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suddenly in over my head!
Just0a0guy
Registered Users Posts: 23 Big grins
well I think I am suddenly in over my head with no time to properly prepare. First I am sure that I am over thinking the whole situation and being overly concerned.
Second since I probably waited too long simple advice is probably best since I am limited in how much prep work I can do.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way. Let me explain my situation: My girlfriend has decided to raise funds for publishing her mother's book by offering Dog portraits at a family member's dog day care. 20% of the proceeds will be going to charity the rest will go towards financing the book. This is my first paid photo job and to make matter worse its also the first time I have ever tried to shoot edit and show in the same day. I am confident in my girlfriends shooting skills and my ability to get comfortable with a reduced studio and canine subjects. However I am not sure about everything I need to have with me for the day of and setting up a website in time given that the event is Tuesday the 24th. I also do not have a model release form yet.
I am planning on bringing 3 computers (1 for editing 2 as viewing stations)
2 light stands with umbrellas, 2 clamp lights, white foam board for bounce lighting. (unfortunately I am using CFL bulbs but I think there should be enough lighting given that my girlfriend has used these for portraits in the past)
a few small props (over sized bone, small chair, sheets for accent under the dogs)
3 backgrounds and background stand (white, black, painted gray)
camera 4 batteries, 2 memory cards 17-50 f2.8, and 50 prime 1.8
so really it boils down to some confidence that there is enough gear assuming that there is no hardware failures and the the question of how long would it take to set up a website for people to be able to see and order prints. I think I can set up pay pal for payment. so please any advise suggestions or obvious oversights on my part please let me know your thoughts.
Second since I probably waited too long simple advice is probably best since I am limited in how much prep work I can do.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way. Let me explain my situation: My girlfriend has decided to raise funds for publishing her mother's book by offering Dog portraits at a family member's dog day care. 20% of the proceeds will be going to charity the rest will go towards financing the book. This is my first paid photo job and to make matter worse its also the first time I have ever tried to shoot edit and show in the same day. I am confident in my girlfriends shooting skills and my ability to get comfortable with a reduced studio and canine subjects. However I am not sure about everything I need to have with me for the day of and setting up a website in time given that the event is Tuesday the 24th. I also do not have a model release form yet.
I am planning on bringing 3 computers (1 for editing 2 as viewing stations)
2 light stands with umbrellas, 2 clamp lights, white foam board for bounce lighting. (unfortunately I am using CFL bulbs but I think there should be enough lighting given that my girlfriend has used these for portraits in the past)
a few small props (over sized bone, small chair, sheets for accent under the dogs)
3 backgrounds and background stand (white, black, painted gray)
camera 4 batteries, 2 memory cards 17-50 f2.8, and 50 prime 1.8
so really it boils down to some confidence that there is enough gear assuming that there is no hardware failures and the the question of how long would it take to set up a website for people to be able to see and order prints. I think I can set up pay pal for payment. so please any advise suggestions or obvious oversights on my part please let me know your thoughts.
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I would want to get the photos fast onto a great computer screen, so several memory cards is not a luxury unless you have a wifi gadget to transfer the pics instantly from the camera. Ideally I would have a large number of low capacity cards, one per dog, preferably. Then the punter can walk them over to the computer themselves. Otherwise, the card and the forms slip in a plastic envelope and go to whoever is driving the computer so they are up quickly.
From a marketing view you have to convert this into one buying opportunity - strike while the enthusiasm is there. When you split the process into three decisions:
- do I want a doggie picture?
- are the pictures any good?
- do I want to buy my doggie picture, even when I do not have the print in my hands?
then you have three moments at which the customers hacks off, of which the third is the most risky. You need to make it a single flow when the easy decision - do I want my doggie on a photo - is the most important because it implicitly commits the owner to buy something as long as there is little time for second thoughts.
I would also try and forget the technology. There is a hard-core 25% who refuse to use internet at all. Another 25% have it in their home for the children but don't know how to use it themselves. When you insist on people using internet to buy from you, half of the customers are lost before you start. I would be looking to take cash. The % of people who don't buy because they have no cash with them is MUCH LOWER than the % who don't buy because they cannot be bothered with the net aspects.
In this fast-track scenario there is no time for pp. Get it right in camera and shoot jpeg. The one punter who wants a wall poster can wait - so RAW+JPEG maybe the best bet; RAW just in case you hit pay dirt.
Some thoughts and I hope they are helpful. With all the stuff you have to fix before tomorrow, Paypal would be bottom of my list. Try and put yourself in the shoes of the punter and how to persuade them to open their purse quickly in a way that ensures you get paid. The fact you do this for a "good cause" should make it easy because people will buy stuff they don't need in the heat of the moment.
How much of the proceeds are you getting paid?
You need to work with what you have. You ain't got no time for new fangeled stuff.
Have everyone who is having their dog photographed fill out a contact sheet with both their name and the dogs name.
I am real hesitant about the CFL bulbs providing sufficient light.
Second shoot RAW and jpg. With controlled lighting you should be able to get a very nice jpg.
The first shot can include a hand written name tag. IE: Sparky.
Now you can connect the dog and the owner.
Put the jpg's on a computer and take orders / money on the spot, tell the owners the photos will be available in (days) and they can pick them up at the dog day care center.
Post a price list for various sizes.
Sam
Since they are regular clients you can do the shoot one day and take a day or even a week to do post production (maybe create a couple of simple variations such as B&W or a vignette) and have the sales presentation then. Takes a lot of stress off of the shoot day and you can promote the day they will be available to get the excitement up and have them mentally ready to spend money. I personally wouldn't do online sales because I think you risk them stealing the images (even watermarked) and never buying anything. Also, they don't have the mental pressure that if they don't buy now they may not have another chance.
50mm is not long enough to shoot most dogs with.
http://www.knippixels.com
I know some people here hate the idea of showing an unprocessed image, but it saves me a bunch of time only processing what was ordered, and my customers understand that they will look better when they get them.
Sam has a bunch of great advice!!
I would be a bit hesitant at shooting at iso 800, the grain may take away from the pictures. For this sort of thing, I have 5 vivitar 285 flashes, with optical slaves and wireless triggers. I normally put them to 1/16 or 1/8th power *or maybe 1/4, Im thinking they dont offer 1/8, anywas* and something like iso 200, 1/200th @ F5.6. I cant take rapid pictures, but I can take one every second or two seconds with no problem.
I tried the lightbulb approach when I first got my studio, before I bought the other 4 vivitars, and I figured I needed like 30 light bulbs to have enough light.
Another thought is if you are using cfl bulbs and the dogs knock them over, and they break, there is now a cloud of mercury floating around, and it costs thousands to clean it up, and then the dog owners could probaly sue for exposing their dogs to poison. So its a good idea to have liability insurance. : )
And if you dont use cfl, the heat buildup would probably bother/distract the dogs.
First, a form with complete contact info is an absolute necessity. The form will do tripple duty: 1) It identifies the customer and their dog, 2) it serves as their receipt and print claim ticket, and 3) it serves as your business card/brochure so they can contact you for additional products or services if they wish. Naturally, this means that both you and the customer need copies of it; you can use carbon paper, or fill out the form on your laptop and print it with a portable printer. You'll need to pre-print a large stack of blank forms in advance. If you do it on the PC and print at the time of the shoot, you'll need a file pre-made in MS Word, Publisher, Powerpoint - or any other program you might have handy. Pre-printed is best, because then the customer can fill out their own info, speeding up the process.
Second, I agree completely that you shouldn't worry about on-the-spot print sales. Instead, let the customers look at the un-processed files on the PC (if you have a tablet PC, or a secondary LCD screen you can set up on the table, that would be helpful). As they look, they can choose which ones they want printed and mark the frame numbers on the form. Then you do PP later and deliver the products later. My buddy did this before the advent of digital photography, so there was about a 2-week lag between shoot and delivery; with minimal PP and print time, you could get that down to 1 week and I think people would still be okay with it. You can also include a low-res email version of each shot to those who provide you with an email address. Not doing on-the-spot products will also allow you to offer MORE products - different size prints, enlargements, or any other photo products your local lab might offer. And it gives you at least minimal time for proper PP of each shot. And you also have the option of making a password-protected SmugMug gallery of each customer's pics and allowing them to buy directly from your account at a later time.
Third, delivery of physical products is simple - all the products can be delivered to the day care, in individual, sealed envelopes, and picked up by the client there. Include a signature sheet with the packages, however, so that you can track who picked up what envelope; my buddy once had a customer's stuff go missing from the store because some cashier had been looking through the customers' photos and put the envelope in the wrong place. After that, he started sealing the envelopes! No envelope goes out the door without being signed for by the customer.
Random thoughts, based on my buddy's experiences:
* Don't shoot on the floor. Set up a table with your backdrop and lighting, put a nice cover on it, and put the dogs up on the table for the shots. Shooting down at a dog on the floor always looks ghetto and ameteurish (my buddy never shot on the floor, but one of his compeditors did and the shots looked awful).
* Set up in a corner or other isolated area, so nobody will be passing by you or behind the backdrop; my buddy often had customers trip over his lighting stands and other gear.
* An L-shaped setup, with one table for the laptop, and one for the dogs, works well; you can sit on the inside of the laptop table and the customer stands outside to fill out the form and view pics, then you take the dog back to the shooting table. Makes it almost like a small studio, and helps to keep people and dogs from intruding on you.
* A table cloth on the laptop table increases the professionalism of the setup.
* Bring several clipboards and plenty of pens for customers to fill out their forms. If you do the forms on a PC, it would be very helpful to have TWO PCs, one for filling out the forms and one for pic viewing, so you can handle two customers at once (three, if you count the one actually getting shot).
* However many forms you think you will need, double it. People screw up and ask for more forms all the time.
* Bring plenty of business cards. Some people don't care, others want the cards. Cards also add to the aura of professionalism and increase the customer's confidence in you while you work.
* Arrive to set up at least 2 hours in advance. Yeah, yeah, it only takes 20 minutes to set up - but you need time to unload the car and park it, time to realize you've forgotten something and run home for it, and LOTS of time for the unexpected, including the "Oh, we told you that you could set up over there, but we're using that area today - you'll have to set up over THERE instead." (In the corner packed with stuff that needs to be moved, your tables and lights won't fit, harsh overhead lighting needs to be turned off, exterior windows need to be covered, etc).
* If there's room, chairs for those filling out forms and selecting shots are always nice.
* Most importantly - bring DOG TOYS! Some dogs simply don't want to look at teh camera, and a squeaky toy can often cure that.
* But DON'T bring any dog treats. Owners can be very picky about what they feed their dogs, and giving any dog a Snausage risks the owner getting irate - "We don't feed our precious baby that garbage! How dare you!." Besides, the food is more of a distraction than anything, and a dog will often smell the treats and go for them like a bullet, knocking over equipment and ruining shots. No food (dog or human)!
You can shoot on the floor, but get down on the floor yourself so your not "shooting down". Or perhaps get a platform thats a foot or two that is a pretty good size and put the dogs on that, that way their higher up but not to high. get use to sitting on the ground and shoot.
I found a whistle was handy in getting the dogs attention, and ive found the owners have no problem in trying to get the dog to sit in a certain spot and if the dog moves, they get right on it and put them back. this way you can sit on teh floor and not have to move to much.
Will, Ive seen some togs at local pet stores, I wonder how hard it is to get a contract. This isnt something ive given much thought. What cut does the store usually get?
I would like to thank everyone for your help, suggestion, and support. I know that it made a difference for presenting myself better to the customers and being more confident day of.
Sam
In my friend's case, the stores weren't getting a cut. But the store managers LOVED having him come in every 5 or 6 weeks, because their weekend business picked up by something like 20% when he was there - people were coming in for pet photos and BUYING other stuff! The managers from all of the stores in the area were hearing about him from those whose stores were in his rotation, and he had to turn down several stores from as far away as Delaware and Pennsylvania because he was already doing shoots every weekend.
But the lack of cut for the stores is what killed it - the corporate dweebs heard about it and decided that, aside from the 20% increase in weekend business, they also wanted a cut of the take from the photos. So they barred my friend from shooting in any of their stores, and hired some other company to come into the stores - every weekend. Naturally, with the photog there every weekend, the market became quickly saturated and the increase in business evaporated. Within 6 months, they stopped having photogs at the stores because they weren't making any money. And the photogs they hired were significantly inferior in quality to my friend, anyway; many of them were college students, shooting part-time to make a few bucks.
Sounds like a great time was had by all. With only 13 clients all day, you probably weren't overwhelmed and could spend proper time with each one; hopefully more of the day care's customers will hear about the photos and there will be enough interest to bring you back again in a few months. You might put together a poster with some examples of the pics and see if the day care would consider displaying it in the lobby.
I'm eager to see the pics, myself.
Buy strobes.
Interesting story on your mate - business up 20% and then some marketing nurd at HQ spoils it all. I often think marketing should be disqualified as a college subject. You always know when a company has hired a kid fresh out of college to make some big decisions based on text books - my cable tv company just hired a batch.
But, seeing as the independent freelancer can only be in one place at a time, perhaps the best bet is to align with a mom and pop independent retailer who will value the uptick on business and be able to sell the additional service. The big chains flourish by starving their suppliers - try farming for a living.