Senior Graduation Event

I was contacted by the local grad committee today asking how much I would

charge to set up a corner to take photos of the senior grad attendees at this

spring's graduation dance. I quoted at $250 (CAN), being a student committee

I felt charging my usual event coverage hourly rate of $215.00/hr was too

high, but still felt I needed to make it worth the trouble of set-up/assistant

hire for on-sight printing, etc. I have 2 questions...the first, am I being

fair in my charges and the second, how do I go about on-sight printing. I

have a calibrated laptop and Epson 2400 printer. I have been considering

purchasing Bibble Pro for its processing capabilities and also recognize that

it has the software I need to shoot my 30d images direct to the computer for

viewing. If I wire in my 2400, will I have my fully operational on-sight

print operation, or is there something I am missing. Oh ya, one last thing,

does anybody have any experience doing something like a grad dance..am I

crazy, or can it be a good money making night out? Thanks:-)

 

Sean

How long will you be there, how many pics if everyone took one, What size prints are you doing? and what is your print price, those are important questions before anyone with business sense can answer you. What is your total time, total expenses per print, and maximum amount you can make. The hourly or initial quote means nothing, its about what you take home when you leave. You need to think about these things as you want that $250 to cover you initial expenses. Your supplies are going to be expensive in paper, ink, envelopes to protect the prints if this is a big class. Some may want a pic but not want to carry and 8X10 around all night. On line print ordering would be nice to offer as well as on the spot prints. Some coverage shots directly on the dance floor might sell also, so cards with an order site would be good to have too.

Will the dance be held after the kids are out of school? I'm a teacher, so I have access that's a little different from the average photographer, but I photographed kids at a dance last May and here's what I did:

 

I 'hired' a student (not in the graduating class) to be my assistant, and that student sat at a table and took orders. I sold a 5x7 or 4 wallets for $5 each, so students filled in their name and phone number and homeroom on an order form, which was attached to a 6x9 envelope. Then, the money went into the envelope.

 

After the dance, I processed all of the orders and placed the pictures in the envelopes. I sorted them by homeroom and gave them to the homeroom teachers to distribute (you could just as easily have a teacher serve as 'liaison' and do this part for you). I also put a note in each envelope that all the pictures were available for ordering online, in case kids decided they wanted more prints.

 

I walked away with over $500 that night, and my cost was about $100 for prints. Hope this helps...

 

~Jen

By "Will the dance be held after the kids are out of school?" I meant, "Will the kids have graduated before the dance, or will they go back to school the next week?"

 

Reread that question, and realized it sounded like I thought the dance was during the school day or something....just felt the need to clarify!

I used to do a lot of proms (grad dances) also in Canada. The only way to make decent money is if you are contracted to be paid per couple with each getting 2 - 5x7s. We used to charge $10 to 15 per couple times 100 or more couples. On top of that, we sold 300-500 in extras.

 

Then, the committees wanted the photog to sell to each couple with no guarantee. Nobody bought - nobody! Our sales went from 2,000 to 300/night within a few years. Simply not worth it. WHY? Everybody has digital cameras and cell phones with cameras and they want to take their own 'party' pix, not posed shots. This is similar to many experiences across Canada. I know in the US, the numbers are far better, but with all the digital cameras the kids are carrying, sales are way down. I turned down a request for one last year that demanded a max. price of $10. for an 8x10, taxes incl., no guaranteed sales.

 

To your question: wow, your price is WAY low. If I were you, forget on-site printing. Shoot it and get 4x6s or 5x7s printed next day and deliver within 24 hours. Kids aren't anxious to carry around the prints that night anyway. It sounds great, but just not practical.

 

Doug

You're much better off with a pro dye-sub printer that will turn out a print in 10-20 seconds than an inkjet.

Thanks to everyone for their quick responses. To answer a few questions that arose. I have online proofing and do plan on using it, but thought that the sale may be lost unless offered on-sight in the excitement of the night. Like the one comment about sales dropping at events like this because of the instant gratification of the digi-cam, I thought kids would want the same with these...but maybe I'm wrong. I was going to sell at $15.00 (CAN) a "sheet". 8 1/2x11 as 8x10, 2 5x7, 9 wallets, printed on-sight, or pre-paid school delivery..if that will work better. As far as my "plan" regarding the shooting, I was thinking a "speakers corner" type of set-up offering that "candid-posed" fun shot that I would think an 17-18 year old would want. Am I aiming in the right direction?

 

Sean

Doing the picturews ofthe actual graduation would be worth it for me. Doing candids,

especially of kids who all have their own cameras, would not, unless I was getting paid by

the school to post a web gallery. You're absolutely being fair in requiring some sort of

compensation when you could shoot the whole dance and get two orders and waste your

time.

 

In my area (Cleveland, Ohio), I don't feel that onsite printing is needed, although it could

potentially be a boon sometimes. For formal pictures or grad pictures, a one or two week

turnaround has never lost me a job. Some companies aparantly take a month here still for

this type of work, even those who are all digital. There's one company, RTH group that

takes pictures and posts them online at cost to the school. Maybe you should try to

approach it from that route, so the committee can be guaranteed a tangible product from

you for their monies.

 

I agree your prices are low. Costs can approach about a dollar a print with inkjet media.

You should charge at least $10 for a ready-made print IMHO