\\ I have an idea... would like YOUR input //

[CharlieJ]

I have been toying with an idea for more than a year now. I'm a hobbyist, but have done paid photography jobs several times over the past 25 years or so. One of my best friends is a professional photographer, in the same geographic area, and he has encouraged me to explore my idea and make it come to fruition. It's a niche that he has no interest in, but I think there are people to be pleased and money to be made.

First, let me say I'm not greedy. I don't want to replace my day job as I have three kids and need to know I have a steady income that this idea probably won't allow. Second, I don't really know how to get started - thus the reason I'd like some input from pros and hobbyists, alike. Lastly, I'm very interested in hearing from others who either work in this niche or have done this kind of work in the past.

So, what's the idea CharlieJ? Well, here is it is... I live near Myrtle Beach, SC... and Wrightsville Beach, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset Beach and Calabash. All of these beaches are crawling with tourists -- both the weekend variety and the let's stay a month at the cottage folks.

My idea is to offer ALL of them a "Photographer for a Day" (or weekend). The short story is that I meet the family, couple, individual and spend the entire day with them -- shooting pics everywhere they go. That way, they can feel free to do whatever they wanna do without worrying about having a camera in hand... or if they will miss "that" shot... or which person will not be in the shot because that person is behind the camera. Amusement parks, the beach, lunch, supper, dinner cruises... pretty much anywhere, as long as they want photos taken, I'll be there with them.

As for my part, and this is where things get fuzzy... My thought is to charge the customer $200-$300 for the day - flat fee. The customer pays for any admission fees, anywhere we go. I buy my own meals, unless we go to an extravagant place, cruise, or dinner show. If we do, they pay for that meal, etc.

Here is where my pro photographer friend and I have debated the end product... At the end of the shoot, I suggest giving the customer a CD with all their photographs. They can then print whatever they want - or whatever else they want. My friend, GG, says that I should not give the customer a CD, but upload the pics to a website and allow the customer to order photos from me, at a package or per sheet rate. I realize I could make more money that way, BUT remember number one -- I'm not greedy (and I'm NOT implying that photographers who operate that way are greedy. It's just that photography is not my profession. It's a sideline and I don't wanna make it complicated.) Personally, I think $200-$300 is enough for a day as a hobbyist helping people have memories of their vacation. GG says I could get residual income for months or years to come, if I have people purchase the photos.

I'd like YOUR input on:
1) My idea - Do you think it's a good one? Do you know anyone doing this kind of work?
2) What I should charge for a day? Aside of the photos, what should my rate be for hanging out the entire day cost a customer?
3) Should I give the customer a CD at the end of the day or upload & sell the photos?
4) Anything else I should consider that might not be mentioned here?
5) Can you think of any value-added services to add to this type of niche?

I am very serious about making some additional income and helping people really enjoy their vacation time. I love photography, love people and quite frankly, I have three kids, one of whom is going off to college next year. I could use the money, but I don't want to be tied up in answering emails, taking phone calls, etc. all during the week. I really just wanna go shoot on the weekends... and enjoy my craft.

[Niresangwa]

It's a nice idea, and I know you're going to get some strong opinions on it here. I have seen this kind of thing offered before, so it's obviously something that will work...

but $200-300, no matter how greedy you don't want to be, is an absolute killer, and with all of the post-work, you're in for a long-a$$ time, especially when it will probably blow a whole weekend for you. I don't know what you feel your time is worth, but I would think spending a whole day on saturday for example shooting, then a whole day Sunday doing post-work, then a hour or so uploading, finishing up/mailing etc... that's essentially like shooting a wedding for $300 without as much pressure. even just shooting candids you're going to end up with so many images to file through and edit and sort and process and finish and burn and ugh..makes my eyes hurt just thinking about it.

While the theory sounds nice, and even though you feel excited about it now, how are you going to feel after doing a few of these and only making a few hundred bucks when you've sacrificed so much time? I think that the question you should be answering.

Plenty of photographers do lifestyle shoots and hang with the family for an hour or two or at an excusion...meet them at their house, do a few there, go to the zoo (or whatever they're doing) and shoot around there for an hour. That's a more reasonable time frame...

...because I'm pretty sure if I had my own personal paparazzi following me, I would be pretty tired of it after the first couple of hours.

[SusanH1970]

A lot of portrait photographers do this (though not necessarily for tourists) - I've seen a few websites where they offer "A Day In The Life" session. Usually they charge at least $1000 for the whole-day session. Some offer high-res CD's and the going rate is usually at least $80 - $300 per image on the CD; if not, people by individual prints, packages, or photo books. Do a google search for "lifestyle photography" and you'll see loads of examples.

ETA: Cross posted with Steve. Great points, Steve!!!

[Jim Poor]

1. How long is "a day?" Most "touristy" kind of days are 10-12 hours or more trying to cram everything in as much as possible. $300 for 10 hours equals $30 per hour not including other expenses like meals, driving, wear and tear on the camera, etc.\

2. More than $300, but you'll have to do your own research on this one. In my area, I wouldn't touch it for less than $750 for 6 hours.

3. Give? Nope. Sell? Maybe. A lot of photographers (myself included at one time) are TOTALLY against images on CD. I have to say though, what your talking about probably isn't going to result in a lot of reprints, so a one price for all would probably work best. I offer discs for dog sports, but not for portraiture, at least not without and extremely high price tag.

4. Loads and loads. Could probably fill a book, and many have.

5. Trinkets. T-shirts, mugs, caps, etc. The problem is you make a much higher profit percentage-wise on a disc of images or even prints than you will on a T-shirt.

I'd like YOUR input on:
1) My idea - Do you think it's a good one? Do you know anyone doing this kind of work?
2) What I should charge for a day? Aside of the photos, what should my rate be for hanging out the entire day cost a customer?
3) Should I give the customer a CD at the end of the day or upload & sell the photos?
4) Anything else I should consider that might not be mentioned here?
5) Can you think of any value-added services to add to this type of niche?

[BigVinnie]

I think you are pricing it too cheap.

You need to think about your market. I can't really imagine the average family willing to spend $300 plus to get quality images of their vacation.

That leaves a market that is at the higher end. People that would hire you would not be looking for a bargain, they are going to want top professional results. To do that you are going to spend time on post production and you may want to consider an assistant. In that league you need to be looking at $1,000 a day as a starting point.

Marketing is another issue all together. Hooking up with high end hotels and travel agencies would be a start.

First step would be to create a portfolio for your market. Have to have something to show folks.

It is certainly an idea worth pursuing. It is definitely all about location. Sounds like it might be a fun business model.

Never done anything like that myself, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

[CharlieJ]

All of you have touched on points I have considered, albeit without any experience to back up my own thoughts.

I was thinking around $300, which might fit the average family paying $2,000-$3,500 for a week's beach house rental. It's not 1/3 of their vacation rental cost, for a single day. And it's not so low, I would have to hang out with folks who want to drink PBR on the beach all afternoon -- you know what I mean. Do you think there's a happy medium? If so, at what price? Myrtle Beach is nice, but it's not Sea Island or the Hamptons. The avg beach front hotel costs $200-$500/night. The avg 3BR/2BA beach house costs $3000 for a regular summer week. So, what would you consider a legitimate price that will get me regular gigs to shoot on the weekend? The pros here might not even consider doing this type of work, but keep in mind my situation - it's a sideline idea, offering vacation photos, earning me extra money, with low overhead and little or no after-work. THANKS!

Also, the one price model, from my point of view (and I'm not defending it, just explaining) would be such that the customer gets the end product at the end of the session. I don't have a lot of post processing work to do... and I haven't charged them for retouched, "top professional results". Yes, I want to do good work, or not do it at all. Then again, this is not going to be my primary job, so I cannot (no matter how much I'd like to) give it the time for post processing, etc.

[CharlieJ]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

1. How long is "a day?" Most "touristy" kind of days are 10-12 hours or more trying to cram everything in as much as possible. $300 for 10 hours equals $30 per hour not including other expenses like meals, driving, wear and tear on the camera, etc.\

So, how about defining "a day" as 8 hours... and then a per hour fee after the 8 hours?

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

2. More than $300, but you'll have to do your own research on this one. In my area, I wouldn't touch it for less than $750 for 6 hours.

So, $125/hour? Or, for "a day" for $1,000.00 + any extra hours. If so, I might be looking at the situation BigVinnie spoke of - the avg family not affording $1k for a day... and the higher end of the market demanding post processed, top notch photos. Ugh!

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

3. Give? Nope. Sell? Maybe. A lot of photographers (myself included at one time) are TOTALLY against images on CD. I have to say though, what your talking about probably isn't going to result in a lot of reprints, so a one price for all would probably work best...

How about offering the option of an "unfinished" CD for the "a day" price OR... a post processed photo album and reprints for an additional charge? But, not both.

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

5. Trinkets. T-shirts, mugs, caps, etc. The problem is you make a much higher profit percentage-wise on a disc of images or even prints than you will on a T-shirt.

Uhhhh... I guess I could use an online site for that... but I'm not interested in getting that kinda deep unless I can quit my day job and take on photography as my career. Nonetheless, this is a good idea -- esp for the cheesy side of vacations that people often engage in (corny t-shirts, hats, keychains, etc).

Originally Posted by BigVinnie

... Marketing is another issue all together. Hooking up with high end hotels and travel agencies would be a start.

Thanks for the reminder. I should have no problem with this end of the business... having many contacts in the hotel, bar and beach house rental businesses.

Originally Posted by BigVinnie

First step would be to create a portfolio for your market. Have to have something to show folks.

Ya know, I have thousands of photos... but very few of people. I mostly shoot macro, nature and abstracts or textures. My oldest daughter and I did a photoshoot last year... and I did one for a friend's daughter, who turned 16 last year. This is definitely something to consider. How would you suggest building a portfolio when I don't have the portfolio to get me the business? I was considering shooting my own family... and maybe some friends who are couples... and using those photos to start the portfolio.

Originally Posted by BigVinnie

It is certainly an idea worth pursuing. It is definitely all about location. Sounds like it might be a fun business model.

Well, the location is good... the sun is bright and the backgrounds are excellent. That is the primary reason I considered doing it, in the first place. LOTS of tourists and lots of beaches... all just waiting for someone to shoot candids, family portraits and "action" photos -- all summer long.

[RLucas]

We are in NC, and the way jobs are now here, I would have to say $30.00 an hour is pretty impressive for side money. Especially if all you are doing is essentially replacing someone behind the lens to basically take snapshots all day. If SOOC jpg snapshots is what you may be proposing?

He did say he didn't want to quit his day job just yet. The only thing I would maybe do is to charge extra for any PP or touchups. And like someone else mentioned, the cd would have to cost extra as well. Value doesn't mean free or even cheap.

I know the Beachmonkey guy does similar stuff around Myrtle Beach and that area, except his are more night club stuff and are a little more risque.
Here is the front page of the gallery with price listings per image.
www.beachmonkey.com - Beachmonkey photogallery

This may be very well something worth pondering, but be sure you weigh out ALL the costs involved before hand.

[Jim Poor]

At $30 / hour BEFORE expenses, this proposition will NOT make side money, it will LOSE money in the end.

Originally Posted by RLucas

We are in NC, and the way jobs are now here, I would have to say $30.00 an hour is pretty impressive for side money. Especially if all you are doing is essentially replacing someone behind the lens to basically take snapshots all day. If SOOC jpg snapshots is what you may be proposing?

He did say he didn't want to quit his day job just yet. The only thing I would maybe do is to charge extra for any PP or touchups. And like someone else mentioned, the cd would have to cost extra as well. Value doesn't mean free or even cheap.

I know the Beachmonkey guy does similar stuff around Myrtle Beach and that area, except his are more night club stuff and are a little more risque.
Here is the front page of the gallery with price listings per image.
www.beachmonkey.com - Beachmonkey photogallery

This may be very well something worth pondering, but be sure you weigh out ALL the costs involved before hand.

[xd40c]

Someone mentioned this earlier, ....but an all day shoot?? Who will burn out on this first, you or your client?

As for price, well I am not a pro photog, but I do outside for my company. I get $950.00 per day. No reason you shouldn't get something similar. There is an expectation of quality based on the fee. If you charge very little, they will expect very little (ie " well what did you expect for $XXX.00.")

I might try $300.00 for a couple hours in the afternoon at the beach. East coast beached are pretty much bathed in sulight by 8:30.

It is an intriguing idea though...good luck!