Portrait Photographers, thoughts on CD's?

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

03/07/2006 01:16:31 PM · #1

I'm curious to know how many of you portrait photographers offer cd's to your customers. I'm in the process of starting up a children's portrait business with Jaxed and one of the thoughts I had was to offer customers high resolution prints on CD's that they can then take and make copies of however they would like to. With all the technology that's out there today, people can scan photos and make duplicates off of them anyways.

My questions to you are these, is this a service you offer? If so, are customers interested in it or would they rather just have the prints in their hands? And thirdly, what would be a good ballpark figure to offer the cd at depending on how many photos/poses they are wanting? Say our largest package runs about $150; 1 11x14, 2 8x10, 4 5x7, 24 wallets. What would be a comparable, fair price for the cd from which they can make an unlimited amount of copies?? and would they pay it? Of course, these prices listed are ballpark, as we're still working on that part.

I was thinking one way to approach this was to charge the initial sitting fee, then whatever we came up with for the price of the cd. What would be the downside to this?
-People not wanting to hassle going to a printer to have prints made?
-Not having control of how the printing process is done or printer used, which could result in a poor print job (auto correct colors and such that printers use) Which could in turn damage the reputation of the company?
Any others?

Any feedback you could offer would be most helpful! :-)

tristalisk

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

03/07/2006 01:29:40 PM · #2

If your largest package is $150. I would take my printing costs of $46 for that batch and subtract it from the $150 and charge about $100. So that you still get your profit and the get unlimited printing. It's not likely they would return for more prints of the same photos. So you wouldn't be out anything.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/07/2006 02:14:25 PM · #3

Hmmm, that's something to think about Troy. Thanks so much for the input. :-)

blazingmoonlight

Canon EOS-5D

03/07/2006 03:28:53 PM · #4

Keep in mind that by offering CD's you are severely limiting your income potential. If I were to sell a CD of images for $150 why would a client then pay over $200 for a 16x20, etc.? By giving them full priviledges you are losing sales. You'll likely never make more than the cost of your CD + sitting fee. And it will decrease the value of your images overall.

Keep in mind, when giving out CD's you'll also need to supply your clients with copyright release forms. Otherwise, when they go to Wal-mart, they won't make prints if the pics look too professional without a release.

You may opt to sell prints and then offer digital images 1 year after the session. This may encourage your clients to purchase prints, but still give them the satisfaction of knowing they can hang on to the prints.

I have several clients interested in digital images, but just can't afford to offer them at a "reasonable" price (under a couple thousand dollars).

When I was first starting off I did do CD's and regret every second of it. Once I realized that this wasn't profitable, clients would say, "well, you did it for my friend so-n-so." Then you have to go through your whole spiel.

Also, I was consistently having to offer technical support because many people think they can handle it, but just aren't familiar with technology. They know CD means cheap, but may not be able to figure out why an image they were viewing on the computer screen may have ended up with part of the head cropped up as a 5x7.

IMO you're doing a service to the customer by NOT offering digital images. I do think you can make exceptions...for instance, offering to sell an individual digital image for a client that needs to submit a 300dpi image to be used for a business card, etc.

Whatever you choose, my best advice is to stick with it.

CalamitysMaster00

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM II

03/07/2006 03:42:11 PM · #5

Since I make more money on referrals than I do 'reprints' I offer CD's for 20.00 or less (depending on discount) to all my cutomers. It makes them happy to know I am secure enough to give up their rightful image and that I can use it to advertise with their permission. I find that they love their CD and often will come back for more setting with me and also refer all they know. :)

Prof_Fate

03/07/2006 03:47:39 PM · #6

Your product is the print. No print, nobody is going to pay you as they get nothing. Giving them a CD with the files is in theory, equal to a print.
Reality is, the print is the measure of your work. A bad print refelcts badly on you no matter whose fault it really is. the customer has a bad printer, low on ink, mismatches the paper - the lab adjusts the pics when they shouldn't be, the teenager gets hot and heavy with PS - if the print is bad, you will be blamed. They take the file and have an 8x10 done - a different ratio than the 4x6 on teh disk to a hear gets cut off or an elbow or what have you.

You have no control.

It's not worth the risk to your reputation.

CalamitysMaster00

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM II

03/07/2006 03:52:44 PM · #7

I firmly believe that my skill, image, and customer service is my work. I think most people can pick up a camera and attempt to sell it as "art" for tons of money. I enjoy working with people and charging them my set fee and most of them return (about 85%) and almost all of them refer someone who came to me simply becuase I did not "over charge them", "hassle them", and that I have a great eye for capturing people and can manage to be talented when NOT behind the camera as well....

I find great customer service is the key to success in this business. There are tons of great photographers out there. Most of the people that can afford PS and can afford to know how to use a CD can afford to take their own pictures. My clients respect me as I do them.

Just like how when Sears did my x-mas photos and charged me 300 for a cd? When I bought all the images? .... I have a scanner thanks but I would have bought it had it been reasonable.

pix-al

Canon EOS-5D

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

03/07/2006 03:55:56 PM · #8

Originally posted by blazingmoonlight:

That makes a lot of sense - I had not thought of it this way at all and agree with you 100%!!!

woohoopepper

Nikon D70

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

03/07/2006 04:07:16 PM · #9

I'm very new to the business, but I have done a few professional photo shoots this year. For portraits, I do not offer the customer a CD because if the customer takes the CD to Walgreens or another store and gets a crappy print, I will not be recommended to their friends, in fact I'll get a negative referral. If it's a portrait shoot, I'll show them the photos on a laptop, maybe make a few minor adjustments right then and there in Raw if needed and let them take some time picking out the ones they are interested in ordering. I then go home and do any further adjustments to their selections and upload to mpix.com to be assured of getting a high quality print(s).

If I'm doing event photos, I charge by the hour and throw in the CD of all the photos (or almost all), which I send to the customer after I've gone through them and have made some very minor adjustments. These are more like snapshots and I leave excess border around each so the customer can take the CD anywhere and crop the photos any size he/she wants. This is just something I offer customers who want to be free to be with their guests and festivities and leave the shooting to me.

03/07/2006 04:34:26 PM · #10

Thanks for all the input guys. This is exactly the kind of information I was looking to get. My fear about the whole thing was the customer coming back with unsatisfactory prints from whoever they took it to which would really reflect badly. Probably not worth it in the end. And I didn't even think about the crop ratio. Even if we did offer them several crops who knows if they would know enough to pick the right one to be printed. I guess there really are too many possible faults to that plan. Although, I think maybe offering a cd of low res images might be nice so that they can use them on their computers and email to family and such. People are so high tech these days, it almost seems like a diservice not to offer it. :-)

So, other than backprinting, what are other ways to keep your photos from unauthorized duplications? Is there special ink or something that will discourage scanning images or is that just a fact of photography life that we'll have to deal with? Should we not be to concerned with it too much?

I agree CalamitysMaster, that customer service and connection is key and we're hoping to offer them something a little unique that will keep them coming back to us. Something different from "Sears" and the dreaded "Picture People" type scenario where they herd you in like cattle and offer you the same poses and props that everybody and their brother has hanging on their wall. We want them to keep coming back. But then, I'm sure we all do. :-)

Thanks again, and I'm open for more words of wisdom if anyone cares to share.