When a client asks for a CD....

[Josie]

What do you do? I've just done two days of shoots for fundraising for my children's playcentre. Never done anything like that before, and EVERYONE is asking for the files - one even had the cheek to ask me for the file so she could go get a canvas done! I'm giving people the files this time but thinking I never will again

[Rick0r]

$10 for a cd.

simple, isnt it?

[Josie]

But.... if you give them a $10 CD, they're not going to buy any prints. Wait, was that a joke..?

[jackinavox]

sell them the prints instead then? tell them you can't give them the original photos.

[possum]

There are basically 2 options. You make your money from the prints, or you make your money from the sitting fee. Playcentre photos, you are best off selling the prints. If you are going to give out the files, make it a reasonable fee, so you don't feel ripped off. Ie, if you would have charged $200 for an hour or two, and you have 20-30 families, charge out at $10 a cd.

xxx Lou

[jackinavox]

Lou's approach is a good idea i think.

[Josie]

Thanks for the replies. We only charged $10 for the sitting, and that came with a 5x7 print so definitely hoping to make money selling the prints. Like I said, its the first time we have done it so will need to figure out how to approach it better next time. I had another thought, which was offer a CD with say fifteen photos of their choice for $500, but not selling individual files

[possum]

Fair enough, though that's pretty up there, I don't know how many takers you will get. Are you a professional?

ETA: Is it all money for Playcentre?

xxx Lou

[Josie]

I'm getting there! I've studied, and done a few weddings, a few portraits, a bit of sport, a couple of formals - this and that. We do have a website - www.lifephotography.co.nz if you're interested.
I have a 3 year old and a 10 month old so fitting in around them is tricky.
We're giving half of the profits to playcentre, but if we did it again we would have to look at the numbers again, as I think it's averaging out to about $4 an hour!

[Rick0r]

"a CD with say fifteen photos of their choice for $500"

Professional models and actors don't get charged that much. That figure seems stupidly high. No person is going to purchase a cd of photos for $500.

Mind you, it totally depends on the context. Were the photos of individual kids? Were they just photos of an event going on?

I'm an event photography, and offering $10-15 for a cd of the nights photos to whoever wants one will net you a good few hundred dollars by the time you've sold 20-30 of them.

If they were studio level portrait photographs, then that's a litle different. I'd just quietly direct them to my website where they can purchase individual prints.

Also, if you were giving/selling the photos to anyone other than the person being photographed, then you've got a whole bunch of model release forms to deal with - hope you're covered there.

[Josie]

They're studio shots of the individual kids (well, individual families) - this is the link http://picasaweb.google.com/lifephotography.nz
I don't think $500 for 15 shots is high at all - works out at about $30 a photo, and they can print it as many times as they want, and get canvases or whatever they want done with them.
And yes, everyone signed a model release form

[Rick0r]

It depends on the marketing angle too.

I doubt anyone would go for $500 for 15 shots.
However the exact same people might buy 15 shots for $30 a photo ;D

[smurff]

It depends on the marketing angle too.

I doubt anyone would go for $500 for 15 shots.
However the exact same people might buy 15 shots for $30 a photo ;D

this is so true, with the each photo at $30, they could pick the ones they really like and not the others aswell i guess.

alot of people think, because there only getting a CD it should be cheaper because physicly there not getting as much ie not 15 photos.
but really, when it comes to things like that, its not the actual print or the CD there paying for, its your experenice and ability as a photographer, some people dont really understand this

we had an issue at work were the client wanted us to change a weight figure in our PLC code, its a 20 min job, quote was just under $2k, they didnt really understand that there not only paying for the 20min job but paying for the exparence etc of the tecnition, who spent 10 years learning/doing the job.

sorry about my spelling, this browser does not have spell check :(

-smurff

[Redal]

What do you do? I've just done two days of shoots for fundraising for my children's playcentre. Never done anything like that before, and EVERYONE is asking for the files - one even had the cheek to ask me for the file so she could go get a canvas done! I'm giving people the files this time but thinking I never will again


This is quite easy, the largest print you sell is $35 , sell them each file at twice that price.
Or offer to get the canvas done for them, go to myworld.co.nz get it done, and charge them the price Harvey norman charges for the same size plus $35 for the file.
Harvey norman gets there canvas's printed there and the mark up is about 300%, so it is a win.

In the future, shooting on Spec is more hassle than it is worth.
If you do something similar again, charge the kindy/playcentre by the hour and give them a cd of images.

[Rick0r]

Another good strategy, is actually put your target as the "middle range"
Say you want to sell a lot of your 7"x9" for $35 prints.

Offer 5x7 for $30
7x9 for $35
9x11 for $45

Guess which one people are going to go for.

[ShutterNut]

I personally wouldn't give away digital files. Not only are you losing money on prints, but more importantly you are compromising your name and ability. You have no control at all over printing. They might be printed on low quality papers, using low quality inks, and poorly serviced machines. They may be printed in entirely a different colour profile. You can't sharpen specifically for the print size - as you don't know what size they are going to print, so you can only do a generic sharpen. And it's your name at stake if it's a bad print.

Sure, someone with Mummy goggles on probably won't notice if her print is slightly cool or too warm, or a colour is off because it wasn't printed correctly. But it might make the difference between a photo that is "good" and one that is "great". And one of the advantages of photographing kids at Playcentre is that it opens up a whole new potential market of people who might pay for a full sitting fee for their family or their kids.

Just my 2 cents worth!