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Challenges from a preschool portrait shoot
MaryBoo
Registered Users Posts: 55 Big grins
So a friend lets me know that her preschool is looking for a local photographer to do their school pics and would I be interested?
I knew it would be a big learning experience, but it has exceeded my expectations:
1) I didn't think I would need an assistant.
Good thing that another friend volunteered to be my assistant. And it was a good thing she was there. She helped to get those little 2,3, 4 and 5 year olds into our pre-arranged poses. (We shoot 25 little ones) However I did not factor in the $50 I paid her for 5 hours of her time when I was pricing the job.
2) No matter how clear your order form, parents will be very inventive (and cheap)
I had sample order forms from several corporate portrait companies that I used as a starting point for my order form and I had 3 different people review it for clarity and yet 3 out of 11 mom's still thought they could mix and match multiple poses into one package. And another mom thought she could order individual 5x7 prints for the same price as the class picture, instead of ordering a package. In the end I honored all of the creative orders, even though it was extra work for me without added $$$.
3) I didn't think I would make mistakes when placing the order.
Now why did I think I could order all of those individual prints without making a mistake? I cropped one 8x10 poorly. I did one order on glossy instead of lustre paper (it wouldn't have been a problem, except that her sister's pictures were on lustre paper). And I ordered too few wallets on another order. My quick turn around schedule (pick up orders on Monday and deliver prints on Wednesday) did not factor in re-doing any prints and my estimated profits did not take into account the extra cost of re-orders. Hmmph.
4) I assumed that my final prints would look like my proofs.
I did print up a proof of each child to make sure my colors were good before I placed my final order, HOWEVER I printed the final prints at a different store. I ass-u-me-d that the same file, printed on the same paper with auto correct off would print the same at the Kirkland store at it did at the Woodinville store. I was wrong. My final prints came back too red and are unusable. I had to delay the delivery of the order and I am now in the process of re-entering the entire order and sending it to the Woodinville store. Sigh.....At least I will get a refund on the bad prints and I won't have the added cost of the order mistakes I made (see #3) unless I make more mistakes. :huh
5) I assumed all of my pictures would be in focus
When I looked at the 8x10 prints it became obvious that there were some focus issues on a few of the orders. (DOF too shallow) I'm going to refund 50% of the package price or offer a full refund if they don't want the picture.
6) I hoped to meet my target sales goals.
When pricing the job, I made the following assumptions: 80% of the families would place an order and the average order would be $25. (Had to start somewhere.) The reality was that just 22 of the 25 kids were there for picture day. The good news was I was able to almost make that up by taking pictures for 2 additional siblings, for a total of 24 portraits. From that I got 15 orders (63%) with an average order of $23. I am offering a re-take day for the kids that missed picture day, however my Preschool contact has not sent that information out to the parents and I have no re-takes scheduled at this time.:dunno
Will I do this again? Hard to say. If I did it would be for the experience and not for the $$$.
Here are couple of good pictures (one of 3 sets of twins):
And a couple of the girls
Thanks for listening
Mary
www.cherryvalleyphoto.com
I knew it would be a big learning experience, but it has exceeded my expectations:
1) I didn't think I would need an assistant.
Good thing that another friend volunteered to be my assistant. And it was a good thing she was there. She helped to get those little 2,3, 4 and 5 year olds into our pre-arranged poses. (We shoot 25 little ones) However I did not factor in the $50 I paid her for 5 hours of her time when I was pricing the job.
2) No matter how clear your order form, parents will be very inventive (and cheap)
I had sample order forms from several corporate portrait companies that I used as a starting point for my order form and I had 3 different people review it for clarity and yet 3 out of 11 mom's still thought they could mix and match multiple poses into one package. And another mom thought she could order individual 5x7 prints for the same price as the class picture, instead of ordering a package. In the end I honored all of the creative orders, even though it was extra work for me without added $$$.
3) I didn't think I would make mistakes when placing the order.
Now why did I think I could order all of those individual prints without making a mistake? I cropped one 8x10 poorly. I did one order on glossy instead of lustre paper (it wouldn't have been a problem, except that her sister's pictures were on lustre paper). And I ordered too few wallets on another order. My quick turn around schedule (pick up orders on Monday and deliver prints on Wednesday) did not factor in re-doing any prints and my estimated profits did not take into account the extra cost of re-orders. Hmmph.
4) I assumed that my final prints would look like my proofs.
I did print up a proof of each child to make sure my colors were good before I placed my final order, HOWEVER I printed the final prints at a different store. I ass-u-me-d that the same file, printed on the same paper with auto correct off would print the same at the Kirkland store at it did at the Woodinville store. I was wrong. My final prints came back too red and are unusable. I had to delay the delivery of the order and I am now in the process of re-entering the entire order and sending it to the Woodinville store. Sigh.....At least I will get a refund on the bad prints and I won't have the added cost of the order mistakes I made (see #3) unless I make more mistakes. :huh
5) I assumed all of my pictures would be in focus
When I looked at the 8x10 prints it became obvious that there were some focus issues on a few of the orders. (DOF too shallow) I'm going to refund 50% of the package price or offer a full refund if they don't want the picture.
6) I hoped to meet my target sales goals.
When pricing the job, I made the following assumptions: 80% of the families would place an order and the average order would be $25. (Had to start somewhere.) The reality was that just 22 of the 25 kids were there for picture day. The good news was I was able to almost make that up by taking pictures for 2 additional siblings, for a total of 24 portraits. From that I got 15 orders (63%) with an average order of $23. I am offering a re-take day for the kids that missed picture day, however my Preschool contact has not sent that information out to the parents and I have no re-takes scheduled at this time.:dunno
Will I do this again? Hard to say. If I did it would be for the experience and not for the $$$.
Here are couple of good pictures (one of 3 sets of twins):
And a couple of the girls
Thanks for listening
Mary
www.cherryvalleyphoto.com
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www.pixiememories.com
Canon Xti, 17-85IS, Nifty Fifty, 75-300 (kit lens), 430ex II and waaay too many filters
They are adorable. This is another potential market for me to look at!
Thanks for sharing. Your details will help us all.
ann
My Galleries My Photography BLOG
Ramblings About Me
1) being male I always have to have a female assistant to pose (handle) the children. In the old days you could do it all yourself and save some money.
2) competition with large photography concerns are to much to bear.
3) the parents (ordering & cheap)
4) the kick back to the school and the various "freebee's" they expect. And the "back bitting that is present" This can be attributed to the competition
5) accepting these "pre-school" shoots were originally just to fill in the gaps and valleys in my yearly shooting schedule.
On the positive side are the kids.
And the experience
And some tricks of the trade learned.
I was able to use professional (and inexpensive) labs that took a lot of the guess work out of the equation.
I went from about 20 schools (twice a year) and over the years had whittled it down to 1 and finally was able to release that one.
I've had a lot of good experience and like any walk of life some not so good one.
bsvirginian@gmail.com