General Wedding Photography Info

[spencer87]

Hi everyone. I've been thinking about giving wedding photography a shot (pun intended ;) ). I have the equipment and the skills (i think so, at least) but I've been trying to find more information on the 'logistics' of wedding photography. I've seen several threads on here about contracts and terms of payment, but nothing covering the more basic questions, such as: At the end of the day, who owns the pictures? Am I simply selling them prints and retaining the rights to the photos, or do they become full property of the bride and groom? or does it vary based on the situation and contract?

Any advice would be great, or if anyone knows of any good websites or other resources on getting started, that would be amazing. Thanks in advance,

S

[robertwgross]

As a general rule, if you are the photographer, then the copyright is yours, pure and simple.

Now, you and the clients can write up your agreement anyway the two parties want, and if one party does not like it, then they don't sign it. Normally, the agreement spells out that the copyright is yours, but that the clients are entitled to X, Y, and Z. For example, it might state that the clients can purchase all prints from you and that the electronic files are never released by you. Or, it might state that you will furnish all prints compiled into a wedding album for a certain fee. I did a non-wedding where I simply provided all of the JPEG files on a CD-R, and then the client got a signed release from me to print them anyway they wanted. However, a complete release is not the most common way of doing weddings. You have to decide your business model. Do you want to have a big fee up front for the whole event, and then make little or no money on prints? Do you want to have a cheap fee up front and then try to make lots on prints? There is no perfect answer, especially for anybody just starting out.

One bit of warning. If it isn't spelled out in the agreement, you might end up hating yourself.

---Bob Gross---