Efficient Portrait Sales

[candleman]

I’m wanting to start doing some outdoor portraits.. eventually for money.
(sooner rather than later)

Heres the problem.
Lets just say you are selling them on a prints based package, AND
Lets just say you get 100 pictures in the hour sitting that are keepers.

Now you need to edit them.

How do you do it?
Do you edit them all and show them proofs.. hoping they will buy more than the minimum package.

Or do you edit only the best few as their final package and present that.
But also say.. “I’ve got these too, and this is how much to edit them and provide prints” ..?

What about the CD.? A person wont agree to pay “hundreds” for a set of pictures they have never seen.. how do you get around it???


BTW.. this kindof relared to this thread
http://digital-photography-school.co...088#post289088

[i speak in math]

My girlfriend and I are trying to start a photo business so I know how you feel.

Here is what we decided:
1.) take the shots
2.) pick out your top 5 favorites and PP them
3. )show the client all the keepers and tell them that any they like can be retouched similarly
4.) let the client choose the photos they want and process those
5.) ???
6.) profit

[candleman]

hmm.. i had a similar line of thinking.
the rule of 5 could work...
are you going to only offer the edited ones on CD with the prints?
thats my problem..

i guess from the photographers point of view it can be justified (only showing the 5 initially) that "a good photographer only shows you their best work"

i hope it works out for you...

my problem is step 5 = Tax and step 6 = only a little of what you mentioned.
thats whats making it hard
uuugh.. why is going the right thing so hard sometimes..

[private]

What I plan on doing is basic editing to all the photographs, color balance and cropping - nothing fancy, and adjustments if I made a boo boo and under exposed And sell those on CD - prob only 25 photos. The cost of the CD depends on the size of the crop - an 8x10 CD will be more than a 4x6, and I will not guarantee the photos b/c I am not printing them.

If they want fancier stuff, I am charging $2.00 more per photo for sepia or b/w. $3.00 more for color selection. And if they want it on CD, that's also OK, but the price of the CD will go up. So if they want 10 of them in B/W the cost goes up $20.

[garncarz]

from what i have seen the cd with the copyright removed so the client can print or do whatever they want can be as high as $700 us. release of your prints and copyright is usually the last thing you would want to do. but it may be hard to explain that to the client. at walmart for one photo shot by a 40d canon is like $130. you will also have to make sure you have model release on each person and if you sell your copyright images make sure you also give them a signed form giving them rights to the images to print and do whatever or they won't be able to print them outside their home. you end up making more per print but clients like the cd from the people i talk to that have professional prints done so they can make multiple prints and internet and the like. most photographers won't give a cd because of the copyright. i would edit all just to be prepared. hope this helps.

garncarz

[candleman]

thanks garncarz

copyright is interesting.. in the contract i'd put a clause in "for personal use only" i'd retain the copyright but give them a "licence" to print them for personal use only.
commercial use or sales of the images would be infringement.
OR
sign copyright over to them.. but they sign a clause stating i can use the work for promotion/advertising/competitions etc etc.. so i still retain licence to use them.
my major concern is not the rights, after all, why do i want a picture of some dude i dont know with a goofy grin? but i think the above solution is a good comprimise if i like the shot.


Private..
hmm.. sounds interesing, i'd (personally) probably bump those prices up a bit.. but its a good plan for people who want to sit down and talk about their options and photo's.
It could work out well actually if they want to buy allot.
my only though is that it could get a bit complicated and people might not want to crunch numbers.. they just want a "what do i get.. whats the final price".. people like "combo deals"..

[private]

You are right about the combo deals...maybe up to 5 $10 and up to 10 $20. Pricing is sooo hard. Its ahrd to get the first client if you have no idea what to charge...

And I forgot about the relase form. I have a very simple model release form, do you know where I can get one for printing for personal use only...?

[garncarz]

here is something real simply for print services like at walmart. real short and sweet.

(Garncarz Photography)


To whom it may concern, I (Photographer) give (Client), permission to print, copy, and transfer all images with my copyright from (today’s date) forward with no ending date (or ending date).



_________________________________ _______________
(Chris Garncarz of Garncarz Photography) Today’s Date
(address)
(phone number)




_________________________________ _______________
(Client) Today’s Date



it works for them. they just want something to put on record just incase of sueing. also make sure of printing two copies and if possible if you are a notary do that. but not neccessary. keep one copy for your records and keep the original and the copy goes to the client. hope this helps. if anyone has better please chime in. this is the only thing i know for walmart and online.


make sure the dates are under the correct line.

garncarz.

[valleygirl]

Well, I charge $500 for a CD with all images from a session edited and ready for print. I just lost a customer because of the price of my CDs. But the way I figure it, if my CD contains 50 images that is $10/image that I've spent a good deal of time editing and preparing for print. That's pretty cheap I think. I think from now on I may charge by the image or have a package deal that includes the CD...that way my costs are covered.

Pricing is so hard. I just go and look at what everyone else in my area is charging then come up with a comparable price.

As for the proofs, I go through and edit all of them for the web, do basic sharpening and color enhancement, etc. but I don't go crazy.

[garncarz]

Originally Posted by laurenfitz

Well, I charge $500 for a CD with all images from a session edited and ready for print. I just lost a customer because of the price of my CDs. But the way I figure it, if my CD contains 50 images that is $10/image that I've spent a good deal of time editing and preparing for print. That's pretty cheap I think. I think from now on I may charge by the image or have a package deal that includes the CD...that way my costs are covered.

Pricing is so hard. I just go and look at what everyone else in my area is charging then come up with a comparable price.

As for the proofs, I go through and edit all of them for the web, do basic sharpening and color enhancement, etc. but I don't go crazy.

i was in sales at a jewelry store after the Army. i sold $160,000 in 8 months. i found out it is never about the price. never. it is about is the product worth the purchase. if the customer is worried about price they are probably in the wrong place to begin with, especially with photography because the client has no idea that we have a thousands worth of computer and maybe 10 thousand us dollars or more in camera equipment not to mention that is how we feed ourselves. we don't do 10 shoots a day, at least all the ones i know. we have to sell ourselves then the product if a customer is worried about price send them to the budget studio in the supercenter where they can get a package for 10 dollars. i sold 1000 dollar watches to business people for their secrataries for christmas who never asked about price nor did they look at the receipt. they hand me a credit card i hand them a gift wrapped box with the price tag removed. i did that with everything. this was in Nashville, TN. most people never asked price. just handed me a credit card. as photographers we sell emotion, art, memories. there is no price on that. of course we can't be dumb about it. we have to keep with the market unless we are like the best ever then people definitely won't be asking price anyways, they will expect it will be high. don't be afraid to say this will be 1000 dollars to do your wedding for 4 hours of work. if not we will see prices fall in our business for those that actually make a living at it. i will be charging 250 for a birthday party for a FRIEND and they know they are getting a deal but that won't be for awhile. but they like my shots that i have done at their house free just goofing during visiting. it will be one hour there one hour on the computer tops. but only because i have know them for 4 years and are close. i may or may not give them a cd though, i don't know. i will though make a dvd slideshow with music playable on a dvd player. real easy. slide folder into program, slide playlist of music. press create. burn disc. nothing else. 5 minutes. i keep all shots in order don't change anything. keeps a nice timeline. but them images are in dvd format not jpg.

garncarz