Number of photos provided for senior portraits

<p>I'm just getting my feet wet in the professional photography world. It's just a side job so far. I just did my first senior portrait session this week for some friends' son. This was a supplementary shoot because the first photographer only allowed a single outfit. Because we were shooting in an airplane hangar, I had to move my flashes and/or wait for them to recharge for each new pose, so I only took 100 frames total. The senior arrived late and we were up against a hard deadline to be out of the hangar, so I got flustered and made some stupid mistakes that cost me some keepers on what could have been decent poses. Other issues outside my control also ruined some more frames. The result was I didn't get a whole lot of keepers from this shoot.</p>

<p>So now the question: how many shots would you typically provide to the client for a low budget, one-hour senior portrait session? How many different poses would you expect a client to buy, regardless of how many you provided them? I'm thinking I'll be lucky to produce a dozen frames that are suitable for printing at 8x10, with a few more that are probably good enough for 4x6. Is that unreasonably low? I'm kinda disgusted with myself for the ones that were my fault, but that's the situation I'm in today and now I have to make the best of it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>

 

<p>If you have a dozen shots and they are truly 12 separate pictures -- not 12 variations of the same pose or setup -- show those to the family as proofs and allow them to choose what they like. If they're not happy by all means do a reshoot -- if this is your first job, it is more important to make the customer happy and have great pix to show from it and be able to use them as a reference than anything else. As for the ones that are "good enough for 4x6," if they're not good enough to print at 8x10 they aren't good enough at all. By saying they are good enough for 4x6 but not larger, you are implying that they aren't sharp. Unsharp images go into the trash, period. Short of a fuzzy shot of Big Foot or the Loch Ness monster, you never ever show photos with technical problems to a client.</p>

<p>As the retoucher for a reasonably high volume studio, my number one complaint is technical mess-ups being presented to the client. It never fails- if the shot is out of focus, has motion blur, or is underexposed, that is what the client will choose as their 16x20- every time. Its some physics law I missed in school, but it is true. You should be able to print big- wall portrait big- from anything you present to the client.</p>

<p>Only put your best foot forward, and if there is a problem, be honest. You were not as happy with the rest as you would have liked and you will be happy to do a re-shoot. </p>

<p>Ben,<br>

Please do not be insulted by my response, but I have been photographing high school seniors for many years now and am facing stiff competition from people just like you. Example: a girl just posted all her images on her Facebook. There are one hundred eleven images. When it gets boiled down, there are only two locations/backgrounds and she averages 7-9 images of the identical pose and she thinks the photographer is creative. Another person advertises 95 images for half of my session fee. I on the other hand offer depending on the session, anywhere from 20 to 40 different poses with numerous clothing changes. In my experience, parents, who are the ones handing over the credit card, do not want 100 + choices. They simply cannot decide, are overwhelmed, and the sale suffers. Students only want 100 + images so they can wow their friends on Facebook. Personally, 30 really great images with no duplicates beats the heck out of 100 images with 75 being duplicates. You might try the mentality of what we had to do when film was the only option. I used the RB-67, and most of my sessions saw 20 color images ( 1 roll of 220 film ) and 5 black & white images ( two students to a roll of 120 b&w film ). To get a great variety for my students, I had to make sure the eyes were open all the time, everything was in focus, the lighting was correct, the exposure was correct, and the composition was what I wanted. In conversations with several of my friends who own studios, we all went nuts when we first started using digital because we could. We are all now going back to what we used to do and in almost all cases, our sales are increasing by providing a fewer number of really great images over a huge number of images with a larger proportion of essentially duplicate images.<br>

Warmest regards,<br>

David R. Lewis </p>

<p>Ben,<br>

I'll add to what David said by adding that you're facing stiff competition from people NOT like you. Senior photos have reached a climax in our town, and everyone is out in the big park near downtown. I see a few pros that I know, but here's what I also see: mom has a new 5Dmkii with an L lens. Dad has a reflector. And quite often, the Senior is being photographed by her 18-year-old friend, who's sporting the latest DSLR. Playing pro portraitist has become the newest hobby. Just last night I saw a senior being photographed by her best friend, who probably took 1000 images in about 20 minutes. Like everything else in the consumer world, high-end has filtered down to the masses. I can't answer the question about number of photos (in part because I think there's not a clear answer), but I wanted to point out one of your excuses: you had to wait for your flashes to recharge. In order to compete with the above, you have to be BETTER prepared than mom or dad, and if you use flash that means battery power. You can get a used Quantum Turbo from Keh for cheap, or a Vagabond power pack (my local craigslist has one today for $250) to use with a monolight. Dentist Dad might spring for the newest camera, but he might not bother with too much lighting, and this is where you can compete, both technically, and in perception of your abilities and professionalism. Many people these days, including pros I've talked to, remain intimidated by flash.</p>

<p>Thanks for all of your input, folks. I can especially appreciate what David & Scott shared. As a 20-year professional and entrepreneur in another industry (computers), I've seen my share of unprepared start-ups come and go. I'm not cheap, but I'm good at what I do, and people eventually figure that out. Hence, I'm still making a good living. There are some who care more about cost than quality, and there will always be businesses that cater to them (led by Walmart). Those who do quality work need to realize that this group is a different target market than those that care about quality, and that the businesses which serve those two groups really aren't direct competitors. I don't think Lamborghini cares how many cars Kia sells each year.</p>

<p>Regarding photography, I was certainly guilty of the shotgun approach early on, but I'd like to think I've progressed beyond that point, especially after I jumped into the strobist movement with both feet. Working with multiple flashes really slows down the frames per minute rate and makes you think about what you're doing. And lest you be concerned, portraiture is not the area I'd like to get into. Posing people is not something I'm good at or enjoy, but when friends find out you're handy with a camera and ask for help, it's hard to tell them no. I took the assignment because it was a low-risk learning opportunity for me. I'm just trying to provide the best results I can regardless of the situation.</p>

<p>I finished processing the photos yesterday & spoke with the clients this morning. I provided 26 good images, 15 of which I'd consider to be unique poses. I know a number of shots were either missed or left on the cutting room floor due to technical problems, but the client doesn't know that, and was ecstatic about what they got, so I guess it turned out OK.</p>

<p>If you're curious, a handful of the shots posted in a public flickr gallery at<br>

http://www.flickr.com/photos/obi-wan-yj/sets/72157625267021462/</p>

 

<p>Ben, I am happy you did not take my comments in a negative way. We are always trying to educate our clients as to what great portraits are all about, not someone who can take 250 or so " snapshots " and call it portraiture. This same situation happened in the late 70's and early 80's with weddings. A lot of M-F 9 to 5 factory workers and firemen bought Hasselblads and were instant wedding photographers. Our weddings declined for a while until the public got tired of second rate wedding images and the image makers got tired of having to work harder than their regular job because it was no longer fun. This too will eventually happen with the new soccer moms and dads doing senior portraits. The unfortunate result is that people can get married, divorced, and re-married a number of times while the young adult can graduate from high school only one time in their life. If their senior portraits are mediocre to bad, well my clients know I cannot make time go backwards. I will weather this storm just like I did the wedding situation, but it is getting more difficult by the day.<br>

Warmest regards,<br>

David R. Lewis</p>

<p>Are you seriously implying that graduation from high school is a more important event in one's lifetime than getting married???? I'm sorry but I'm cracking up right now. I actually have to thank you for making me smile. While I've only done both once, there is no comparison!</p>

<p>Nice job with the portraits! Watch for posture... i.e. the one sitting on the helicopter. The light strikes me as a bit strange at times, I think because your rim lights are too low, and sometimes the main is too low as well.</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure David was implying that graduation was a once-in-a-lifetime event, while weddings (unfortunately) frequently happen more than once. Certainly a wedding is more significant than a HS graduation.</p>

<p>The posture was difficult, as the subject was... um... not very loose or expressive. The rim light was generally (but not always) at shoulder height so that it covered the torso & head. I see what you mean about the shadow cast by his shoulder into his neck, though. I'll add that to my list of things to do differently. The main light was always higher than the subject's head, generally at the top of my 7' stand. Not much I can do about that until I get a boom.</p>

<p>Rob,<br>

I am so happy you found some humor ! I try to make humor part of my life but will keep my day job as a portrait photographer. Graduations are not more important than any other event in one's life, the one from high school can happen only once. One can actually graduate from the same university more than once by obtaining degrees in different majors, but high school - well, just one time.<br>

Warmest regards,<br>

David R. Lewis</p>

<p>High School graduation may not be the most significant event in one's lifetime but for the student and the parents its the most significant event when they are scheduling and paying the photographer for senior pictures. As David pointed out, there's no choosing a better photographer next time when it comes to senior portraits.</p>

<p>Only showing my best work and slowing down is an ongoing challenge for me and is one of the prime ways I measure my growth as a photographer.</p>

<p>One trend I've noticed in photography and pretty much everywhere else is people value rarity and things they worked/paid for more than what they get free or cheap. They are also happier with it.</p>

<p>I photograph a lot of amateur models as well as some more experienced ones. The aspiring models are usually the ones that want a CD of everything from the shoot. The experienced ones want to pick two or three of the best. </p>

<p>I learned that when I began offering "less" appreciation for my work seemed to grow. </p>