Booking and Cancellation Policy

This policy explains how booking, payments, rescheduling, cancellations, delivery and refunds work with Elite Captures, doing business as Elite Captures (“we”, “us” or “our”). It summarizes the terms in our client agreements in plain language, so you know what to expect before you book.

Your signed agreement is the final word. If anything on this page differs from the agreement you sign with us, your agreement controls.

How booking works

1. Inquiry. You tell us about your date, location and plans through the inquiry form on our website.
2. Proposal. We send a written proposal with the services, deliverables, fees, travel costs and payment schedule.
3. Agreement. When you accept the proposal, we send an agreement that you sign electronically in our signing system. We sign it too.
4. Retainer. You pay the retainer online through the secure link we send or through your client portal.

Your date is reserved only when the agreement has been signed by both you and us and the retainer has been paid. Until then, the date stays open and we may accept another booking for it. A proposal on its own does not hold a date.

After you book, your client portal shows your agreement, invoices and receipts in one place.

Retainers

Bookings require a retainer to reserve the date. For commercial and product work we call it a deposit; it works the same way. For real estate shoots, your agreement states whether a retainer applies. The amount is shown in your proposal and your agreement, and the full retainer is applied to your total fee.

The retainer is earned when paid and is not refundable, except when we cancel, when this page says it can be transferred, or where your agreement or the law says otherwise. Here is why. When we reserve your date, we turn away other clients who ask for it, and we start planning your booking and scheduling our team. If a booking is cancelled, that date is often impossible to fill again.

Payment schedule and accepted methods

Your agreement lists every payment and its due date. We send each invoice by email with a secure link to pay online, and all of your invoices are also available in your client portal.

We accept:

• credit and debit cards, processed by Stripe;
• bank transfers (ACH) from a US bank account, processed by Stripe; and
• other payment methods by arrangement. Contact us before the due date if you would like to pay another way.

The amount on your invoice is the amount you pay. We do not add fees at checkout that were not shown on your invoice.

Card and bank payments

Card payments are usually confirmed within moments. Bank (ACH) payments take a few business days to clear. A payment counts as on time if you start it on or before the due date, even if it clears afterwards. If a payment is declined, returned or reversed, the invoice remains unpaid, and we will let you know so you can pay another way.

Receipts for every payment are available in your client portal. You enter your card or bank details into Stripe’s secure systems, and we do not store your full card number or your bank login details.

Late payments

If a payment is not received by its due date, you have a 10-day grace period with no late charge. After the grace period, a late charge of 1.5% per month, or the highest rate the law allows if that is lower, applies to the overdue amount until it is paid.

While an invoice is overdue, we may pause editing and delivery of your photographs and films. Delivery resumes once the invoice is paid, and the delivery time is extended by the length of the pause.

If something is making a payment difficult, tell us before the due date. We are always willing to talk through options.

Rescheduling

Plans change, and dates sometimes have to move. Please ask as early as you can, in writing.

• Weddings, events, corporate, commercial and product. You may reschedule once, to a new date within 12 months of the original date, subject to our availability. Your retainer and any other payments transfer to the new date.
• Portraits and families. If you tell us more than 14 days before your session, your retainer transfers once to a new session within 6 months. Changes made later follow the cancellation terms below, except for weather.
• Real estate. You may reschedule at no charge with more than 24 hours’ notice.

Price differences may apply, for example when the new date has a different rate, when our prices for the booked services have changed by the new date, or when the new date or location changes travel costs. We will confirm any difference in writing before you accept the new date. For commercial and product work, costs already paid for the original date that cannot be recovered (such as location, rental or talent fees) are billed at cost.

For all bookings other than real estate, a second reschedule, or a new date outside the window above, is treated as a cancellation under the terms below unless we agree otherwise in writing. If we are not available on any new date within the window that works for you, the cancellation terms also apply.

Cancellation by you

To cancel, tell us in writing. An email to [business email] is enough. The fee depends on when we receive your written notice, counted back from the date of your wedding, event, session, shoot or first production day.

The table shows the total amount due when you cancel, including your retainer or deposit. Everything you have already paid counts toward it. If you have paid more than the amount due, we refund the difference within 14 days. If you have paid less, we will send an invoice for the remaining amount.

What these terms mean:

• Total fee is the total in your agreement for the cancelled services. It does not include travel costs we have not yet paid or printed products we have not yet ordered.
• Session fee is the fee for the portrait or family session itself, not for prints or other products.
• Production fees are the creative, crew and editing fees in your commercial or product proposal. Non-refundable expenses are costs already committed for your production that cannot be cancelled or recovered, such as rentals, locations, props, talent or travel. They are billed at cost.
• Trip fee is the fee shown in your booking for sending a photographer or videographer to the property. A property is not ready when, for example, it is locked, still occupied or not prepared for photography as agreed, and the shoot cannot go ahead.

These amounts reflect the work we have already done and a reasonable estimate of what we lose when a booking is cancelled at each stage, when it becomes harder to fill the date.

Cancellation by us

If we cannot cover your booking, for example because of illness, injury or an emergency affecting the photographer or videographer assigned to you, we will arrange a qualified replacement. If we cannot provide a qualified replacement, we will refund in full all amounts you have paid for the affected services within 14 days. Your agreement explains the limits of our responsibility in that situation.

Weather and outdoor sessions

• Weddings and events go ahead in any weather. We adapt, and we will suggest covered or indoor options for photographs and filming. If there is lightning or another immediate danger, we pause outdoor coverage until it is safe.
• Outdoor portrait and family sessions can be rescheduled at no charge if rain, high wind, extreme heat or cold, smoke or other conditions would make the session unsafe or seriously affect your photographs or film. We make the call together, usually the day before. A weather reschedule does not count as your one reschedule.
• Drone (aerial) photography and video depends on weather, wind, airspace restrictions, venue permission and the Federal Aviation Administration’s rules for commercial drone flights (FAA Part 107). Our pilot decides whether it is safe and lawful to fly. If a flight cannot go ahead, we cover the scene from the ground.
• Real estate exteriors, twilight and aerial work can be moved to another day at no charge when the weather is poor.

Events beyond anyone’s control

Sometimes an event outside anyone’s reasonable control prevents a booking from going ahead, such as severe weather, a natural disaster, fire, flood, a public health order or other government action, war, civil unrest, a venue closure, or a widespread power or communications failure. Neither you nor we are responsible for failing to perform because of such an event.

When this happens, we will work with you to move your booking to a new date, and your payments transfer to it. If a new date is not possible, we refund the payments you have made, less the reasonable value of work already done (such as planning or pre-production) and any non-refundable expenses already incurred, unless your agreement says otherwise.

Travel

Travel is included when your session, event or shoot is within 50 miles of our starting point for your booking, or within the service area stated in your proposal. Beyond that, travel is charged as quoted in your proposal. For distant events, multi-day coverage, or very early starts or late finishes, the quote includes lodging for our team.

Every travel cost is listed in your proposal before you book. If you change the location after booking, we will tell you about any change in travel costs before it applies.

Delivery times

Every image and film is edited by hand, which is why delivery takes the time it does. Typical delivery times are:

Delivery times count from the date of your wedding, event, session or shoot (for portraits and families, from the day you send us your selections). Your agreement states the delivery time for your booking, and it controls. If we expect a delay, we will tell you. Galleries and films are delivered online.

Gallery hosting and archives

Your online gallery stays available for the period stated in your agreement. This is typically 12 months for weddings and events and 90 days for portraits and families. For other services, your agreement states the period.

Please download your photographs and films as soon as they are delivered and keep backup copies in at least two places, such as a computer and a cloud storage service. We are not an archive service. After the hosting period ends, your gallery may be removed, and we cannot promise that we still hold copies of your files. If you need more time, ask us before your gallery expires; extensions may be available.

How you may use your photographs and films is explained in our Image Licensing and Usage Policy.

Printed products

Prints, albums and other printed products are made to order for you, so we cannot accept returns or give refunds for a change of mind. If a product arrives defective or damaged in shipping, tell us within 14 days of delivery and send photographs of the damage and the packaging. We will replace the product or refund it. Small differences in color between a screen and a print are normal and are not a defect.

Questions, disputes and chargebacks

If something is not right, please contact us first at [business email] or [business phone]. Most issues are resolved quickly once we hear about them.

If you dispute a charge with your card issuer or bank, the process usually takes much longer than talking with us directly. If a dispute is opened, we will share the records of your booking with the card issuer or bank, such as your signed agreement, invoices and delivery records. You keep every right you have under your card issuer’s rules and the law.

Honest reviews are always welcome

We welcome honest reviews, whether positive or negative. Nothing in our agreements limits your right to post an honest review of our work or services, consistent with the federal Consumer Review Fairness Act. If something did not go as expected, we would appreciate the chance to put it right, but contacting us first is never a condition of posting a review.

If this page and your agreement differ

This page is a summary. The agreement you sign with us contains the full terms for your booking. If this page and your signed agreement differ, your agreement controls.

Contact us

Questions about booking, payments or cancellations are welcome at any stage:

• Email: business email
• Phone: [business phone]

See also our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.