preschool photos

[Kellyj69]

I have been contacted by a daycare to do "graduation" photos.. I've never done school type photos.. she wants to know what I would charge.,.

They had a photographer booked, but he bailed on them because he booked a High School Graduation gig


so.. the plan..

go to the daycare and set up a photo booth..

now the HELP???

do I take multiple shots of each child and let the parents choose?
class photo??
do I charge the school to come out - a "sitting fee"?


my idea..

shoot the children.. upload the photos to smugmug and give the parents the link to the album and offer package pricing..
should I make a different portfolio for each child? or let the parents sift through the class until they find their child???


and most of all.. WHAT AM I FORGETTING????

Thanks!

[zona5101]

Didn't they give you an idea of what they had in mind? Ask them what they want you to deliver - they may have it planned out of how they want to use the shots for marketing/rewards...

[bhursey]

Originally Posted by zona5101

Didn't they give you an idea of what they had in mind? Ask them what they want you to deliver - they may have it planned out of how they want to use the shots for marketing/rewards...

We did a pre ditermined package when I did Kindergarden graduation. 2 5x7's and 8 wallets.. And had a set price. Then you pick the best shot you took of each. I shot about 4 per child. And order the prints package then and return them to the school. That way nothing gets put online to the public. It is really sensitive in puting school kids online if minors. There are allot of petifiles.. Also you cant put them online at all without a model release.

[mshockley]

I agree with "bhursey", I would do this just as you would expect any other school photo. Around here we have to choose the package we want, and a few weeks later the kids bring home the prints. I think the above idea on a pre-determined package/price is the way to go. Don't even mess around with proofing, it's your call on the one that get's printed.

[funcrunch]

Originally Posted by bhursey

We did a pre ditermined package when I did Kindergarden graduation. 2 5x7's and 8 wallets.. And had a set price. Then you pick the best shot you took of each. I shot about 4 per child. And order the prints package then and return them to the school. That way nothing gets put online to the public. It is really sensitive in puting school kids online if minors. There are allot of petifiles.. Also you cant put them online at all without a model release.

A model release is only required if you're licensing the photos for commercial use or using the photos for promoting your business. However, for an private shoot like this, especially with young children involved, putting the photos in a password-protected gallery would be a very good idea.

[kevingeary]

Originally Posted by Kellyj69

I have been contacted by a daycare to do "graduation" photos.. I've never done school type photos.. she wants to know what I would charge.,.

They had a photographer booked, but he bailed on them because he booked a High School Graduation gig


so.. the plan..

go to the daycare and set up a photo booth..

now the HELP???

do I take multiple shots of each child and let the parents choose?
class photo??
do I charge the school to come out - a "sitting fee"?


my idea..

shoot the children.. upload the photos to smugmug and give the parents the link to the album and offer package pricing..
should I make a different portfolio for each child? or let the parents sift through the class until they find their child???


and most of all.. WHAT AM I FORGETTING????

Thanks!

I just did a martial arts photo day for a martial arts school. I charged $10 for a 10 minute time slot. Told them I'd take unlimited pictures in that time slot (we actually shoot for 8 minutes). For pre-school you'd probably get away with 5 minute slots for $5. The non-refundable "sitting fee" is basically to prevent no-shows.

They chose one of three package options and wrote me a check for the price of package, which I then will give them a smugmug print credit for.

I shot tethered to my macbook pro, which was also linked to an external 24" LCD. I could watch the images pop up on my Mac and the parents got to sit in a chair and watch them pop up on the LCD using lightroom's dual monitor support.

Once we were done shooting, I'd go back and let the parents choose their favorites, marking them as "picked" in Lightroom.

When the day was done I just used lightrooms "picked" filter to see all the final poses the parents wanted.

I used the event feature in smugmug to put all the pictures of the kids into separate galleries for each individual kid, but have them listed under the same event page.

Hope that helps...here's one of the images:


Sharp as an Axe by kevingeary, on Flickr

[mariselafm]

I used to take my oldest to a Mommy and Me type of class, and at the end of each semester a photographer came to shoot the kids. The way it worked is that she took around 8-10 min for each kid, (no sitting fee) and we picked beforehand the print package we wanted. The teacher always advised to choose the cheapest package (which was around $10) in case we didn't like the picture the photographer chose. The $10 package consisted of one wallet print of the kid mounted in a school theme decorated "mat", and a 5x7 group picture.
We are talking about kids under 3 years old, so I think the daycare might expect something like this.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by kevingeary

I just did a martial arts photo day for a martial arts school. I charged $10 for a 10 minute time slot. Told them I'd take unlimited pictures in that time slot (we actually shoot for 8 minutes). For pre-school you'd probably get away with 5 minute slots for $5. The non-refundable "sitting fee" is basically to prevent no-shows.

They chose one of three package options and wrote me a check for the price of package, which I then will give them a smugmug print credit for.

I shot tethered to my macbook pro, which was also linked to an external 24" LCD. I could watch the images pop up on my Mac and the parents got to sit in a chair and watch them pop up on the LCD using lightroom's dual monitor support.

Once we were done shooting, I'd go back and let the parents choose their favorites, marking them as "picked" in Lightroom.

When the day was done I just used lightrooms "picked" filter to see all the final poses the parents wanted.

I used the event feature in smugmug to put all the pictures of the kids into separate galleries for each individual kid, but have them listed under the same event page.

Hope that helps...here's one of the images:

seriously excellent image and your workflow sounds like a real boon to the overall process. tfs.

[Jim Bryant]

If you don't know what to charge, maybe you should not take pictures at all for profit or for free. Study the marketplace and see what everyone else is charging. If you don't feel your photography is up to standards, don't even attempt at all.

[MattG]

As we are talking young kids - I would suggest something different. So do a class at a time. Group shots of class with teachers/carers. Then note shot numbers with kid names and take shots of kids at play, drawing, posing. The daycare will have a register so just use this - get the carer to point the kid out and do selection of shots with each.

As for delivery, either print out a thumbnail sheet with package options for each kid or perhaps an online gallery. It's how it is done for our kid at the local daycare.