Should I prepare a contract?

Drez

So, long story short, I'm doing a professional photoshoot tomorrow with a professional model. Are contracts standard for this kind of thing? Like a photo release form or something?

I've done shoots before, with models, but they were friends. This is the first model I'm shooting that I don't actually know beforehand. I've never bothered with a release form or contract or anything before now, because neither I nor my friends really cared. But these pictures I am going to use to build my portfolio.

So...I'm not sure what's appropriate here. This model has more experience than me, but the topic never came up between us.

MushroomStick

It would probably be a good idea.

EggyToast

Consider the contracts that places like iStockPhot and Thinkstock use for pictures of people with models in them. Since to sell or use a photo commercially you would likely need something very similar to what they have, it's good to have a semi-generic release form on hand at the very least.

Lachrymite

Even if this is just a TFP shoot, it's standard to have a model release form/contract. It doesn't have to be anything fancy if it's not for pay, it should just spell out that you both have the right to use the images for promotional purposes but not for anything commercial. You can probably find some examples online.

RadicalTurnip

Yes, prepare a contract. Likely you won't need it, and since the model is getting paid (I assume) then it's implied, but prepare a contract anyway.

nikkibee

Absolutely write up a contract! Chances are no one will take legal action against you, but the one time you skip it it will come back to bite you. It's important to have it just in case.

spool32

If it's not written down, it never happened. This being a business transaction, you want a record of the terms. Get a contract.

Rook

Absolutely, it's there to protect you. Also, if you want to be a professional photographer, you really need to act like a professional photographer.

The american society of media photographers has a really good website that covers a lot of this so it's probably worth reading: http://asmp.org/

Particularly relevant is a standard model release contract which you should probably think about using either verbatim or as a template.
http://asmp.org/tutorials/adults-model-release.html

MentalExercise

Definitely do have a contract. Something boilerplate would work just fine.

Don't be afraid to let the model know you're just starting out though. Nothing wrong with that as long as you keep professionalism as your by-word. The model may even have a couple of useful tips for you.

Elin

So, I'm on my phone and searching for it would be a major pain, but recently someone started a tread asking about electronic signatures on legal documents. The thread was actually about if he could use his iPad for his model release forms, and the answer was yes. There are even apps for it on Android/Apple store. So if you have an iPad/tablet you could get the app and have it all there and set for you. One of the apps I looked at to verify I wasn't misremembering was 10$ and said you could collect the info and it would email you a pdf for your records. So if you don't know what to write/dont want to do your own there are handy apps for that.

Drez

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

Elin wrote: »

So, I'm on my phone and searching for it would be a major pain, but recently someone started a tread asking about electronic signatures on legal documents. The thread was actually about if he could use his iPad for his model release forms, and the answer was yes. There are even apps for it on Android/Apple store. So if you have an iPad/tablet you could get the app and have it all there and set for you. One of the apps I looked at to verify I wasn't misremembering was 10$ and said you could collect the info and it would email you a pdf for your records. So if you don't know what to write/dont want to do your own there are handy apps for that.

That's interesting. I actually do have an iPad.