The terms.

Photography Services Agreement

Version TLAWP-AGR-2026-11-v2 · Booking (assigned when you book)

PARTIES

This Photography Services Agreement (the "Agreement") is between:

Photographer: Joshua Michael Shelton, an individual, doing business as "Joshua M Shelton Photography" (Fictitious Business Name Statement No. 313886644, Los Angeles County) and under the name "The LA Wedding Photographer". Business address: 1130 S Flower St, Apt 201, Los Angeles, CA 90015. Email: michael@thelaweddingphotographer.com. Phone: (626) 247-3873. The Photographer works professionally under the name "Michael". References to "Michael," "we" or "us" mean the Photographer.

Client: You, email (your email), phone not provided. "You" means the Client.

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SCHEDULE A — Services and payment schedule (filled by the payment system)

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1. Booking and reservation

1.1 When your date is reserved. Your date is reserved, and this Agreement takes effect, only when all of these have happened:

• (a) you have accepted this Agreement electronically (§18);
• (b) your booking retainer payment has succeeded; and
• (c) we have sent you a booking confirmation email that includes a copy of this signed Agreement.

1.2 Pending bank payments. If you pay the retainer by bank (ACH) debit, we hold your date as "pending" for up to 5 business days while the payment clears. If the payment fails, we will tell you and give you 2 business days to pay another way, after which the hold ends.

1.3 Inquiries do not hold dates. Inquiries, quotes, and availability checks do not reserve a date.

1.4 Online bookings. If you book through the online booking page on our website:

• (a) Temporary hold. When you submit your date and details, we hold that date for you for about 60 minutes (and for as long as a secure checkout you started remains open). A hold is not a reservation: your date is reserved only as described in §1.1. If your retainer has not been paid when the hold ends, the hold ends automatically, the date is released, and nothing is charged.
• (b) What online booking covers. Online bookings are for a package exactly as published on our website, at its listed price, for an event at a venue in the Los Angeles area (see Schedule A, Travel), Additional retouched photos ($50 each) are ordered from your gallery (§6.1). Custom coverage, any other change, and venues outside the Los Angeles area are arranged by email and agreed in writing.

2. Our services

2.1 We will photograph your event as described in Schedule A, using our professional judgment about style, composition, equipment, and editing, consistent with the portfolio on our website.

2.2 We will make reasonable efforts to photograph the people and moments you list on a shot list provided at least 14 days before a wedding. Some moments cannot be guaranteed, because of timing, lighting, venue rules, guests, or events outside our control.

3. Coverage, team, and changes on the day

3.1 Coverage. Coverage runs for the hours in Schedule A, starting at the time we agree with you in writing before the wedding.

• If you start late, coverage still ends at the scheduled time. Extra time is possible only as §8.7 allows.
• Breaks for a meal, for photographers on coverage longer than 6 hours, are part of the coverage. Please provide a vendor meal.

3.2 The lead photographer is Michael.

3.3 Second photographer (Golden Hour and Heirloom). These collections always include a second photographer, as published on our website.

• If a second photographer we have arranged cannot attend despite our reasonable efforts, we will try to find a replacement.
• If we cannot, you may cancel this Agreement and we will refund everything you paid within 10 business days.
• That refund is your remedy for the missing second photographer, except as stated in §16.

4. Booking retainer

4.1 Amount. The booking retainer in Schedule A (10% of the total) is due when you sign.

• Weddings: 10% of the total price.

4.2 What it is. The retainer is part of your total price, not an additional fee. It pays for:

• reserving your date exclusively for you;
• our turning away other clients for that date; and
• our pre-event planning.

4.3 What happens to it. If you cancel, the retainer is handled under §7. If we cancel, it is refunded under §9. We do not describe the retainer as "non-refundable," because the circumstances in §§7, 9 and 10 decide what happens to it.

5. Payments

5.1 Balance. The balance is due by the final balance due date in Schedule A.

• Weddings: 48 hours before the event, by card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.

5.2 Payment plan. If Schedule A shows a payment plan:

• you may pay the balance in up to three installments (four payments in total, including the retainer);
• there is no fee, interest, or price difference for using the plan; and
• the final installment is due by the final balance due date.

5.3 Methods. We accept payments through our payment processor, Stripe, by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and (where offered) ACH bank debit.

• ACH bank payments are offered only for payments made at least 10 days before the event date, because they can take up to 4 business days to clear and can fail after they first appear to go through. The final wedding balance (due 48 hours before) is therefore paid by card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
• We do not store your card or bank details; Stripe does.
• We charge no surcharge for any payment method.

5.4 Reminders. We will email you a reminder about 7 days before each due date and on the due date. A missing reminder does not change the due date.

5.5 Late payment. We do not charge late fees or interest.

• Payment-plan installments (due before the final balance): if one is unpaid 7 days after its due date, we will send you a written notice (email is enough). If it remains unpaid 5 business days after that notice, and you have not agreed another arrangement with us in writing, we may treat this Agreement as cancelled by you under §7, measured from the date we send the cancellation notice.
• Final wedding balance: we will contact you as soon as it is late. If it is still unpaid when coverage is due to begin, we are not required to provide coverage, and this Agreement is treated as cancelled by you. We keep what you have paid, and nothing further is owed by either of us.
• We are not required to provide coverage until the full total is paid.

5.6 Failed or reversed payments. If a payment fails or is reversed after it appeared to succeed, the amount is again due. We will tell you and give you 2 business days to pay another way (for the final wedding balance, until coverage is due to begin) before §5.5 applies.

6. Additional services, changes in scope, and credits

6.1 Additional retouched images are $50 each. You may order them from your gallery; they are paid for before retouching begins.

6.2 Changes to your package. You book a package exactly as published on our website, at its published price, with the coverage and inclusions stated in Schedule A. There are no automatic upgrades, extensions, overtime or pre-priced add-ons. Any alteration, additional coverage, extension or special request must be discussed with and quoted by Joshua Michael Shelton personally. It is added only by a separate written agreement (a change order): an email or message from us stating the change and its price, which you confirm in writing. Nothing is charged for a change unless such a written agreement exists. Physical products are never offered (§12.8). Once confirmed, the change order becomes part of this Agreement and is billed as it states.

6.3 Credits.

• A fee you paid for a proposal or engagement session with us is credited in full toward a wedding collection booked within 12 months of that session, as shown in Schedule A.
• Golden Hour and Heirloom include an engagement session. If a paid session fee has already been credited, it is credited instead of a second session.
• Credits have no cash value and are not refundable separately from the booking they are applied to.

7. Cancellation by you

7.1 Courtesy cancellation. You may cancel by written notice within 3 business days after you sign this Agreement, if your event date is more than 30 days away. We will refund everything you paid, in full.

7.2 Why the amounts below exist. We are one photographer who can photograph one event per date. When you book, we turn away other clients for your date and stop marketing it.

• When you sign, neither of us can know whether a cancelled date could be re-booked, at what price, or what other work was lost.
• A cancellation in the final 48 hours leaves no realistic chance to re-book the date, and our preparation for your event is already done.
• For these reasons, you and we agree that our actual damages from a cancellation would be impracticable or extremely difficult to fix. We also agree that the amounts below are a reasonable estimate of those damages, made when this Agreement is signed, and are not a penalty.

7.3 Cancellation schedule. If you cancel after the courtesy period (by written notice to michael@thelaweddingphotographer.com), we keep the amount below and refund everything else you have paid.

If you cancel fewer than 48 hours before a wedding and have not yet paid the full price, we keep what you have paid and ask for nothing more.

7.4 Engagement session already provided. If your collection includes an engagement session that has already taken place, the amount we keep is never less than $600.

7.5 Date of cancellation. A cancellation takes effect on the date we receive your written notice. Email is enough.

8. Rescheduling and changes

8.1 One date change. You may change your event date once at no charge, subject to our availability, if you ask in writing:

• for weddings, at least 90 days before the original date; or
• for sessions, at least 48 hours before the original start.

The new date must be within 18 months (sessions: 6 months) of the original date. All payments transfer to the new date. After the change, this Agreement's deadlines, including §7, are measured from the new date.

8.2 Price on a new date.

• If the new date is within 12 months of the original date, your price does not change.
• If it is later, any unpaid balance is billed at our then-published price for your collection. If you do not accept that, you may cancel under §7, measured from the original date.

8.3 If we are not available on the date you want. You may keep your original date, or cancel under §7.

8.4 Other changes. A second date change, or a request made later than §8.1 allows, is at our discretion. If we do not agree, your original date stands.

8.5 Weather (outdoor sessions). If you and we agree that weather makes an outdoor session unsafe or unworkable, we will reschedule at no charge. This does not count as your one date change.

8.6 Venue or time changes on the same date.

• Tell us in writing at least 14 days before the event.
• Changes within the Los Angeles area are free.
• Travel outside it is charged as stated in Schedule A or in a change order.

8.7 No overtime; extra time only by agreement. There is no overtime rate, and we never charge for extra time automatically. If you ask us to stay beyond the scheduled coverage, we may agree only if Joshua Michael Shelton personally approves a price and you confirm it in writing (by text or email) before the extra time begins (§6.2). Otherwise coverage ends at the scheduled time.

9. If we cannot perform

9.1 Our cancellation. If we cancel this Agreement, or cannot photograph your event because of illness, injury, emergency, or any other reason except as covered in §10, we will refund 100% of everything you paid within 10 business days.

9.2 Replacement photographer — only with your consent. We do not promise a replacement photographer. If a qualified replacement is available, we may offer one.

• You may accept or decline.
• A replacement is used only if you agree in writing.
• If you decline, you receive the refund in §9.1.
• If you accept, we pay the replacement photographer ourselves and your price does not change. Until the event you may still decline and receive the refund in §9.1.

9.3 Partial performance. If we have to stop coverage early, we will refund the share of the total price that matches the scheduled coverage hours not provided.

9.4 How refunds are paid.

• Refunds go through Stripe to your original payment method.
• We do not deduct processing fees from refunds.
• Card refunds usually appear in 5–10 business days. Bank refunds take up to 3 business days to process.
• Where Stripe cannot return a payment to the original method (for example, a closed account, part of a bank payment, or a bank payment more than 180 days old), we refund by bank transfer or check within the same period.
• We will email you the amount, the date, and any reference number.

10. Extraordinary circumstances

10.1 What counts. An "Extraordinary Circumstance" is an event outside the reasonable control of you and us that makes the event, or our performance, impossible, unlawful, or unsafe on the scheduled date. Examples:

• a government order;
• earthquake, fire, flood, or other natural disaster;
• a public-health restriction;
• war, terrorism, or civil unrest;
• the venue being closed, destroyed, or unusable;
• a widespread utility or transportation failure.

A change of mind, a relationship ending, or ordinary weather is not an Extraordinary Circumstance (but see §8.5).

10.2 Postponement first. We will postpone your event, at no charge, to a date when we are both available within 18 months, with all payments applied. §8.2's pricing rule applies.

10.3 If postponement is not possible. If no mutually available date exists, or the event cannot occur at all, we will refund everything you paid minus:

• (a) the value, at our published prices, of services already provided (such as a completed engagement session); and
• (b) documented costs we paid to third parties for your event that we cannot recover.

We will give you the documentation.

10.4 If it affects us. If an Extraordinary Circumstance prevents only our performance, §9 applies.

10.5 This section reflects Civil Code §1511 and is intended to replace any broader excuse for failing to perform that would otherwise apply.

11. Your responsibilities

11.1 Information. Please give us the timeline, key contacts, family-photo list, and venue details at least 14 days before a wedding (48 hours before a session).

11.2 Venue rules.

• You are responsible for permission for us to photograph at the venue(s), and for permit fees where required. We will follow venue and officiant restrictions, such as no flash or limited movement during a ceremony.
• If restrictions limit coverage, that is not a breach by us.

11.3 Other photographers and videographers. Please make sure guests and other vendors do not block our coverage. Interference may limit what we can capture.

11.4 Safety and conduct.

• We may pause or end coverage if we reasonably believe our safety is at risk, or if we face harassment or abuse.
• We will tell you or your day-of contact first, when it is safe to do so.
• If we end coverage for this reason, it is treated as coverage provided.

11.5 Meals and breaks. For coverage of more than 6 hours, please provide a vendor meal and a short break.

12. Image delivery

12.1 Sneak peek. A selection of preview images within 48 hours after the event (Heirloom: within 24 hours).

12.2 Full gallery. All delivered images, edited for color and exposure, in a private online gallery within 2 weeks after the event. Your included retouched images are delivered within 14 days after you choose them.

12.3 Delays. If we expect to miss a delivery date, we will tell you and give a new date. If the gallery is more than 30 days late for reasons within our control, you may ask for a refund of 10% of the total. This does not affect your rights under §16.

12.4 Selection. We choose which images to deliver and remove duplicates, test shots, and unflattering frames. The number of images varies with the event.

12.5 Unedited and RAW files. Unedited and RAW files are not delivered, unless Schedule A lists the RAW files add-on. If it does:

• After your full gallery has been delivered, we email you how much storage your files need and arrange a time for you to drop off a hard drive with us in Los Angeles. You provide the drive, and it must be empty or have at least that much free space. We do not supply drives.
• Within 14 days after we receive your drive, we copy onto it the original, unedited camera files we kept from your event, and let you know when it is ready to pick up in person. The drive stays your property the whole time. We take reasonable care of it while we have it, but we are not responsible for a drive that fails because of its own defect.
• RAW files are exactly as they came from the camera: not edited, color-corrected or retouched. They may include frames we left out of your gallery (§12.4). Opening them needs photo software such as Adobe Lightroom; we do not provide software or editing support.
• Our copyright (§13.1) and your personal license (§13.2) apply to the RAW files in the same way as to your gallery images.
• Please drop off your drive within 1 year after your gallery is delivered, while we keep our archive copy (§12.6). If we cannot provide your RAW files for a reason within our control, we refund the add-on price.

12.6 Gallery hosting.

• Your gallery stays online for 12 months from delivery. Please download and back up your images during that time.
• We keep an archive copy for 1 year after delivery but do not guarantee it.
• Gallery extensions, if offered, are one-time purchases and never renew automatically.

12.7 Albums. No collection, including Heirloom, includes an album or any other physical product. This Agreement does not promise you an album, or any discount, voucher, credit or other benefit toward one.

• If fine-art albums are available after your complete digital gallery has been delivered, you may choose to buy one as a separate purchase, with its own order and price. You are never required to buy one.
• That purchase is not part of this Agreement and does not change your collection, its price or its terms. Any sales tax on it is shown on that separate order.

12.8 Digital delivery only. Your collection is a photography service with electronic delivery only.

• You will receive your images electronically only, through a private online gallery and digital download.
• No physical prints, albums, proofs, USB drives, discs, or other tangible items are included in, or delivered under, this Agreement, including on request.
• If you buy the RAW files add-on (§12.5), copying files onto a hard drive you provide is part of this electronic delivery: the drive is yours, and we supply no drive or other tangible item.
• Your personal print release (§13.2) lets you print your images yourself, anywhere you choose. Any prints or albums you order later (see §12.7) are a separate purchase from whoever sells them and are not part of this Agreement.

12.9 Sales tax. We do not add sales tax to the price of your collection, because it is a service delivered electronically, with no tangible item transferred (California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Tax Guide for Photography). If the law or its application changes, or if you later agree in writing to buy a tangible item from us, we will tell you before any tax is charged.

13. Copyright and your license

13.1 Ownership. We own the copyright in all images we create. Under U.S. copyright law, the images are not "works made for hire."

13.2 Your license (personal print release). Once you have paid in full, we grant you a perpetual, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the delivered images for personal, non-commercial purposes. That includes:

• printing them anywhere, at your own choice and cost (no prints are supplied under this Agreement);
• sharing them with family and friends; and
• posting them on personal social media.

Credit to "The LA Wedding Photographer" is appreciated but not required.

13.3 Not included without our written permission:

• selling or licensing the images;
• commercial or advertising use, including by venues or vendors;
• submitting them to contests or publications;
• editing them in a way that misrepresents our work, other than cropping for social media; and
• using them to train AI models.

We are happy to discuss permissions with vendors who ask.

13.4 Your images, your privacy. We will not sell your images or give them to third parties for commercial use. §14 explains our use of them.

14. Our use of images — optional and separate

14.1 Portfolio and marketing use requires your separate consent in Schedule C. If you do not give it, we will:

• use your images only to deliver them to you;
• keep them out of public view; and
• use them, if needed, for our own internal records, legal compliance, or responding to disputes.

14.2 Model release. Your choice in Schedule C is optional and does not affect your booking or price. You may change it for future uses at any time by emailing us. A withdrawal does not require us to recall printed materials already distributed.

14.3 Guests. You are not asked to obtain releases from your guests. We will not use identifiable guest images for advertising without their consent.

15. Equipment and data safeguards

We bring professional backup equipment, record to dual memory cards where the camera supports it, and keep at least two copies of your images until delivery.

16. Limitation of liability

16.1 Our maximum liability. Except as stated in §16.3, if we fail to perform this Agreement, our total liability to you for all claims relating to it is limited to the total amounts you paid us under this Agreement. Examples of failure include:

• equipment failure;
• loss or corruption of images; and
• failure to capture particular moments.

16.2 No indirect losses. Except as stated in §16.3, neither of us is liable to the other for lost profits or indirect or consequential losses. Examples include the cost of re-staging an event or emotional distress arising from contract performance.

16.3 Exceptions — these limits do not apply to:

• (a) gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud;
• (b) personal injury or property damage caused by negligence;
• (c) violations of law; or
• (d) any liability that cannot be limited under California law (including Civil Code §1668).

16.4 Your rights by law. Nothing in this Agreement limits any right you have under consumer protection law that cannot be waived.

17. Questions, disputes, and chargebacks

17.1 Talk to us first (a request, not a requirement). If something goes wrong, please email michael@thelaweddingphotographer.com. We will reply within 3 business days, and both of us will try in good faith to resolve it within 14 days.

17.2 Courts.

• Any dispute that is not resolved may be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in Los Angeles County, California, including small claims court.
• There is no arbitration requirement and no class-action waiver.
• Each party pays its own attorney fees, unless a law gives a right to fees.

17.3 Your payment rights are not limited.

• Nothing in this Agreement waives or limits your right to dispute a charge with your card issuer or bank, or any right you have under the Fair Credit Billing Act, Regulation Z, Regulation E, or your card or account agreement.
• If a charge is disputed, we may give the card issuer, bank, or Stripe a copy of this Agreement, your acceptance record, our communications, and delivery records.
• While a dispute is open, Stripe does not allow refunds. Any refund then follows the dispute's outcome.

17.4 Reviews. Nothing in this Agreement limits your right to post honest reviews or make statements about us (Civil Code §1670.8).

17.5 Records. We keep this Agreement, your acceptance record, payment records, and our communications for 4 years after your event date, then delete them unless a dispute is pending or the law requires longer retention.

18. Electronic signatures and records

18.1 Consent. By checking the electronic-records box and typing your name, you agree that:

• this Agreement and related notices, receipts, and records may be provided and signed electronically; and
• your typed name is your signature, with the same effect as a handwritten one.

18.2 Your rights. You may:

• request a paper copy of this Agreement at no charge;
• withdraw your consent to electronic records for future communications by emailing us (this does not undo records already provided, and future notices will then be sent by mail); and
• update your email address by emailing us.

Your consent covers this booking and related records.

18.3 What you need. A device with a current web browser, an email account, and a PDF reader, so you can view, download, and save this Agreement. By signing, you confirm you could open and read it.

18.4 Your copy. We will email you a downloadable PDF of this signed Agreement right after you sign. We do not prevent you from printing or saving it.

18.5 Our record. We record:

• the agreement version;
• a fingerprint (hash) of the exact text you accepted;
• your typed name and email;
• the date and time; and
• your IP address, device/browser information, and payment reference.

These are kept under §17.5 and our privacy policy.

19. General terms

19.1 Entire agreement. This Agreement includes Schedules A–C and any written change orders. It is the entire agreement between us.

• If our website or any other material conflicts with this Agreement, this Agreement controls.
• If something our website promised you before you signed is more favorable to you than this Agreement, that promise applies.

19.2 Changes. Changes must be in writing (email is enough) and agreed by both of us.

19.3 Governing law. California law governs this Agreement.

19.4 Severability. If a court finds any part of this Agreement unenforceable, that part will be limited to the minimum extent necessary (or removed), and the rest stays in effect.

19.5 Assignment. Neither of us may transfer this Agreement without the other's written consent, except as stated in §9.2.

19.6 Notices.

• Notices must be in writing, to the email addresses above.
• A notice is received when sent, unless a delivery-failure message is received.
• Cancellation notices to us take effect when we receive them.

19.7 Independent contractor. We are an independent business, not your employee.

19.8 Survival. Sections 9, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 19 continue after this Agreement ends.

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