Instant Photos

[terri33inne]

My SIL has asked me to do the Holiday Fair at my niece/nephew's school as a fundraiser for the school. The idea is for me to take pictures of the kids for the kids to put on ornaments as gifts for parents/grandparents for the holidays. The pictures would need to be printed instantly. I would not be paid for this, but her thinking (and mine) is it would be good exposure as I could also have my brochures, display set-up.

My concern/hesitation is the quality of prints you get from a home printer/ink. Their school is on a tight budget so I'm sure another parent would be bringing in a photo printer from home, etc. Also, the logistics of taking the picture, setting up a mini studio (I have no indoor lighting equipment... not even off camera flash), and then printing it out for them to make ornaments.

Has anyone offered instant prints before? How was the quality?

[Jim Poor]

In short - don't do it. You're not prepared.

Now, to answer your questions.

Self printing can deliver super quality photos, but you need a calibrated system from monitor to printer to do it consistently. Relying on "just any" printer that some other parent may bring from home is a recipe for disaster.

"Exposure" doesn't pay the rent and will likely not get you far at all. Of course, there are exceptions, but to be one of those exceptions, you'll have to deliver WONDERFUL work, instantly, under austere conditions, with unfamiliar equipment and a total lack of studio lighting or experience with it should you come up with some.

Volunteering to work with a cause that you would support otherwise is fine in my book, but don't do it as a way to grow your business (it really won't in most cases). What's worse, is that nobody understands that you can't possibly be expected to turn out great prints on a printer that "someone" may bring to the event. Sure, you might get lucky, but are you willing to stake your future reputation on it? THAT sort of exposure tends to go a lot further than the good kind.

Now, if you insist, get some hot lights, cheap BG material, stands, etc and then something like a mini print lab from your local computer store. Work with it ahead of time to make sure you know what you're doing.

Make sure the cost is worth it to you.

Originally Posted by terri33inne

My SIL has asked me to do the Holiday Fair at my niece/nephew's school as a fundraiser for the school. The idea is for me to take pictures of the kids for the kids to put on ornaments as gifts for parents/grandparents for the holidays. The pictures would need to be printed instantly. I would not be paid for this, but her thinking (and mine) is it would be good exposure as I could also have my brochures, display set-up.

My concern/hesitation is the quality of prints you get from a home printer/ink. Their school is on a tight budget so I'm sure another parent would be bringing in a photo printer from home, etc. Also, the logistics of taking the picture, setting up a mini studio (I have no indoor lighting equipment... not even off camera flash), and then printing it out for them to make ornaments.

Has anyone offered instant prints before? How was the quality?

[terri33inne]

Thank you Jim... that's kind of my gut too. As I'm so new to building my business I don't want to start out with inferior quality. As I'd be doing it fee free it wouldn't be worth my while to invest in or rent all that equipment you mention.

I just need to figure out how to tell my SIL She doesn't get the "quality" issue, and sees no difference between Shutterfly prints & ones I have printed from my vendor.