DEPOSIT and PAYMENT: A deposit of USD $1000 per person is required to reserve a space on an international photography tour and $500 deposit is required to reserve a space on a U.S. domestic tour. The balance is due 120 days prior to departure. If you want to sign up for a tour within 120 days of departure, then the full amount will be due at the time of registration.
PLEASE NOTE: This deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable for any reason. Jim Zuckerman and his wife, Indiana, would love to have you join them for one of the tours, but please do so only if you are committed to coming. Jim understands that challenges can and do happen in life such as a broken bone, an unfortunate medical diagnosis, a natural disaster, the sudden need for surgery, or a family crisis, and because those unexpected occurrences are possible, you should purchase travel insurance to protect your investment. Upon signing up for a photo tour or workshop, Jim will send you a form by email to sign strongly suggesting you protect your investment with travel insurance. He will suggest two travel insurance companies for your review.
TRIP CANCELLATION: In all of the photo tours led by Jim Zuckerman, the hotels, transportation companies, and tour operators require a deposit at the time he reserves a date. This includes hotel space, charter vehicles, local guides, reservations for models and performers, etc. This is usually done a year in advance. In almost all cases, this deposit is non-refundable or partially refundable. Your deposit and your final payment are used to secure a place for you with the vendors Jim uses to make the tour possible. If you sign up for a photo tour and have to cancel for any reason, Jim will give you a refund only if he can sell your spot to another person. If you cancel 90 days or less before departure, it is extremely unlikely he can fill your vacated space. This is why Jim strongly recommends that you get trip cancellation insurance that will protect your investment in the tour.
TRAVEL INSURANCE: All tour participants are strongly encouraged to carry trip cancellation insurance as well as medical emergency evacuation insurance. No one likes paying for insurance … until you need it. For example, if you sprain your ankle two days before departure and you can’t walk without pain (or can’t walk at all), or if you need emergency surgery, or if there is a family crisis and you can't participate in the tour, you would lose your entire investment in the photo tour if you didn’t have trip cancellation insurance. Many things happen in life that we don’t expect, and it’s nice to know you have a safety net to protect you, just in case.
Likewise, if you get injured in a remote place and you have emergency evacuation insurance, help will be on the way immediately and it won’t cost an arm and a leg to transport you to a local hospital.
LOGISTICS: Our itineraries are designed to take advantage of the best light and the best photographic opportunities. Participants should allow for flexibility due to changes in weather, traffic, local governmental policy changes, cultural events, or other logistical arrangements deemed necessary by Jim Zuckerman. If a portion of the original itinerary has to be changed, please understand this is for a good reason.
Our groups stay in comfortable, modern hotels. We select among the best available accommodations but refrain from extravagance to keep the cost of the tour reasonable. Many wonderful photographic destinations are far removed from modern amenities, however, and where necessary we will be accommodated in rustic country inns, cabins or tented camps.
RESPONSIBILITY: Jim Zuckerman and Killer Stock, Inc., act only as an agent for the passenger in regard to travel including, but not limited to, sightseeing, meals, lodging, transportation, and all other services whether by railroad, motorcar, motor coach, boat, ship or aircraft and they assume no liability for injury, damage, loss, accident, delay or irregularity which may be occasioned either by reason of defect in any vehicle or for any reason whatsoever, or through the acts or default of any company or person engaged in conveying the passenger or in carrying out the arrangements of the trip.
They can accept no responsibility for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in air or other services, sickness, weather, strike, war, quarantine or other causes. All such losses or expenses will have to be borne by the passenger (or, ideally, by the passenger's insurance company), as trip fees provide for arrangements only for the times and locations stated. Baggage is at the owner’s risk entirely.