May 16, 2025
Are you running your photography business on a free contract template you found online? Wondering if you need an LLC, or if you should call your initial payment a “deposit” or a “retainer”? The legal side of your photography business might not feel like the most exciting investment, but it’s the foundation that protects everything you work so hard to build. In this episode, I chat with lawyer and photographer Paige Griffith from The Legal Paige about the essential legal steps every photographer needs to take – whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in business for years. From contracts to business structures, we cover the legal basics you need to know to protect yourself and your growing photography business. Listen to the episode below, or keep reading for a summary of what’s covered.
I am an affiliate of The Legal Paige’s contract templates and since these are the ones I’ve purchased for my own business and recommend, at the bottom of these show notes, I’ll detail out in full which ones are my favorites and how I’m using them. If you also want to purchase them too, I have a discount code year round – CLAIRE10 – so you can save some money on this not so fun part of business that’s a necessity.
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Paige Griffith’s journey is unique – she was deeply involved in her own photography business while simultaneously attending law school. For over a decade, she ran a successful photography business in Western Montana, including portrait photography with associate photographers and second shooters. Photography became her creative outlet while deep in law school academia.
“I was sitting in law school, reading and writing in academia all day long, and I just really missed the creativity that I had in my life growing up,” Paige explains. “I loved arts and crafts, photography, sewing, scrapbooking. I called up my friend who was a well-known photographer in my hometown, thinking he might ghost me as potential competition, but instead he was incredibly friendly and told me to get a Canon and a nifty fifty.”
Paige became self-taught in photography in the early 2010s, when education resources were limited compared to today. She completed law school while building her photography business on the side, worked for law firms, and even worked for a federal judge for two years. By 2018, she decided to forge her own path by combining her entrepreneurial passion with her law degree, creating The Legal Paige.
“I didn’t want to go the traditional law route of becoming a trial attorney or partner at a law firm,” Paige shares. “I created The Legal Paige, which started out just as a blog. Being in the wedding and event industry, I was speaking with a lot of different vendors at weddings who had no idea what they were doing. They didn’t really even send contracts. They didn’t know where to go for legal education.”
What began as a free legal education resource has grown significantly. The Legal Paige now offers contract templates, free education through blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and social media content, with a team of attorneys and employees across the United States.
When asked about the first steps photographers should take to legally protect their business, Paige explains what she calls “the triangle of protection”:
Contrary to what many might think, the first step isn’t forming an LLC – it’s having a solid contract in place. “The first step when you are a sole proprietorship is a contract,” Paige emphasizes. “I don’t just say that because I sell contracts. It doesn’t matter if you’re a sole proprietorship, an LLC, or a C corporation. Step one is get a client contract in place before you are offering services.”
Your contract is your first line of defense. It outlines the terms, rights, and responsibilities for all parties in your working relationship. Even if you remain a sole proprietor for some time (which some photographers do for various reasons, like being a military spouse who relocates frequently), having a contract is essential.
While free contracts from platforms like HoneyBook or templates shared by colleagues might seem sufficient, Paige cautions that they often have limitations: “They’re often vague, outdated, and missing key protections.” They may not include necessary clauses about payment, rescheduling, liability, image rights, intellectual property, and industry-specific concerns like meals, breaks, permits, or venue limitations.
If your contract doesn’t solve everything (and no contract will cover every possible scenario), business insurance becomes your second layer of protection.
“You can still get business insurance like a general liability policy if you are a sole proprietorship,” Paige explains. “They prefer that you’re an LLC, so your premium might be a little bit higher, but some people do have just a contract and business insurance.”
For photographers, Paige recommends a few key considerations for insurance:
For coverage amounts, Paige suggests: “You probably want anywhere around $100,000 per occurrence minimum, $250,000 total for the year, maybe up to $500,000. A lot of people think that you need up to a million dollars, but not as a photographer. Your liability is really low in photography for the most part.”
I personally use Hiscox for my business insurance and gear coverage. In addition to that, I have been working with my financial planner for a disability insurance policy. You can hear the interview with my financial planner here on how to build wealth as a photographer (after listening to or reading this episode of course)!
The third layer of protection is your business structure. While many photographers start as sole proprietors by default, Paige recommends forming an LLC as soon as possible: “From a lawyer’s perspective, I’m always going to say at the very beginning, best case scenario is you become an LLC right away, so there’s no personal assets at risk.”
When you’re a sole proprietor, your business and personal assets are intertwined – meaning if someone sues your business, your personal savings, home, and other assets could be at risk. An LLC creates a separation, limiting liability to your business assets only.
Paige recommends forming an LLC once you start making real money: “Anytime you kind of move from ‘this is a hobby, this is a passion project’ to ‘I’m actually making money, people are paying me hundreds if not thousands of dollars,’ you need to become an LLC.”
The good news is that forming an LLC is relatively simple and affordable in most states (typically $50-$100), and you can do it yourself without paying a lawyer or accountant. Paige actually recommends doing it yourself so you receive all the notifications directly from your state regarding annual filings and fees. You can purchase her LLC guide here for your state with a step-by-step process (and be sure to use code CLAIRE10).
From a tax perspective, an LLC offers the same pass-through taxation as a sole proprietorship, meaning you’ll still only file one tax return. Once you reach a higher income level ($60,000-$80,000 net profit annually), you might consider filing as an S-corporation for tax advantages, but that requires additional steps like putting yourself on payroll.
If you need an accountant recommendation, DM me on Instagram and I’m happy to share mine!
One of the most important legal distinctions Paige emphasized is the difference between “deposits” and “retainers” – and why it matters for photographers:
“If I can teach you anything, don’t use the word ‘deposit’ ever,” Paige stresses. “You want to use the word ‘retainer’ and clearly indicate what that initial fee is for.”
During COVID-19, photographers who used the term “deposit” in their contracts faced challenges keeping those funds when services couldn’t be rendered. A deposit is typically considered a payment toward the final package and services, making it refundable if services aren’t provided.
Instead, Paige recommends using “retainer” and explaining what it covers: booking a specific date on your calendar, during which you’re saying no to other potential clients.
Paige also makes a compelling case for flat-fee retainers versus percentage-based retainers, particularly for wedding photographers: “From a legal perspective, it makes more sense to do flat-fee retainers.”
For portrait photography, percentage-based retainers make more sense because packages typically scale with time (30-minute session vs. 1-hour session). But for weddings, whether you’re booking a 6-hour or 12-hour package, you’re still blocking out the entire day, and the initial administrative work is similar regardless of package size.
With flat-fee retainers (say $1,500 or $2,000), all clients pay the same amount regardless of their package, eliminating potential disputes where a client might argue, “This person paid a $3,000 retainer, and I paid $5,000 – why can’t I get $2,000 back?”
Another important legal consideration is whether you need a privacy policy on your website. Paige clarifies that a privacy policy isn’t part of your client contract but a separate document typically found in your website footer alongside terms and conditions.
“A privacy policy is all about the who, what, when, where, how of getting people’s personal information,” Paige explains. “Who are you getting it from? What are you doing with it? Where is it going? How are you disseminating this to other people or within your business? How can they retract their personal information?”
Technically, if you just have a contact form embedded on your website for inquiries, and you’re not putting those individuals into any marketing or advertising systems, you don’t legally need a privacy policy. However, Paige notes that almost all websites use some form of tracking or analytics: “99.9% of the time, I bet you’re using Google Analytics, tracking, back-end SEO… so in most cases, you still need to have a privacy policy.”
If you want to add inquiry contacts to your email marketing list, you must have their explicit consent: “You have to conspicuously disclose that you will be sending them marketing materials,” Paige advises. “Always, always, always, you just have to have the ability for them to opt out as well.”
Paige and I recommend several key legal resources that photographers should consider for their business. These are my favorites that I’ve either purchased myself or recommend to my students since 2020:
My friend, thank you so much for reading through today’s show notes. I hope you found several valuable takeaways that will help you establish a stronger legal foundation for your photography business. Remember, even though contracts and legal matters might not be the most exciting part of running your business, they’re absolutely essential for protecting all the creative work you pour your heart into. Be sure to check out the links above for Paige’s contract shop, and don’t forget to use my discount code CLAIRE10 for additional savings, whether during the upcoming sale or anytime throughout the year!
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