not really looking for advice just kinda venting but also genuinely curious if this is normal. had a commercial shoot yesterday for a landscaping company, decent sized job, they wanted aerials of three properties they maintain. we went back and forth over email for like two weeks nailing down the locations, time of day, what angles they wanted, all of it. i even drove out to scout two of the locations the day before.

show up yesterday and the marketing person who hired me is suddenly like oh can we also get the warehouse on Route 9 and also can we do some ground-level stuff with the crew working. warehouse wasnt on the list, it's in class D airspace that i hadnt checked auth for, and ground crew stuff isnt really what i do ? i dont have a gimbal rig for walking shots.

i ended up getting the auth sorted on my phone which took 45 minutes standing in a parking lot and just did my best with some handheld stuff that honestly probably wont look great. felt like i couldnt say no in the moment but also felt like i got taken advantage of a little. do you guys put anything in your contracts about this or just roll with it

oh man this is so common it hurts. yes absolutely put scope of work in your contract and be explicit that additional locations or services not agreed upon in writing are subject to additional fees and subject to availability ? meaning you might just not be able to do it safely or legally that day. most clients arent trying to screw you they just dont understand that you cant fly anywhere you want whenever you want, the airspace thing especially.

i started adding a line that says something like changes to agreed shot list on day of shoot may incur a $75 amendment fee and require rescheduling if airspace or safety considerations apply. never had anyone push back on it when its in the contract upfront, they just dont think about it until they're standing there with you and suddenly want more.

the handheld stuff might actually turn out fine depending on your lens and how steady you are, ive surprised myself before. but yeah get it in the contract, i learned the hard way on a construction site job where they wanted me to follow a guy with a hard hat around and i had absolutely none of that planned or insured for properly. ended up being fine but it was stressful and i didnt charge extra which i should have