Advice for shooting at a birthday

markp

markp

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Mark
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I've been asked to take some photos at a 40th birthday party in a few months time for a client of mine who I do other work for. I've never charged anyone for taking photos, so I'm totally unsure what I should be asking for!

And so, here I am throwing myself at the mercy of you guys - help!

I thought that I should probably charge a one-off fee for actually showing up and snapping away for the night, as I'm sure the more interesting photos will appear after people have had a few drinks later on. Would you suggest that I agree to give them hi-res digital copies of all the pics included in this price, or am I shooting myself in the foot?

Would it be beneficial to take a PC and printer along and print off some snaps on the night? Personally I'd prefer to put them up online somewhere after the event so I have a bit more time to do some post-processing, and could then take payment online and post them off in my own time. The advantage I can foresee with printing on the night is that people might be willing to pay a little more for some photos, and it means that my "customers" are all in the same place there and then (and if there's enough alcohol they might be inclined to spend a bit more too!)

On the subject of the actual photos, my selection of kit is a bit limited, so I'm wondering what's going to be best to use? I have a 400D, nifty-fifty f1.8, EF 75-300, Kit lens (soon to be replaced with a Sigma 17-70 f2.8 I hope!) and I think I'm going to have to invest in a 430EX to do a good job of this. I was hoping the Sigma would do a good job of this, but the 50mm is always good for portraits, but may not have the flexibility I need for doing "spontaneous" photos. I'm also toying with the idea of investing in Lightroom, as the beta really impressed me.

One last thing is that I've been asked to sign a confidentiality agreement, so as to avoid any embarassing photos falling in to the wrong hands. Does this put a dampener on me selling photos on to anyone other than the event organisers?

As always, I'm sure TP will help me out on this one!

Thanks,
Mark
 
Hang on Mark, give me a chance to read it then :D
 
I think you need to decide which way you want to play this. You charge a fee to attend and are then selling your time, this is by far the easier way for you. Work out a price you're happy with for your time and tell the client what it will cost. This should cover your time and all the images supplied on disk, as high res and with copyright. You take the money and walk away, job done.

If you want to sell the prints yourself, then since you're not providing a service to any one in particular charging a fee is more difficult and if you do, it will certainly be alot less. You then need to work out the best way of maximising your sales oportunities from the night. There is no doubting that the best way to get people to buy your shots is to let them see the pictures on the night and leave with a print.

If you can't manage that and it is quite a lot to handle, then showing on the night and taking the order there and then (with payment of course) is the next best option.

If you need to put the shots up on the web and take orders at a later date, the moment has passed for many people and the number of orders you get will reflect this.

As for your equipment, the only way to tell if you'll get the results you want is to have a few dry runs at it and see. There is no real reason why it shouldn't do a fine job and I've seen people do this sort of work with less.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope it goes well and try not to get sucked into spending more to do the job that you can possibly earn.
 
Last thing first. You need the organisers to clarify the constraints you will be bound by with a CA. It may prevent you posting online even with passwords.

Whenever I have done large events, I always take a laptop and set myself up in a corner with table and order forms etc. After taking all the required shots, someone over the PA system invites guests to preview the images or put up a sign on the table. Get ready with order forms, cash box and calculator. You are dead right about getting more sales on the night. You need a price list - I always print the order form on one side of A4 and the price list on the reverse. What you do need to consider is a special offer for ordering (and paying) on the night. Choose 1 size -say 6x4 - that you know what the lab charge is and make this as cheap as you can. People will order the special offer as well as the other sizes at the normal price without even batting an eyelid.

Regarding lenses. Hmmm I agree about the 50mm for portraits, but you will need a short telephoto for candid and larger groups where space may be a bit tight. I have a 17-40mm which covers all large groups and 24-105mm for the standard walk about stuff.

This is all imho Mark. Hope it gives you food for thought. Gillian
 
:agree: with Dazzajl. Decide how you want to go about doing it first. I have a fund raising event coming up in March at a local school. Family portraits. I have done it before and cannot stress enough about being prepared. You must go to the venue for a dry run, and whatever is agreed, get it in writing. Good luck.
 
Hey Mark,
dont have any advise to offer up with what the pro's have told you but I would like to wish you luck and hope you let us know how it goes, how you coped etc.

Just a thought, do you have a friend/girlfriend to take along to help with the showing/ordering.
The events Ive been to with this sort of thing, Ive found the guests tend to all gather at once and Ive seen the tog usually works in pairs.

Hope you enjoy the experience and that its a profitable one, good luck.
 
Glo's right. I always take an assistant with me to the larger events. The assistant shows the images and takes the orders. There has been times when I haven't seen any of the shots I have taken until I got home and downloaded again from CF's. Quite exciting really - not quite chimping, but going hmmm, hmmm, nah, nah.... Wow! did I take THAT, and 'that' shot you will find has the most orders.

Good luck anyway. We await some posts here. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Thanks everyone - I was beginning to worry that nobody would be able to help!

I'll certainly let you know what happens regarding the CA, and might even see if I can persuade Sarah to come along for a "night out" to give me a hand.

One final favour... does anyone have a copy of an example order form that I could take a look at - total novice here!

I'm off to FOI at the NEC tomorrow, so might see what there is in the way of Speedlite flashes!
 
markp said:
Thanks everyone - I was beginning to worry that nobody would be able to help!

One final favour... does anyone have a copy of an example order form that I could take a look at - total novice here!
Click to expand...

Mark - I will pm you with a copy of what I use. Gillian
 
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