I have been booked for a TF project where the prints are hopefully going to be published and I obviously want a contract to ensure that I get credit for my work but is there anything else I should put in the contract.

Is it the norm for an artist to draw up a contract for TF?

Thanks guys x

Bear in mind that if you have a contract (for TF*) that you hand over to be signed, you may be fired from the shoot.  Photogs are funny that way.  However, an email exchange back and forth about your project is the same as a contract, and is as legally binding.

If the shots are to be published, get it spelled out where they are expected to be seen and when.  And what happens if they don't get published.  You should not put the pictures in your ports (online and paper) until the images are officially published, or officially released if not published.

If the photog says, "I'm expecting that X mag will pick these up, and they will be published on Y date" then ask when s/he will know for sure and will release the pictures to you if they are not picked up.  Most mags will not publish images that have already been seen.

For a standard TF arrangement, just ask what they expect their turnaround time to be.  If they say a few months, pass on the shoot.  If they say a couple of weeks, give them a month before you start pestering.

Actually suing to get prints may not be a worthy enterprise.  By the time you'd get the suit going and theoretically win, your book should have moved beyond those pics, and they would be worthless to you anyhow.  So be sure that a TF is worth it to you anyway (experience building, network, the tearsheets, etc).

Great post, EmElle.

Contracts like these can be disobeyed and fighting them in court will be a waste of time and money.

Regardless of what you agreed to, on any trade shoot ALWAYS ask yourself "if I don't get a single, usable image from this shoot, will I still benefit from it?". If the answer's no, forget about it.

Of course experience is always a good thing but an example of when I'd answer 'no' to that question would be if I was contacted for a trade shoot and asked to do a particular look that I may; already have, doesn't suit my target market, doesn't give off the impression I want to give, won't challenge me... etc. because, even if I don't get images, the photographer will probably still use them or I won't have learned enough from the shoot (eg. by doing a simple 'look' I already have).

Make sense?

Thank you both so much.

I have been asked to do the shoot by the model and I have already said to her that I would not do the shoot without a contract in place. The reason I went down this route is that so many artists seem to get shafted on published images i.e no credit or wrong credit and I just felt that it would be a good way to ensure everything goes the way it should. Also as I wont benefit monetry wise even if they are published I want to at least be able to use the tear to aid me in the future.

As you know Laura I am still very new to all this so still a bit of a dunce

EmElle your post is very good alot of which I was unsure of and now I can say I know that thanks to you

Laura you got my praise the other night so no more because your head will get to big

Hahaha thanks Emma, you're too lovely!!

Just be careful when a model offers images... S/he has no right to distribute images whatsoever unless given written permission from the photographer in advance. If I were you I'd talk to the photographer to get an idea of his intent and integrity.

But remember, if you don't think you'll learn much from the shoot, don't accept it because regardless of what's agreed to, you may never see an image.

ditto what Laura said.  The model cannot enter into a TF arrangement with you and whatever contract she might sign is not legally enforceable with the photographer.  Get in touch with the photographer immediately.  There shouldn't be a middle man anyway, as things will be misunderstood and lost in translation.

Thanks for both your replies and you will be pleased to hear i do have some sort of a brain maybe a little one but it worked for 10 minutes earlier and I emailed the tog

I actually never planned to go into a contract with the model as I know the tog holds copyright so she had already given me his name so I sent him an email introducing myself and then I will wait for a reply before I go into matters of the shoot.

I do think it will be a shoot that will benefit me in one way or another even if its just the contacts as the tog in question is regularly published and it could lead to more work and as im still establishing myself all contacts help.

Great to hear!! Never thought you didn't have a full brain Hehehe. Good luck with it all!

Sometimes my replies are based on what's solely written in front of me, sometimes I try to guess what the OP might or might not know, and sometimes I know that others are reading with similar questions as to the OP, but they may not know as much as the OP, so my reply tries to cover every possibility.  In this case, it was a little bit of all the above.  While I suspected you may know not to get into a contract with the model, it wasn't totally clear AND I know plenty of readers here who would have assumed it was a logical step to take, given similar circumstances (as I've seen them here posting such things).