Got a photo gig -- advice please!

06/17/2007 11:50:47 PM · #1

Hey guys,
A friend of mine asked me to shoot a softball tournament and sell the prints onsite. So the idea is I shoot, then display the photos on our two laptops right after the game, the customer orders and then we print right then and there. So the problem is finding a printer that isn't gonna give out the first day. And since this is a gig that VERY POSSIBLY won't make much money and I don't want to spend more than I make, my printer budget is about $200 max. So do you think a $200 printer would work for this? Or do you have any other ideas? (I already asked about printing at Walmart, but the organizer wants them printed immediately).

Also, I was thinking of setting the photos up online in addition to having them available at the game. That way, people who don't want to wait around after their game can purchase later on. Do you have any recommendations for sites that work for that? Ideally, I'd be able to password protect the site for the players' privacy. I'm thinking maybe SmugMug.com might work, but I'd rather not pay a subscription fee because of the whole "losing more than I make" thing, haha.

Thanks for any help or tips!!

Dantzr

Pentax K-x

06/18/2007 12:32:53 AM · #2

Finally...something I CAN talk about!!!! Okay... I am not sure about the digital side so much but I used to do the same thing for horse shows, baseball games and golf tournaments only using film instead of the digital thing.

First... this is a good idea and believe me...it can get you some good money!!! But make sure you get the action shots!! You can make a person look like a pro in the photograph and make bundles!!! Using D-O-F like you did in your "Barbed Wire" photo...you can isolate a player catching, throwing or batting a ball, sliding into base, or arguing with the ump. These are the shots that people want more than anything and will pay for them if they are nice. Oh they will also pay for the team photo, the typical "holding the bat and glove ans smiling at the camera" shot, but the tight DOF shots are the ones that the people will pay for... and will pay for the big pictures too.

Oh...and I suggest using a tripod (I used a monopod for years). If the picture is out of focus or shows shake, you won't sell alot no matter what the subject is.

2nd... Depending on how great you want your pictures to be... you should be able to get all kinds of good photo quality printers for less than $200. In fact, you could pick up a dang good HP Printer, a "photo" cartridge or 2, enough photo paper to last you... and still not spend the $200.

What I suggest you do is have multiple memory cards and someone to help you with the laptops and the pictures. That way, you can be taking pictures, your 'helper' can take a card from you, load it into the laptop and set up a slide show so people walking by can see your work. When they ask ...you can say..."Why yes, I can take a picture of you too!"

Biggest thing.... know the sport! You can always take pictures and that will probably be okay... but if you know what can happen next in the game, you can be prepared for it, or any of the many things that can happen.

This can be an incredibly fun and profitable day for you. Don't let it get you down... being a tournament there will be multiple games going on...just remember you can only cover one game at a time. Just do a bang up job on whichever game you are at!!

Have fun!!! Let us know how it turns out!

Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX Aspherical DG DF for Minolta

06/18/2007 05:53:53 PM · #3

Thanks for the advice! I definately will have at least one helper there to man the fort while I'm out taking photos.

Do you have any idea how many 6x8 photos you'd get out of one set of ink cartridges? The guy at future shop said maybe 100. Sound right?

sea2c

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8

06/24/2007 12:52:49 AM · #4

Hi Diane,
Haven't seen you around much lately...

Anyways, I came up against something like this at at fundraiser. My client wanted the pictures taken and printed on site with the pics viewable RIGHT AWAY for the guests.

What I used was a Canon Pixma iP6600D and it only cost my $100. The 6700 is the new one and almost as cheap.

Anyways, I picked up some cheap cardboard frames from Technicare (downtown Calgary) like you get with your school pics. All sorts to choose from and less than a buck each for 5x7's.

I ended up printing a little over 120 that night (no stress at all) and only had to replace a black cartridge because it was already used when I started. Each print took just under a minute. You can do the math, LOL.

It was alot of fun and clients are made because of it. You may not make much at the event, but the residual can be fantastic! Be sure to get some marketing into the cardboard frames or with the pics somehow, otherwise it's wasted effort.

MrEd

Sony DSLR-A100

06/24/2007 01:03:19 AM · #5

What about electricity for the printer? Laptops can run on batteries, but setting the screen to the highest settings can drain a battery real quick too?? Plus, if it's a bright sunny day, some kind of shade would help. Glare off the screen doesn't help. Plus, it helps keep you cool ;)

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

06/24/2007 01:37:29 AM · #6

Hey Steve, thanks for the advice. I was actaully looking at a Pixma printer, did it get you good quality?
I'm gonna print my name and company info on the back of each photo, but I think most of the teams are coming from out of province, so I'm not sure about future business... But I'll be happy if I break even on this project! I'm mainly doing it for the experience...

MrEd, the power might be a huge challenge! I'm going out to the diamonds this weekend to check the outlet situation, and my fingers are crossed! If there isn't power, I'm either gonna have to get an adapter for my car or use a TON of extension cords. I'm also gonna get a big tent/gazebo and some signs to draw attention to us.

leaf

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/24/2007 05:33:36 AM · #7

I have done a little of this and i think the probability of success has a bit to do with how much the customers are used to such an arrangement. I took pictures at one event where they had no idea what i was doing and sold 2 prints.

I took pictures at another event and the customers were just as confused as to what i was offering, but i had a much better sale location so I think that helped a lot. I sold a fair bit and got a decent hourly wage.

I have tried printing out contact sheets, which is an ok solution but gets expensive if you have lots of photos. I have also used computers. I set up a little network and had a server so all the 'viewing' computers could look at the pictures on the main computer. This worked well but was rather complicated to set up. I am not sure how you would get the pictures on the two laptops, i guess you could just have half the pics on each laptop.

Have the pictures very easy to find and look at is important I think. - and perhaps little order forms so people can order without the booth person having to do so much for each order.

brettt83

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

06/24/2007 05:50:25 AM · #8

Hi Diane
Just wanted to put my 20cents in
1 - Here in oz we have an adaptor called an inverter, you plug it into the cigaret lighter of your car and plug your normal power lead straight into it, it converts the power.
2 - Good idea about the laptops for people to check out the pics, but, i would rather not print there,not until you have established that your idea is going to work, i would look at an ordering system and asked them to leave a small deposit or full amount to
1- cover costs
2- Gives them ownership if they pay up front, they wont pull out
of the order.
3 - I rather concentrate on letting people know i was there at minimal costs at first and using the profits from the first exercise to then build on your business..
Hope this helps...Brett

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

06/24/2007 03:17:19 PM · #9

brettt83, I so wish I could use an ordering system and then have the pictures professionally printed. In fact, I suggested that this would be a much better method to the lady who organizes the tournament, and she said she ONLY wanted the pictures printed onsite. So I'm kinda stuck there.

Leaf, I think I will be putting half of the pictures on each laptop, just to keep it simpler for me. And the pictures will be organized in folders according to game, so if they played in Game 2 on Saturday, I can point them to a folder with all of those photos in it.

Today I'm thinking about signage. I think it'll just be a big tent with a couple big signs on it, plus a couple sandwich-boards near the diamonds... Any other (low-cost) ideas?

SteveJ

Canon EOS-7D

06/24/2007 03:30:15 PM · #10

Just practical tip from me regarding power supply, if you do use an inverter as

brettt83 suggested, make sure to run your car/van/whatever on a regular basis or you will find when it's time to go home, you have a flat battery! Good Luck with it :)

leaf

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

07/03/2007 03:42:56 AM · #11

Originally posted by DianeS:

you could print little flyers - perhaps 1/4 of a regular sheet of paper that you give to the people at the admissions booth to give out to everyone who comes in. I have done that a couple times.

07/03/2007 02:08:36 PM · #12

Ive found that a lot of these tournements are multiple days - starting Friday night and going into Sunday afternoon.

Ive had great success with shooting friday and saturday, and then doing the "sales" on sunday, either with using the monitor set up, or if you expect to make decent cash, go to costco and have 4x6s printed up display them either on a board or in a cheapo photo albums. A $100 investment at costco can yield like 600 4x6, which you can sell for $1-$5 right there, as well as giving the people the option of ordering the prints online afterwards, or placing an order right there (to be mailed to them).

If you are planning on selling them online after the event - make sure you have tons of cards with the site, and make it as easy as possible...people will give up at the first sign of difficulty.

07/03/2007 02:10:39 PM · #13

Originally posted by DianeS:

One thing you dont want - PEOPLE TOUCHING YOUR COMPUTER. Nothing worse then fat fingered parents and sticky fingered kids leaving their finger prints all over your keyboard and screen.

07/03/2007 02:13:51 PM · #14

Originally posted by sea2c:

It was alot of fun and clients are made because of it. You may not make much at the event, but the residual can be fantastic! Be sure to get some marketing into the cardboard frames or with the pics somehow, otherwise it's wasted effort.

Couldnt agree more with this statement -

Especially at sports tourneys, I do a lot of league work now, doing the chintzy "Memory Mates" and stuff like that, so any chance to get in front of MULTIPLE leagues and coaches at these tourneys is a priceless marketing op.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

07/04/2007 12:15:12 AM · #15

Originally posted by ajdelaware:

Nothing worse then fat fingered parents and sticky fingered kids leaving their finger prints all over your keyboard and screen.

AGREED!! LOL.

ajdelaware, have you used the online method of selling before? Do you have any websites that you'd recommend?

renegade1966

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

07/04/2007 01:12:45 AM · #16

What lens will you be using? I don't see a tele/zoom on your profile page and you almost have to have one to get good tight shots of batters.
I've used my Tamron 70-300 and it does a pretty good job but it's nowhere near as sharp as I would like.

Also, make sure that you will be allowed to be on the field in foul territory somewhere so that you don't have to shoot through a fence.
I did some girls softball this spring and one thing that I did was when the pitcher is warming up before the start of an inning I would place myself behind the catcher and slightly off to one side to get some really nice shots of the pitcher. Parents love the shots where they can see the players face especially as they are releasing the pitch or at the apex of the swing of the bat. That's my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

I Enjoy Ham

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

07/04/2007 01:35:00 AM · #17

canon just came out with a new printer "it fits in the palm of your hand". I'm not sure what the image quality is like, but for quick 4x6 it seems like ti would be great.

Canon Selphy CP740

-Dan

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

07/04/2007 01:55:05 AM · #18

Originally posted by renegade1966:

What lens will you be using?

Between me and

LemeryJ, who will be shooting with me, we'll have a 70-300 tamron and a 70-200mm canon. As well as a sigma 10-20mm, but i don't think I'll get too many chances to use that one...

That Canon printer looks very cool! I think I'd like to be able to print larger sizes on demand though... just incase.

renegade1966

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

07/04/2007 02:18:24 AM · #19

I forgot to mention....I have the Canon Pixma 6700D and so far I love it! I think it would hold up well for what you are doing. The quality is top-notch and it's pretty fast too.

07/05/2007 10:13:51 AM · #20

Ill have to look and see what one we had the best results with (website)

Most of these sites have their ups and downs:

+
You dont do anything - after uploading the images, youre involvement is done. YOu just get a check every once in a wihle

-
Shipping is tacked on, and depending on what site you use, can be anywhere from $3-5usd.

Prof_Fate

07/05/2007 11:18:30 AM · #21

Have backups - if the printer fails for any reason, you're out of business. Same for laptops, camera, etc.

You sell more if you can sell RIGHT NOW, rather than later on the web. Most websites also charge a fee - instaproofs is what I use for online sales and it's free to upload, but they take 15% of the sale price.

As to what size sells best, hard to say. I don't do this type of event, but have done other events and I didn't do on-site printing, but let them order and shipping was included in the pricing. 4x6 and 5x7 did well, as did novelty items (acrylics, magnets, etc) Even with two people it can get hectic - which can be good, you seem in demand when there is a line.

Have cash for making change - lots of it, and a cash drawer of some kind. Having a box of cash means you'll want a second person most definitely.

As to sales - tournaments and playoffs do better than average games, as they're more special. Get pics of EVERYONE - action is best of course. Best pics are at warm up - you can get close, the uniforms are clean, and you can talk to the players to tell them what you're doing.

Get a t-shirt with your name/web/phone on the BACK in big contrasting letters. Want to be rememberd? on the front have a smiley face (they're not copyrighted) and the word SMILE! Corny yes, but the best marketing usually is.

07/05/2007 11:47:28 AM · #22

Spot on with that advice...

especially the shots during warm ups
Youll find you can get angles that arent achievable otherwise, also - the people dont know that the picture was taking during warmup pitch or if it was the pitch for the last strike to end the game.

07/10/2007 02:13:37 AM · #23

What would be a fair price for a 5x7 and 8x10?