TERMS OF AGREEMENT

Terms of Agreement

 

Photographer owns photos and printing rights. You’ll find our terms are common practice among photographers.  Client(s) receive(s) printing and copy permission. However, Client(s) must credit Upstream Visual Works @upstreamvisualworks when posting on social media or any virtual or physical form of publishing. 

 

All vendors and independent contractors who desire any of Upstream Visual Works’ photos must contact us directly. 

 

Payment, deposits and balances – client(s) agree(s) to pay a 50% deposit required on selected wedding packages and, if applicable, additional travel expenses at time of booking to guard the photographer against potential financial losses due to cancellations of reserved dates. Client(s) agrees to pay the balance 7 days or more prior to the wedding. Please see the cancellation policy.

​
 

Cancellations Policy:

• If the client pays in full, and then cancels, the balance portion of their total cost will be refunded and the deposit portion of the total cost will follow our standard cancellation retainers as shown below.  

• Cancel 180 days or more before the date of event: 50% of the 50% deposit (equivalent to 25% of the total cost) is refundable to the client.

• Cancel 90 - 179 days before the date of the event 25% of the 50% deposit (12.5% of the total cost) is refundable to the client.

• Cancel with less than 90 days' notice results in a nonrefundable deposit: $0 refundable to the client.

 

(Please read the Client Covid Cancellation & Rescheduling section) 

 

Client Covid Cancellations & Rescheduling - In case the wedding needs to be postponed due to emergency reasons e.g.  Illness, Covid contraction of either or both clients, or emergency shutdown, I, the photographer, will reschedule with client(s) for a later date with no added penalty fees for one (1) reschedule date. If I, the photographer, cannot reschedule to the desired emergency date, then I will do my best, but cannot guarantee, to provide a recommended photographer in my stead and transfer the received balance to the recommended photographer with the agreement of my client(s), except for the 25% deposit as compensation for the financial loss of reserving their date that is canceled. In the case I cannot find an available and recommended photographer, or the client does not agree to the recommended photographer, I will return to my client the balance that I have received from them but retain full or partial deposit as compensation for the financial loss of reserving their date that is canceled (see cancellation policy).  Fees starting at $100 for additional rescheduling may be applied after the first reschedule date is settled.

 

Photographer’s Sick/ emergency/ Covid backup plan – In case of an emergency that I, the photographer, could not photograph my client(s)’s wedding, the client will receive a full refund, or I will transfer all of my client’s payments that I have received such as their wedding deposits and balances to a recommended photographer if possible. E.g. Recommended photographers such as Benjamin Richard, my partner photographer and husband, or if available, my associate photographers, Olivia Gird www.OliviaGird.com, Carol Wild www.carolwildphotography.com, Christiana Bruce (www.soulflowerstills.com).  I, the photographer, will not be held responsible or liable to photograph my client’s wedding. 

 

Late fees – If balance is not paid on time (within the scheduled date agreed upon in this contract), then a $25 late fee will be applied to each day after the scheduled balance day.  If balance and late fees are left unpaid, the late fee will apply to each day the balance is left unpaid until balance is collected or until the scheduled wedding date arrives. If the balance and late fees are left unpaid 12 hours prior to the wedding date, then the photographer is not responsible or held liable in any way to photograph the wedding and will keep the nonrefundable deposit. If you know you are going to be late on the balance payment, please contact us first to see if we can work something out to avoid late fees. 

 

Covid Safety - For Covid safety reasons I, the photographer will be wearing a mask at all times when inside or outside except when on my 15-minute break outside and/or safely socially distanced from people. See Photographer’s Break below.

 

Wedding Day Safety - We ask that guests not take any pictures or video during the ceremony or formals on their phone or cameras. This is so we can make sure we can capture their faces (because when they have a phone/ camera in front of their face it makes it difficult to capture their reaction, and sometimes their phone /camera can block other guests' faces as well). Additionally, guests using their cell phones or cameras to take pictures can sometimes obscure our perspective of the important parts of the ceremony as well as having caused safety issues during previous weddings (ask Anie about these stories… there are many stories, and this is why we have this very important safety term of agreement!)

 

Standard Edits – Client(s) understand(s) and gives permission for edits in Lightroom and Photoshop to be made such as blemish removal (e.g. zits, warts, cuts, bruises, swelling), lint removal, subtle teeth whitening, stray hair removal, sweat marks, removal of unsightly exit, traffic, bathroom signs and the like. Color grading, highlighting, contrasting, and other editing tools may be used to perfect photos. 

 

Specialty Edits - Edits such as adding, adjusting, “enhancing” or removing hair (e.g. adding hair to someone who has thinning or balding hair), weight, body parts, wrinkles or freckles may not be done. However, a client may discuss this with me if he/she has a specific concern and if necessary, an additional price per specialty edits can be arranged. 

 

Photographer(s)’s break - For photo coverage of 5-6 hours, I, the photographer (and if applicable, the accompanying photographer), take a 15-minute break. For 7-8 hours of coverage, I, the photographer (and, if applicable, accompanying photographer), each take two separate 15-minute breaks. 

​

Additional Wedding Day Coverage/ Overtime Policy - If the wedding day plans and events run behind schedule, photography end coverage time remains the same. However, when and if the photographer's schedule allows, the photographer may offer the couple the option of adding an additional hour of coverage at the end of my scheduled shift. If the couple verbally agrees to the additional hour of coverage, the photographer will remain an additional hour and invoice the couple within 1-5 days afterwards for the payment of additional hour of coverage. The couple agrees to pay $250 for the additional hour of coverage. If the payment is not made within two weeks from the date the invoice was sent, an email reminder and phone call reminder will be sent out and a $10 late fee will be applied to the bill. For every day following the invoice payment due date a $10 late fee will be applied. The client accepts that it is the client's responsibility to pay the additional hour of coverage and any late fees incurred. The Photographer reserves the right to withhold releasing all photos until payment is complete. 

​

Included Travel: The photographer's travel is included in the wedding package pricing if the wedding ceremony location is equal to 50 miles of round trip travel or less. The roundtrip travel is calculated by the photographer, using the traveling mileage distance between the photographer's home office and the wedding ceremony location address. The included travel costs of 50 miles of roundtrip travel are included up to 75 miles but additional travel expenses incur to cover the remaining unincluded mileage.  50 miles of included roundtrip travel is not included if the total roundtrip travel distance exceeds 75 miles (please see Over 25 miles of additional travel for more information). 

​

Additional Travel - When travel exceeds the included roundtrip travel mileage of 50 miles, then a quote stating the additional travel expenses will be given to the client(s) during the wedding consultation (prior to the client booking the wedding photography coverage). When the client(s) book(s) their wedding event coverage with the photographer the client understands that he/she/they are agreeing to pay for the wedding day coverage as well as the additional travel expenses quoted to them during or after the consultation. During or following the consultation between the client and photographer, after the client states they wish to book with the photographer, the quoted additional travel expenses will be invoiced to the client. The client must finish the wedding contract and agree to all the Terms of Agreement as well as make the 50% deposit on their selection of wedding package coverage before completing the additional travel expense invoice. 

 

The additional travel expenses are calculated using one or more of the following methods according to traveling extent and/or duration:

​

• 1-25 miles of additional travel: 

# of additional miles x $0.55 = photographer's travel expenses billed to client.

For example: If the client's ceremony location is 35 miles away from the photographer's home office, the roundtrip mileage total would be 70 miles. Of the total 70 miles, 50 of these miles are included in the wedding package. Therefore, we are going to subtract the included miles from the total mileage amount then take the difference and multiply it by $0.55 to get the photographer's travel bill. The formula looks like this:

70 miles - 50 miles = 20 miles

20 miles x $0.55 = $11. 00 Hence, the client would pay $11 to cover the Photographer's travel costs.

OR

• Over 25 miles of additional travel, for a total of 75 miles or more,  uses an hourly time block for roundtrip travel. One hourly time block includes 1-60 minutes of travel. Time blocks are always rounded up over at the15 minute mark or longer.  The client will be charged $50 per hourly time block. This means if the travel from the photographer's home office to the ceremony exceeds a total of 75 miles of roundtrip travel, then the travel cost formula changes to use the formula of $50 per hourly time block for the entire roundtrip travel. The amount of time blocks necessary for the client's event is based on the photographer's research - I typically use Google Maps or the Waze app to calculate my travel time.

For example: If a client's ceremony is 50 miles away from the photographer's home office. Then 50 miles x 2 = 100 miles of roundtrip travel for the photographer. 100 miles exceeds the per mile formula's roundtrip travel limits of 75 miles. Therefore, the photographer will research the driving travel time from their home office to the location of the client's ceremony. For this example, the client's ceremony destination is 80 minutes (or 1 hour and 20 minutes) away from the photographer's home office. 80 minutes x 2 = 160 minutes (or 2 hours and 40 minutes) of roundtrip travel.

160 minutes ÷ 60 minute time block/ hourly time block = 2.66 time blocks needed. Time blocks are always rounded up over 15 minutes. Therefore 3 time blocks are needed.

3 time blocks x $50 = $150 billed to client to cover photographer's roundtrip travel.

​​

​

• Long distance weddings may incur additional travel costs in conjunction with the total time block costs. Long distance wedding costs are applied when they are considered 

​

• 5 or 6 hours wedding coverage with more than 3 travel blocks for roundtrip travel. 

• 7 hours or more of wedding coverage with more than two 2 travel blocks. 

• We consider a wedding to be a Destination Wedding when travelling to the event location would require more than 5 travel blocks or more than one hotel stay. For these weddings we would require a separate Wedding Destination Photography Travel Form to be filled out by the client prior to completing booking. 

 

Long Distance Travel Costs:  long distance travel costs include but are not limited to the following: 

lodging, air fare, food costs, required covid testing, and/ or car rentals, tolls, and parking costs. 

​

A Long Distance Wedding Forms will be given to the client following the wedding consultation and once the client has made the decision to book the photographer.  must be submitted 

prior to contract and payment completion. 

​