BUSINESS TERMS & CONDITIONS

GENERAL TERMS

1. Services that are subject to the payment of a deposit or booking fee are NOT refundable if the booking is cancelled by the client at any time and for any reason. Please accept that we are likely to have sustained significant financial loss of revenue from the cancellation of a Session for whatever reason, and are not able to re-book the time. Please see the specific terms relating to our Cancellation Policy below.
2. A full quotation is issued to all Clients prior to the Session such quotation will detail the fees, expenses and charges for the provision of the Session required and the amount of deposit, if any, required before the Session booking is accepted by the Company. Unless otherwise stated or agreed, times, fees and costs included in any quotation are professionally estimated and may change following execution or completion of the Session. We will notify you if this is likely to be the case, if possible at the time, but it should be noted that we may need to make a professional judgement upon extending a booked Session while on location without access to our primary contact for direction or approval.
3. Invoices are raised following the completion of the Session for immediate payment, unless credit terms are agreed in advance. The balance for all unpaid invoices is deemed past-due 7 days after the images are released to the client. If invoices remain unpaid following 30 days, interest will be added to the balance on a daily basis at the rate of 4% above the interest rate publish by the bank of England.
4. Image licenses are NOT activated until invoices are paid in full. The Images can not be used by the Client in any capacity or form except for proofing until the invoice has been paid in full.
5. Images are made available to clients under the Company’s standard Intellectual Property License (the “IP License”), please ensure that you make us aware of any inadequacy with this IP License for your purposes BEFORE the Session is completed and at the time of booking. The standard IP License is linked on our website.
6. If you need to cancel or postpone your Session, please contact us as soon as possible. We will do our best to accommodate a change request to the Session date or time, but any changes are subject to our availability.
7. Any price/fee quoted for any Product or Sessions is valid for 30 days, after which the price/fee may change.
8. Product sizes quoted are approximate. We will provide a pleasing colour balance but cannot guarantee exact colour matching. Owing to anomalous reflectance caused by a combination of certain dyes and materials, especially man-made fibres it is sometimes impossible to record on film/digital media the exact colour of materials as seen by the human eye. Due to differing light temperatures between indoor light (yellowish/orange) and outdoor natural light (blueish), images may show differing hues. We will attempt to minimise this imbalance between the two environments, when possible, but cannot guarantee a complete tonal balance. Images in low light conditions such as Sessions shot in the winter months, indoors or where lighting is restricted in some way ‘may’ affect the potential image overall appearance and quality.
9. Images obtained/taken at a private location, property or land are subject to the terms and conditions of the landlord or officials of the premises and the use of artificial light such as flash or LED/continuous lighting for photography or videography in general may not be permitted or in some way restricted or the position from which the images are taken may be restricted. It is acknowledged that such restrictions and permissions are outside of the Company’s control.
10. During your Session we will automatically re-take any photograph where we can see someone has blinked or looked away but it is impossible to guarantee to see them all. The more people in the photograph the more difficult it is to see. We can’t ensure that people will always smile/respond if we ask them!
11. Images for proofing will be made available on-line on our website or that of our agents for a period of time for viewing, we do not provide hard-copy proofs. You will be given a Session number or ID or URL to use to access your images.
12. The Company reserves the right to use a selection of Images from your session for its Portfolio and for display at the studio, in publicity and marketing material and in websites online, including our Facebook, Twitter and other social media spaces, for promotional, re-sale, competition entry and any other purpose without liability or compensation to the client or image subject. Such usage of the images is pursuant to our Privacy Policy Statement and in compliance with DPA and GDPR and your Consent. We will ask for this Consent at the point of booking. Our Privacy Policy can be found here: www.visualchaosstudios.co.uk/privacy-policy/
13. We will endeavour to take/collect all the Images we have agreed. However, it may not be possible to do so due to circumstances beyond our control, for example if timings have altered, the environment has changed or the weather changes or the subjects become reluctant to have their Image taken or due to technical failure of our equipment or to change of Client requirements. Also, it is sometimes the case that subjects ‘resist’ having their Image recorded/taken by maybe turning away. Our staff will use their best endeavours to obtain their cooperation, but will not push ‘reluctant subjects’ into having their Image taken. At all times we will do our very best to follow your wishes, however coverage will be as the Company and our staff’s professional expertise determines and no one photo, image, video clip/sequence or sound recording will be deemed more important than another. Special requests are not binding instruction although naturally every effort will be made to comply with all your requirements. We may not submit to you all the Images we obtain at the Session, the final selection of Images submitted will be entirely at our creative discretion.
14. It is Client’s responsibility to inform us if there are any subjects who you, or another person, does not wish to have Images/audio recorded/taken, in particular Images of children or if there are any children attending that require their identity/image to be withheld due to any court instruction/order or legal matter. If this then becomes evident after the Session, please let us know immediately. Wedding clients should inform their guests and attendees that a Photography and/or Videographer will be present and their images(s) will be recorded and should communicate with the Bride and Groom of their express wish to not be photographed, filmed or recorded.
15. The limit of liability of the Company or its agents (including but not limited to photographers, videographers, cinematographers, drone pilots, processing laboratories, suppliers, web hosts, postal and delivery agents) to compensate the Client in the case of any negligence or breach of this Agreement is limited to the cost to the Client of the Service booked, and only to the maximum balance already cleared and paid over to the Company.
16. We do not entertain a ‘reserved date’ policy, and will only confirm a Session upon the receipt of the appropriate payments, deposits or booking fees in cleared funds and the receipt of the Session booking form and/or Services Agreement.
17. In exceptional circumstances such as ill-health or incapacity and without notice it may be necessary for the original creative, photographer or videographer or drone pilot or website developer specified to be substituted by another equally competent creative, photographer or videographer or drone pilot or website developer, or in extreme cases, for the Session or Service to be cancelled or postponed without liability. Such incapacity will deem to be ‘Force Majeure or Act of God’ .You will be kept informed as much is humanly possible.
18. Due to the possibility of high and low temperatures and volatile weather conditions that may be experienced at your Session, it is a requirement for health and safety reasons that our staff take the appropriate measures and breaks to ensure that they are protected from such conditions such as hot midday sun, rain, cold and strong winds. They may be unavailable for short periods while they take any appropriate natural breaks, refreshment, sustenance, protecting electrical equipment from the rain, or to warm up in winter. They also may disappear from time to time to deal with equipment issues, change batteries and memory cards.
19. Recording of video and sound may be subject to location permissions and copyright issues. It is the Clients responsibility to obtain any necessary permissions and approvals for us to perform the services at the Session. The Client must ensure that all necessary arrangements have been made with, and permissions obtained from, people and property owners that may be recorded on video or in sound and that such recording is in compliance with any GDPR / Data Protection legislation.
20. The Client will be responsible, unless part of the Session agreed services, for obtaining any Talent releases, Property releases or the provision of notices to those attending that they may be recorded on Cameras and that by their attendance they give their consent to being recorded. Unless you advise us otherwise, we will assume all persons attending the Session or properties/location visited have consented to being recorded.
21. Clients accept that where we physically perform the Services and record from and our ability to freely move around a property or venue or location is subject to the permissions of the property owner and as such they may restrict our line of sight or ability to record sound. While all efforts will be made to negotiate our needs with the property owner on your behalf, the Company cannot be held accountable if the final results are diminished, affected or redirected from our agreed Client plan or brief or understanding. We cannot be held responsible for any lighting, sound or interference issues caused by circumstances outside our control, such as, weather, hot or cold temperature extremes, adverse or poor lighting, flickering lights, noise issues or disturbances, and other restrictions imposed or allowed to be by property owners.
22. Retouching, digital manipulation and artistic finishing is available as an optional extra cost at such rates that are published by the Company from time to time. Such retouching, digital manipulation or artistic finishes are NOT included by default with any Session.
23. Client Images are retained by the Company for 6 months and as described under our DPA/GDPR Privacy Policy – www.visualchaosstudios.co.uk/privacy-policy/ . On-line proofs will be deleted after 25 days. CDs/USB are used for image transfer/transport only and not for data storage. We fully recommend that they are backed up immediately upon receipt several times. Backups and copying for storage is fully included in the creative license that accompanies the CD.
24. The 1988 Copyright Act assigns the copyright to the Company’s Image creator (photographer, Videographer, Web Designer). It is contrary to the Act and strictly illegal to copy or to allow to be copied, any Image(s). This includes downloading from our website or those of our agents. All Images remain the intellectual property of the image creator.
25. Force Majeure or Act of God: The due performance of the Session and these Terms and Agreements are subject to alteration or cancellation by the Company owing to any cause beyond our control. All efforts will be made to comply with alternate arrangements made. In the event of any dispute regarding the Session and the Terms of this Agreement or any contract between the Company and the Client, both parties agree to consult the British Institute of Professional Photographers to try to obtain conciliation before taking any other action.
26. The Company reserves the right to cancel and/or reject a Client’s Session booking for whatever reason and at any time with the limit of Client compensation or remedy to that of the fees already paid by the Client. We will always provide your with suitable and appropriate, where humanly possible, notice should such a situation arise.
27. The Company grants no rights and makes no warranties with regard to the use of names, trademarks, trade dress, registered, unregistered or copyrighted designs or works of art or architecture depicted in any Image(s), and the Client must satisfy itself that all the necessary rights or consents regarding any of the above, as may be required before reproduction, have been obtained.
28. THE COMPANY MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE COMPANY SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO THE CLIENT OR ANY OTHER PERSON, COMPANY OR ENTITY FOR ANY GENERAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, OR LOST PROFITS OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES, COSTS OR LOSSES ARISING OUT OF THE CLIENT’S USE OF THE IMAGES OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF THE COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, COSTS OR LOSSES.
29. Our staff don’t’ where suits or DJs or ties or formal clothing – ever… Smart casual is not a problem if required. Our work uniform is comfortable black or low key clothing with shirts displaying our brand/logo. Why do photographers/videographers always wear black? Because we don’t want to show up in reflections!