item). In the event of a failure of film and/or processing preventing me from reaching the guaranteed minimum of prints, deductions are negotiable depending on the severity of the failure. In a worst case scenario where no prints are available, this would constitute a complete failure of the service and all funds already paid to me, including the deposit in full, would be returned to you. None of this affects your statutory rights in any way, including the pursuit of compensation. The variable brief is left to around a month or so before the wedding because there are often so many personal arrangements for you to make which affect its content. Items covered include timings, locations I have to attend, contact details for the Best Man (if appropriate) and the person conducting the service, 'must have' group shots, etc. In effect, it is your specification to me for my employment as your photographer. Some people are anxious about formal paperwork. If you wish to avoid an agreement, then this is acceptable to me, as many photographers operate without one. However, until you advise me otherwise, my default position is that it is sensible to have a written understanding between us. The agreement can be amended if you are concerned about any of its terms. Any worries which may be in your mind would apply to any photographer you appoint or to any other supplier or person associated with your wedding. The likelihood of some sort of difficulty happening is not special to me in any way at all. However, I hope the information above helps to settle your concerns in my case. Please note the stand-by arrangements in the next item.
I liaise closely with two other good photographers who are also personal friends. One is based in London and the other in Whitstable, Kent. We have a practice of being on stand-by for each other and we maintain emergency contact details in our diaries for each others' clients. This is a firm arrangement which offers more back-up than most large studios. Since it was started in 2000, we have never had to use the arrangement, nor has it ever been the case to date that any one wedding could not be covered by a second photographer under this arrangement, if necessary. You will need to accept that your contact details will be held by these two photographers if you decide to commission me, which is intended to be in your best interests. They will never contact you except in an emergency. We conduct our businesses quite separately, never intrude on each others' clients and do not work as a partnership. In this context, stand-by names are not released by any of us unless a specific request for them is received by a confirmed client, as it is possible that one's business may be lost before commission. If you wish to know who they are, please ask at the time you commission me. I regret that casual enquirers before commission will not be so advised. We all observe this enquiry policy to protect our individual interests. In the unlikely event that this three-way arrangement still cannot provide cover in an emergency, our policy is that one of us will secure an outside photographer for the one who may be unable to attend a wedding and is unable to secure an outside alternative himself. We all have many contacts within the wedding photography world beyond our personal arrangement. We also have a policy of ensuring that the client only pays the fee originally agreed with the commissioned photographer, who will cover any excess expenditure himself arising from his inability to attend a wedding. In other words, the arrangement you have with me would still apply to you should another photographer have to step in.
Yes, you can if you acquire them, which would also include transfer of the copyright. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, ownership and copyright resides with me as the author of the work. I can sell the ownership on to you and relinquish all rights to them myself under a special agreement. I would undoubtedly like to use some of the images for the promotion of my business in my hard copy and web portfolios, so this would be part of the transfer deal.
Unless you acquire the copyright or my written permission if you do not, then no, you should not make copies of prints or download images from the website. It is illegal under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. It is always open to you not to order any reprints, enlargements, etc from me but to acquire the copyright and negatives and oversee extra printing yourself at your leisure. However, I do not make the negatives available for your own printing unless you acquire them.
Yes. For instance, I am from Cumbria and still have family and friends there, so I also have a base near Grange-over-Sands (on the south coast near Kendal). I have attended weddings in Cumbria, Yorkshire, Ireland, etc and I am actively seeking to encourage more clients nationwide. Travel fees apply but they are negotiable and will be favourable. I have been commissioned unseen quite a few times by long-distance clients, so it is always open to you to do the same unseen, if you wish. Otherwise, you should contact me to discuss the practicalities of meeting up for a portfolio viewing and delivering the photographs. Whilst my principal area of operation is the South East of England, this is mostly because people tend to engage fairly local photographers and I live in London. This does not mean my interest is restricted to the South East, nor does it mean that my service is any less just because I have to travel further. In fact, it is always pleasing to have someone commission you from a distance and prefer your work to that of local photographers. I return the compliment by pulling out the stops. back to the top next section (the technical stuff)
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2000/07
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