Well, don't give them the digital images, for starters. At least if you do, don't do it for cheap. You're basically giving them the ability to copy and print your stuff as many times as they want (let's keep the concepts of ability and legal right to do so seperate, since they probably won't know what's legal and what isn't...). They could concievably decide to buy one copy, and then pass it around to all of the other parents for them to take turns printing/copying the images they need, screwing you out of all of your print sales.
You could give them CD's of proofs, but make sure the images are small and put watermarks on them so they don't just steal them. A lot of people will just print off a bunch of copies from their computer and then go around badmouthing you to their friends because the prints look like crap. They tried to print an 8.5x11 from a 600 pixel file, go figure.
Personally, I wouldn't charge a flat fee to be there shooting, and I'd just depend on the print sales. I'd say an 8x10, just the print, maybe 15-20 bucks.
If you priced 4x6's at $10, 5x7's at $15, and 8x10 at $20, you'd probably get a pretty even distribution of sales, but if you start the 4x6's at 15, and the 8x10's are just 5 bucks more, you'd probably pull in more 8x10 orders which don't really cost you an extra 5 bucks to get printed. Then again, that's just a theory, so you'll have to see what works out.
I think the easiest way is to distribute a bunch of business cards at the event and then put the photos up on a website for them to buy later. Big sports photography companies will have a bunch of laptops set up for people to place orders, and wireless transmitters on all the shooters' cameras so the photos pop up in real time. I'm guessing you don't have the means to do that stuff yet, no one does starting out.
There are a lot of articles and discussion posts about the subject at //www.sportsshooter.com, so make sure to read up on it before jumping into anything. |
