Number of photos to give clients??

[ema002]

I would like to sort of survey everyone on this particular topic:

When you do a people shoot (engagement, weddings, families, babies, etc.), what would you say is a reasonable number of photos to give them? I understand that it varies depending on the situation and clients, but I've had a little trouble with this. I took engagement photos for a client, and of the approximately 290 pictures I took, I gave them 40. They were expecting that I gave them all of the pictures for them to sort through - I don't recall saying that, and there was a misunderstanding. I just want to know whether or not I am in the wrong and need to change my business practices. Usually I take 3-5 photos of the exact same pose/setting and then choose the best photo from that. So giving myself the benefit of the doubt, I would have eliminated 4 of every 5 photos based on that, leaving me with 58 photos, or 20%.

What are your practices when giving a client photos from a shoot? Do you give them everything you took, or narrow it down to a final set?

Thanks in advance...

[BCampbell]

Everyone's different. This is something that should be clearly spelled out in the contract piror to the shoot. If you contract for 40 photos, they will expect 40 photos. If they expected something other than what you delivered, it sounds like you need more detailed contract language to start with.

Now, are you giving them prints or files? I'm going to assume files, so let's be real; they want the files so they can print off as many as they want later, cheaply. This is fine if you charge a profitable amount per file. One approach you might want to consider is printing up some "contact sheets" to let them choose the photos they want, with the price per photo (for prints or files) spelled out clearly beforehand. This way, there are no surprises on their end, and they get the satisfaction of making the final determination.

[Swisstony10]

That kind of misunderstanding is pretty common in situations where the photographer hasn't made things perfectly clear. Think of it from a non-photographer's perspective. They spend two hours posing while you take a few hundred pictures. They don't know that you won't have absolutely nailed the image every single time, they don't understand that you'll go through and ditch at least half of the pictures even before you've started any processing, and they don't appreciate that you'll maybe bracket some particularly difficult exposures to make sure you get it right.

I usually tell people (if I'm shooting them for the first time) that a session will normally result in around 20 keepers. That's an underestimate, but then you should see how chuffed they are when they get 35 to look through.

A little before Christmas I went out and did a TFP shoot with a local model. I'm not used to shooting models outdoors on location, and the weather was absolutely shocking, so I gave her that usual line, which she was cool with, as other photographers that she'd done TFP work with had only given her ten of fifteen finished images anyway. As it turned out, she was fantastic to work with, and in two hours I shot just under 300 images, of which over 90 were keepers. She was totally when she saw how many were on the CD that I gave her. We'll be working together again soon.

Russ.

[hibou]

After my first shoot I gave 50 photos, my second shoot 75. Then I realized that was totally insane and now I max out at 25.

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by hibou

After my first shoot I gave 50 photos, my second shoot 75. Then I realized that was totally insane and now I max out at 25.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhha! You see the light. I only give them what my contract calls for 20.

[ema002]

I did have a contract, but the wording was not clear enough. Unfortunately, this particular client informed me that she was laid back and didn't care, as long as she got a few good ones. After the fact, she's upset because 40 isn't enough. This was my first "contracted" shoot, so I didn't realize that people didn't understand that you won't get every single photo that was taken, therefore did not explicitly state it in the contract. Before I was a photographer, when I had my own wedding and engagement shoots done, I fully understood that I would not be receiving all of the photos taken, and that it was a long and arduous process to sort through and edit photos. I just assumed everyone understood that, and now I'm in this mess.

However, through all of this mess, and the exhaustion that comes with trying to please everyone when doing this sort of photography, I'm slowly resigning to food, nature, and still life photog. They don't complain!

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by ema002

However, through all of this mess, and the exhaustion that comes with trying to please everyone when doing this sort of photography, I'm slowly resigning to food, nature, and still life photog. They don't complain!

Isn't that the truth. People just want the whole nine yards these days. It all boils down to quantity not quality. Not how much but how many.

[Niresangwa]

I deliver 20 per hour of shooting. I generally differ from what seems to be standard practice in as much as I only show them treated images. They only see the images that I have selected and after I've worked on them. The only option I give them is that if they want something in B&W or sepia, I'll convert it for them.

Initially I had given SOOC as well as treated images, but stopped doing that. I don't want them coming back to me asking me to work on images I didn't think were good enough to do in the first place.

I clearly state before I work with someone that pretty much you get what I give you and can expect about 20. They're also briefed that I have the final and only say in cropping and treatments. They've looked through my stuff and liked enough to hire me, therefore they also have to accept my judgment on what I do with it.

So essentially I removed the entire proofing process completely.

As another poster said, I usually over-deliver on that which earns some good faith, but the absolute only further post work I'll do for them are colour conversions.

[GadgetVirtuoso]

As a consumer one thing that has always bugged me were the packages. I appreciated the need for the studio to make money off the prints but they seemed so limiting. One thing I'd like to be able to do it offer my services and let the customer pick and choose their prints and quantity. Am I looking at it with rose colored glasses?

I'm thinking an upfront fee for the session and a certain dollar amount for prints. Let's say $100 for a 2 hour session and $30 print allowance. What and how many the customer selects out of the $30 is up to them.

[hibou]

I've always hated packages, they never seem to have the right combination of things, too complicated, whatever. So now that I've started offering product it is strictly on an a la carte basis.

Now all my potential customers email me wanting to know what the packages are. >_<