Print on location or print through smugmug?

shiningstars

I have my second major paying job coming soon. The first one was shooting a Little League teams portraits. The parents were very pleased.
Now I am getting the opportunity to take all the photos for the Little League Softball District All-Stars tournament. I am very excited and very nervous. :barb
I not sure how to handle the viewing of the pictures. :dunno
1. Do I just hand out business cards to all the teams and let them order off my smugmug webpage or do I have a computer set up on the field and let them order from my webpage?
2. Or one more option- do I have a computer on the field and a printer so I can print them right away and possibly get more sales?
3. I'm not sure about doing the smugmug option because the shipping is at minimum of $2.95. And as a mom too, I would not want to spend that much money for shipping!
4. If I go with the printer, what kind of printer do you like? I have an HP photo printer but it is on its last leg and need a new one.


Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Chris_ND

How about, make forms with some program, then Give them out.

They select the type of picture they want wallets or what not. Then tell them they will be here in how ever long it takes smugmug to print them.

I don't think i've ever heard of a mother complaining when a pro is taking pictures, you can just include it in the price so then they really don't have to worry about it.


Good work isn't cheap, and cheap work isn't good.

So, Make forms, let them select along with included payment. Print the picstures off smugmug, then deliver them personally?

IMO that would be the best quality / professional way to do things..

gman33

First off...CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Nice job

I just did my first T&I this past weekend. Of course, it was the hottest two days in Philly this year..."perfect timing" my lovely wife said ;-) Anyway, was very nervous, but doing 250+ kids (15 min for each team) by myself went very well. No problems but will have an assistant next time to assist with posing. The coach or a parent signed each kids name down for me as they each came up and did their individual...was never an issue for a parent to do this...it gave us time to chat about their season and the kids....was looking for this interaction.

What won me over with the parents is the following:

1. No paperwork to fill out
2. No money needed that day
3. Order online and delivered to their house directly

These were major pluses. I was going to do the onsite and depending on the size of the league, you would need a lot of help and power to print out all of those pictures. This option will come in time I think once "we" (me and you) get more jobs ;-)

The also liked the fact that the galleries were password protected...some may disagree but it is my rule to do this. The password was given to the AD to distribute.

I also mentioned that the images would be online for 30 days with a 10% discount if ordered within 10 days...I thought that was reasonable.

I love the Smugmug route because I am a one man show now and I set the proof delay in case I get bombarded with orders.

I wish you continued success and hoped this helped a little...let us know how it goes...don't be nervous

Take care
Ed

shiningstars

Thank you, Ed! That was the kind of info and encouragement I was looking for. Did you change the password for each team? Or did you put them all in the same gallery?
I think this way would be the easiest for me- handing out cards with web info and they order from smugmug.
Thanks again,

gman33

Hi Darlene

Glad I could help. I had every intention of separating them out for easier viewing but ended up going into one gallery. The coordinator chose this option as it was easier for them and the parents. They have a link on their site to the gallery.

Best of luck and keep us posted!!!!

PS...I checked out your team pictures...I think they came out great....but your gallery is not protected and they can be downloaded...just an FYI

Take care
Ed