"Think of the contract as your boat."

You may be asking yourself, "When do I need an agreement?" After all, your client has told you they will pay you a certain amount, and you have agreed to do the job. Uh-huh. There's a lot more to it than that. Have you thought about the little things in between? The What-ifs?

Here are some questions to answer yourself when working on an agreement:

• What if you mess up the photos?
• What if the equipment doesn't work properly and you miss a shot that you can never reclaim?
• What if the client doesn't like the images?
• What if the weather is bad?
• What if they don't pay you the agreed upon price?
• What if ____? (Fill in the blank for an unlimited number of scenarios).

You get the drift. Even if the customer is your absolute best friend, you need a contract. It protects you and it also protects your customer. It prevents you from making undelivered promises and it prevents the customer from not paying you, blaming you or even suing you.

Both parties must sign the paper in order for it to be a legally binding document. This is not just for wedding photography. If you take a picture of a stranger walking down the street and sell the image without her permission, you could be sued. You need a model release.

This does not always apply to traditional photojournalists who work for a newspaper or magazine because of laws regarding freedom of the press. However, if you plan on using the image in a brochure, advertising, or as a stock photo, then it would be best to get authorization to avoid future hassles. You can create a "Pocket Size" Model Release on an index card or half a sheet of paper. Keep these miniature contracts in your camera bag at all times.

Special cases
Shooting children is a delicate issue. You need to get a legal guardian's or parent's signature if a child is under the age of 18. You absolutely cannot take photographs of a cute little kid at the park and then use the pictures for your advertising -- including your Web site, portfolio, business cards or the like. This is a tremendous liability and should not be taken lightly.