Hiring a photographer: contract, copyright and one booking

Photographers specialise, and the portfolio tells you more than the price list. A wedding photographer works fast in changing light and has to read a crowd. A headshot photographer controls lighting and posing in a few minutes per person. Product photography is careful, technical work with lighting set-ups and consistent backgrounds for a website or catalogue. Event photographers document a conference or party without getting in the way.

Ask to see full galleries rather than a highlights reel. A string of best shots from many different weddings says less than one complete wedding, start to finish, including the dim church and the evening reception.

A short written contract protects both sides. It should be clear about what you get and when, and what happens if either of you has to cancel or the date moves.

• date, times and locations, including travel and any overtime rate
• what is delivered: number of edited images or an approximate range, format and resolution
• delivery method and deadline, and how long the online gallery stays available
• whether unedited raw files are supplied (most photographers do not)
• the licence to use the images, and any use the photographer reserves for itself
• backup: second shooter, spare equipment and what happens if the photographer is ill
• deposit, payment dates, cancellation and postponement terms
• public liability insurance, which many venues ask to see

In UK law, the person who creates a photograph is normally its first copyright owner. For commissioned work, the Intellectual Property Office's guidance is clear: the photographer owns the copyright, not the person who paid for the shoot, unless you agree otherwise in writing. Under older law the rule was the other way round for commissioned photographs, which is why some advice still says the customer owns them.

What you receive in practice is a licence to use the images. For a wedding or family shoot, that is usually a personal licence: you can print, share and post the pictures, but not sell them or use them in advertising. For business headshots, product shots and event coverage, the licence matters more. Check that it covers the uses you have in mind, such as your website, social media, printed brochures, paid advertising, packaging or use by a PR agency or client, and whether it is limited in time or territory.

If your business needs to own the images outright, for example to edit, resell or register them, you need an assignment of copyright in writing, and photographers usually charge more for it. A licence is often enough and is cheaper.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 gives anyone who commissions a photograph for private and domestic purposes a right not to have it published, exhibited or shown in public. That means a wedding or family photographer should not put your photos on its website, social media or in a competition without your consent. Many contracts ask for that consent; you can agree, limit it or refuse.

For commercial shoots, anyone recognisable in the pictures, such as staff, models or members of the public at an event, raises questions of consent and data protection. A professional photographer will ask about model release forms and how guests are told that photography is taking place. If the photographer uses a drone, it has to follow the Civil Aviation Authority rules, which include registration for most drones with a camera; ask about this before the day.

Source: legislation.gov.uk

Booking on price alone and discovering afterwards that the cheap package covered only a short part of the day and a small number of images. Forgetting to check that the venue allows photography during the ceremony, or where the photographer may stand. Assuming the business can use the pictures in an advert when the licence only covered the website. Not agreeing what happens to the images if the photographer's business closes.

Give the photographer a shot list for things that matter to you, such as family groups, the team, a product detail or a speaker on stage, and a named person on the day who knows who is who.

You describe the type of shoot, the date, the place and roughly what you need. Once your phone number is confirmed by text code and your email by link, the request is offered without your name or contact details to photographers in your area. It can be bought by one photographer only; they pay Offrano, and the request then comes off the list. For you it is free.

We email you the photographer's name, address and phone number before they see your details. Offrano only checks that the buyer is a registered business, not the quality of their work, so look at full galleries before you book. There is no guarantee that a photographer takes up a request, and you can always book someone else instead.