wes_d1

<p>Hey Nicholas,<br>

You should add phone number to the form so you can get in touch with them if there is a problem. It never hurts to have it.</p>

<p>Jeremey is definately right. And we actually only use this for dances so in this situation I wouldn't even offer it. For dances we offer packages that can be split evenly between the couple - but for special events like this we change up the package contents some to suit what parents may want for themselves.</p>

<p>Nicholas,<br>

I'd recommend using a camera card instead of doing it in a spread sheet. It will be much more efficient and there will be a lot less room for error. Your wife at the table can write the card that will include the student name, address, phone #, and package ordered. She'll take the money and hand them the card. Then they will hand the card to you. You'll write sequence numbers on the card to keep them in order while you photograph to make sure you can marry your images with the kids names and what they order after. <br>

They sell camera cards specifically - but you could always use some precut business cards or something similar.<br>

Sending home the prices before hand is definately helpful if the parents won't be there so they can send the correct amount of money. Like Jeremey said if you send home a form before hand that they can fill out it will make things go much smoother at the shoot.<br>

We just ship out everything via mail using heavy photo mailers- it generally costs about 3-5 dollars extra so you'd want to add that to package pricing. You'll also want to figure in your time as well as the cost of printing and packaging the pictures. <br>

In our experience online ordering isn't great- people forget and/or just don't get to it. Having them prepay will definately bring in the most money. If you have great shots including a reorder form will also bring in some money after the fact. <br>

One other thing - you mentioned there will be hundreds of muscians there - I assume not all of them will have their photo made but that could get very busy for two people. If they are all coming at one time you'll have trouble keeping up with one person handling all the questions and orders and name taking. If they've done this event in the past and had pictures made its definately best to ask how things went in the past and what other photographers have done. A lot of times the organizers will tell you what hasn't worked or what others have done that have worked well.<br>

Of course this is all just my 2 cents but I hope it helps.<br>

Wes</p>

 

<p>Hey Kate,<br>

We actually sell these products - sublimated and laser blankets... pillows... shirts.. anything and everything you can get a picture on. The quality is great and the price is definately good. We are a high volume school portrait business and these addons sell pretty well - especially in the spring and during the holidays.<br>

If you any other questions about it please let me know!<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Hey Nicholas,<br>

Like you said - each situation is different. However, hopefully I can give you some advice based on what we do. We photograph a number of dances each year and charge $17.00 for a base package of 1 unit up to $90.00 for the top 3 pose package with 8 units. <br>

A few things to consider:<br>

We do a lot of school pictures every year so our setup may be different than yours.<br>

Assuming you are using a pro-lab pricing is obviously something to take into consideration.<br>

Will you be using positive ID labeling for your packages?<br>

What software will you use to flow the images and marry them with the names of each person? Your time will factor into pricing. <br>

Also - how will you ditribute your packages? Will you have to mail them out? Those costs should be added in as well. <br>

And of course the commission you mentioned.<br>

I hope this helps somewhat - if you have any questions please let me know.</p>

You may want to try schoolphotoonline.com They have the school picture day envelopes you may be talking about. Also, Uline.com sells the "glassines" that go all the way up to 11x14 in size...