1. Booking

To make your booking, please email a booking request to ed@edsmithphotography.com. The person making the booking (“client”) must be at least 18 when the booking is made and is responsible for making all payments due. This individual must be authorised to make the booking on the basis of these booking conditions by all persons named on the booking and by their parent or guardian for all Workshop participants who are aged under 18 when the booking is made. By making the booking request, the client confirms that he or she is so authorised.

In order to confirm your booking you are required to pay a deposit of 25% of the Workshop price, or full payment if booking within 60 days of the Workshop. This will only be refundable in the circumstances set out in these booking conditions. Any remaining balance must be paid by the due date shown on your invoice or in correspondence.

After receiving the booking deposit payment Ed Smith Photography will issue confirmation of receipt and will also send you an invoice for the remaining balance and advise you of the date for payment of the same. All payments are taken in GBP.

Please check your invoice carefully as soon as you receive it and contact Ed Smith Photography immediately if any information which appears on the invoice or any other document appears to be incorrect or incomplete. Ed Smith Photography cannot accept any liability if not notified of any inaccuracies (for which we are responsible) in any document within 10 days of our sending it out.

Payments for Workshop bookings can be accepted by Bank Transfer (details available from contacting ed@edsmithphotography) or a secure payment link which accepts most major credit and debit cards can be sent to your email address or phone number.

It is a condition of our accepting your booking that you are covered by appropriate and adequate personal travel insurance which should be in effect when you make the booking.

If you wish to, you may contact Ed Smith Photography by e-mail for any of the reasons mentioned in these booking conditions (for example, to request an amendment) providing you do so to ed@edsmithphotography.com

2. Cancellation of Booking

You may cancel your confirmed booking at any time prior to commencement of your Workshop. You may also transfer your booking to someone else. Any cancellation must be notified in writing by the person (client) who made the booking. Your notice of cancellation will only be effective when it is received in writing by Ed Smith Photography. We will ask you to pay cancellation charges on the scale shown below based on the commencement date of your original Workshop booking. In calculating these cancellation charges, we have taken account of possible cost savings and the generation of income from other bookings which may be able to utilise cancelled services to the extent this is likely to be achievable.

If you cancel your Workshop booking:

• Any booking made more than 60 days before the commencement of the Workshop benefits from a 5 day cooling off period. You can cancel without penalty for 5 days and receive a refund of your deposit.

For cancelling outwith the cooling off period the following charges apply:

• 60 days or more days before the Workshop commences: your deposit will be held as a credit for future Workshop(s).

• 59 days – 31 days before the Workshop commences: we charge 50% of the Workshop price.

• 30 days or less before the Workshop commences: we charge 100% of the Workshop price.

Ed Smith Photography accepts no responsibility or liability for clients who are unable to attend due to (but not limited to) illness, flight cancellation, family emergencies or other extenuating circumstances. Such eventualities are the responsibility of the client. It is advised that appropriate insurance is sought to cover these scenarios. This is of significant importance where multi-day Workshop tours are concerned.

We appreciate that wholly unforeseen events may result in cancellation. We therefore strongly advise you to take out travel insurance to protect yourself from losing money if you have to cancel. You will be advised of the exact amount of any cancellation charge prior to the cancellation being finalised.

If we cancel your workshop booking:

Ed Smith Photography reserves the right to cancel any workshop. Cancellations by us will be subject to a full refund of paid fees. However, flights and other such bookings made by the client will not be refunded. Cancellation will only occur due to Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances or well in advance of the start date. It is advised that appropriate insurance is sought to cover cancellation.

3. Adventure Travel and Client Responsibility

It is a fundamental condition of your booking that you accept the hazards involved in the sort of outdoor environments our Workshops operate within and you accept that by visiting remote and mountainous regions there is an element of flexibility to the Workshop. The itinerary stated in the Workshop is indicative only and not a guarantee that a particular route will be followed or a location reached. You must acknowledge that delays and alterations and their results, such as inconvenience and discomfort, are possible where unforeseen circumstances arise. You must have a level of fitness commensurate with your chosen Workshop and you are responsible for bringing the appropriate equipment, details of which will be sent to you at the time of booking.

When you book, you accept responsibility for any damage or loss you cause. Full payment for any such damage or loss (reasonably estimated if not precisely known) must be made direct to the accommodation owner or manager or other supplier or to us as soon as possible. If the actual cost of the loss or damage exceeds the amount paid where estimated, you must pay the difference once known. If the actual cost is less than the amount paid, the difference will be refunded. You will also be responsible for meeting any claims subsequently made against Ed Smith Photography and all costs incurred by us (including our own and the other party’s full legal costs) as a result of your actions. You should ensure you have appropriate travel insurance to protect you if this situation arises.

We expect all clients to have consideration for other people. If in our reasonable opinion or in the reasonable opinion of any other person in authority, you behave in such a way as to cause or be likely to cause danger, upset or distress to any third party or damage to property, we are entitled, without prior notice, to terminate the participation of the person(s) concerned. In this situation, the person(s) concerned will be required to cease all use of the Workshop’s services including leaving any accommodation. We will have no further responsibility toward such person(s) including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses, costs or loss incurred as a result of the termination.

4. Personal Travel Insurance

It is a condition of our acceptance of your booking that you have appropriate travel insurance to cover your whole trip. We strongly recommend that you take out a travel insurance policy before you book your Workshop with us.

A travel insurance policy protects you and your arrangements from the unexpected before and during your Workshop. It is your responsibility to make sure you have adequate cover and we are not able to offer advice on insurance. However, we recommend your policy should include cover for emergency medical costs, cancellation or curtailment of your trip, personal belongings/baggage and personal liability:

• In the event of emergency rescue and medical care and/or repatriation from a trip due to injury or medical emergency, any evacuation and medical costs will be borne by the client.

• If you need to cancel your trip with us then you may lose some or all of the money you have paid.
  

• All luggage and personal equipment are, at all times, at your own risk. We will not be responsible whatsoever for any loss, damage to your luggage and/or personal equipment.

We recommend you do your own research to find the best provider for you. Please note, it is your sole responsibility to ensure that the travel insurance purchased is suitable for your particular needs, including without limitation, in respect of any pre-existing medical condition (which must be disclosed to the insurer prior to purchasing the policy.)
Please read your policy details carefully and bring them with you.

5. Medical Conditions / Disabilities & Dietary Requirements / Special Requests

If you have any special request (such as dietary requirements), you should advise us at the time of booking. Although we will pass-on requests to the relevant supplier (such as the cook or accommodation provider) and follow these up whilst doing our utmost to fulfil these requests, we regret we cannot guarantee any request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part. Confirmation that a special request has been noted or passed on to the supplier or the inclusion of the special request on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation is not confirmation that the request will be met. Unless and until specifically confirmed, all special requests are subject to availability. For your own protection, you should obtain confirmation in writing that a special request will be complied with (where it is possible to give this) if it is important to you. Any special request which we have accepted will be specifically confirmed as accepted on your confirmation invoice.

Certain workshops may not be suitable for people with certain disabilities, medical conditions or significantly reduced mobility and we are very aware that this means different things to different individuals. In stating this we refer to a material reduction in mobility, permanent or temporary, which may be caused by age, by physical or mental disability or impairment or other cause of disability. Before you make your booking, please contact us and we will advise you as to whether the proposed workshop arrangements are generally suitable for someone with reduced mobility.

Should you suffer from any medical condition, disability or significant reduction in mobility which may affect your workshop (including any which affect the booking process) or have any special requirements as a result, please tell us before you confirm your booking so that we can assist you in considering the suitability of the arrangements and/or making the booking. In any event, you must give us full details in writing at the time of booking and whenever any material change in your condition, disability or mobility occurs. You must also promptly advise us if any medical condition, disability or reduced mobility which may affect your workshop participation develops after your booking has been confirmed. Failure to disclose a medical condition, disability or reduced mobility that could affect you during the trip could place you and others at risk.

6. Independent Travel Arrangements

We will not be responsible or liable for your actions or your safety for any independent travel you undertake before, during (if you choose to leave) or after the Workshop. All preceding and on going transport booked independently by you is undertaken entirely at your own risk.

7. Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these booking conditions, Ed Smith Photography regrets we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our obligations under our contract with you is prevented or affected by, or you otherwise suffer any damage, loss or expense of any nature as a result of, unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. In these conditions, unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances means a situation which is beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Such situations include (whether actual or threatened) war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural disaster, exceptional adverse weather conditions, fire, flood or an outbreak of serious illness at your workshop destination, closure. Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances also include the coronavirus pandemic and its impact such as travel restrictions and the measures and other action being taken by governments, public authorities and businesses to control and manage its effects (such as the implementation of social distancing).

8. Final points

• Photographic workshops are susceptible to weather and many unpredictable factors which come with little (or in some cases no) advance warning. For this reason the itinerary and workshop description must be taken as an indication of what may take place but is not a contractual obligation which Ed Smith Photography is held to. We do not accept liability or responsibility for death, bodily injury or illness caused to any clients booking a workshop unless arising from the negligent act and/or omission of the company’s employees (whilst acting in the course of their employment). Any claims shall be subject to Scottish Law in respect of any question of liability, and all proceedings shall be within the exclusive domain of the Scottish Courts.

• As the Client and participant in a Workshop it is your sole responsibility to ensure you, your belongings and equipment are adequately insured against injury and accident, accidental damage, loss, and theft, during the Workshop.

• By making a booking you are agreeing to accept all of the above conditions.