Photos with Santa.... - DPChallenge Forums

Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 for Canon

11/15/2006 09:35:22 PM · #1

Does anyone have any experience taking pictures of kids with Santa for corporate events and/or large private parties?

If so, is there a way to post process and print the pictures at the event in an efficient manner (ie without major chaos? Or does everyone process and print after the event?

just wondering if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions....

Makka

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/15/2006 11:19:45 PM · #2

I've done it once before and I just processed them afterwards. But, it was at a retirement village so it was really everyones grand children and it was mainly them that ordered. But, there's nothing wrong with using a standalone printer on the day as long as you're happy with them direct from the camera!

xcgsailor

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

11/22/2006 02:02:13 PM · #3

I have done this the last 3yrs and found it easiest to take the shots on the flash cards directly to a one hour or half hour photo place and get 4x6's printed...If you print them out right there your going to spend a ton on paper and ink...One suggestion, have a helper to take down the names and put the names with the img numbers as you go along...This saves a bunch of time...
Good luck....HO HO HO...

Message edited by author 2006-11-22 14:03:56.

Prof_Fate

12/03/2006 01:09:29 AM · #4

Shoot with flash and under controlled conditions so you have NO PP work to do - that helps a LOT.
The mall santa deal here shoots a 20D into a laptop and uses a printer right there to spit out prints. some of the 'dedicated' printers (ones that print only 4x6's for example) are the way to go.
If you print right there you're done. If you have to go to a one hour it takes time and more time and issues to track whos pic goes to who and dsort them and deliver them, etc.
I did this at a valentines promotion at a restaurant last Feb and while it gave me good exposure it wasn't worth my time. I've learned alot since then, but have no interest in repeating it.

This can be a good money maker IF you get the whole system streamlined and have the ability to sell more than single prints.

I do pet photos and last year it was just a simple package like school photos. Avg sale was $24.81. This year I've got a better system, using proofs(thumbnails on a color laser), and more products to choose from - including christmas cards. Average is a bit over $61 per person with 4 or 5 sales over $150 and the average keeps rising (today on 4 sales did $360 - $90 average - the difference is I now have a laptop to help show them what pics will look like). Should hit $3500 or so in sales I think if it keep up the was it has been going. A lot better than last year's $960 in sales.

I'm already planning on ways of improving for next year's pet stuff. Plan to shoot tethered and let them choose the poses right then and there. I think that should up the sales average a bit more.

12/03/2006 01:23:39 AM · #5

The last 3 years I've photographed between 200 & 300 kids in 3 hours the first Saturday in December for our corporate home office. We also photograph the Easter event for 'em in about the same amount of time.

We shoot the 1Ds with a single strobe in a softbox. The camera's tethered to a laptop and we print pics @ the event but we also have everyone fill out one of our standard event forms (the forms are in triplicate for the events we shoot for pay at outside venues but at work we just keep all copies). If people don't stick around to get their prints then I interoffice the prints to them Monday.

If my wife or one of the folks that normally works photography events for me is available we generally get all the prints finished while people are waiting. Today I didn't have any of my regulars available so I worked with some of my co-workers who have helped out before and just gave the remote to one of the ladies while the other helped me put the complimentary 4x6s into the frames and set them on the pickup table.

For post processing I normally throw a Hue/Sat layer on them, bump the curves a little and crop 'em for 4x6 so I've learned to put all this into an action and as soon as I pull up a shot I use a keystroke combo and the pics ready to shoot to the printer.

This year I'm using an action to also re-process each of the selected images into an 800x600 jpg for each parent to download (since I know each person's name & ext I can just e-mail each one a unique link to their photo) so that they can use the shot as a background if they want at work (I think they can still set their desktop backgrounds). Plus they'll be able to go get prints if they want extra that way.

Today we shot 200 in 3 hours and I printed most of them before everyone left.

Prof_Fate

12/03/2006 04:19:50 PM · #6

What are you using for a printer?

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

12/06/2006 07:59:11 AM · #7

Not sure if you're asking me, Chris, or someone else but we use a Canon i960. I've suggested to the event organizers that we could switch to an Epson but we're liable to increase our print times to > 30 sec per print which would impact our timelines but they've repeatedly countered with how much people like what we produce now. They offered to purchase another printer for me as some kind of . . . I don't even know what to call it, repayment or help or something but I see this as just an extension of working at the place. I looked into upgrading to an i9900 and for the $400+ outlay I think I'd rather go with the Epson R1800 or save up and go for the other 17", the R2400 (comparison). Then again, we send everything off to the local printers now so I only print stuff for my family or at these corporate events in the last year and the i960 apparently satisfies the people there.

I thought about getting one of those 4x6 printers that places like Denny Mfg has but they don't look to be much faster and they are a substantial outlay given that we don't photograph events other than work-related stuff.

LoudDog

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

12/06/2006 08:35:57 AM · #8

//www.azcentral.com click on the link to the scary santa photos under the one shown. (if anyone smarter then me could provide a direct link that would be cool)

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

12/06/2006 08:50:16 AM · #9

i did this last night for a corporate client...what a trip ;-)

about 120 people (mostly kids, some parents), 65 shots taken, 55 prints done on-site. we were shooting with the mark II tethered to a laptop, and using canon's digital photography pro to process because photoshop was hanging while loading (later learned that it was due to corrupted preference files). we were printing 4x6s with an epson R200, and they took just about a minute each to print. the entire shooting/printing took just about an hour and a half.

there were some real challenges. for one, the office manager had seen a shot of mine taken under completely different circumstances that had a feel she wanted to replicate...it had a warm, old-fashioned christmas card feel to it, as opposed to a 'santa-in-the-lobby' feel. i took some test shots both strobed and available light with slight fill-flash; she prefered the latter.

another challenge was that even though i had been told i would be shooting 4x6s, i found out ahead of time that the Christmas card holder that the prints were going in had a window that measured 4.75" x 3". thank God i worked out the framing, cropping, and sizing process ahead of time, or it would have been an absolute nightmare.

all in all it went pretty smoothly. as could be expected, some LOVED the warmth and feel of the prints, others didn't. one little thing to take into consideration is how some people may expect the prints to be available instantly ;-)

the next time i do something like this, i will do a few things differently:
1) i'll make sure photoshop is running before leaving the house
2) the lighting setup will be determined and agreed to ahead of time
3) i'll invest in a faster printer

let me close with the most important thing: if you are going to print onsite, you simply must have 2 other people to help you. i could not have done this successfully if linda hall (

lhall) hadn't come along. she handled all the post-processing and printing, while the client had people to help put the prints in the cards. the only way you could do it by yourself is if there is very little demand...

Bebe

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

12/06/2006 09:01:46 AM · #10

Sounds like a lot of work! For those who have done this, I have another quick question: where do you get those paper photo cards to slip the photos into?

Thanks!

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

12/06/2006 09:04:54 AM · #11

Originally posted by Bebe:

where do you get those paper photo cards to slip the photos into?

hallmark, or just about any store that carries stationary. or maybe search online?

idnic

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

12/06/2006 09:07:47 AM · #12

Originally posted by Bebe:

Sounds like a lot of work! For those who have done this, I have another quick question: where do you get those paper photo cards to slip the photos into?

Thanks!

My local camera store carries them in bulk. You can also order them online.

12/06/2006 08:13:51 PM · #13

Originally posted by Bebe:

where do you get those paper photo cards to slip the photos into?

We use Tap frames. I order them from the same company that I use for our library edition wedding albums. The first few years the company wanted the cheapies (something like $0.15/per frame but this year they went for something with more of a holiday theme. These cards allowed the photo to go into the outer shell and the card can open up to stand like a tent with the message "Happy Holidays" on the inside of the card. That was $117 for 200 my cost. Based on the feedback from the people I'm guessing that we'll also buy the themed cards for next Easter's "Spring Fling", too.

Helpers are necessary if you plan on giving any moderate level of turn around time and service. With 3 people working we still don't have time to chat when co-workers want to stop by and ask questions or talk; we normally have a line with at least 10 families and often we're looking at around 20 families queued up.

EDIT: Michel Company for traditional albums or presentation supplies

Message edited by author 2006-12-06 20:16:39.

crayon

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH1

12/06/2006 08:18:03 PM · #14

have a photo printer ready too.
snap and print. Usually no post-processing, like the way they did it in the malls, etc.

Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 for Canon

12/06/2006 10:09:14 PM · #15

thanks for everyones ideas!! we ended up short one of our helpers, so we ended up "winging it" and over 700 photos! so we decided not to print them this year. It would have taken too much time to sort through and post process them. And printing them onsite would have been difficult, too, as you said, without enough helpers.

one challenge i noticed - we had lots of babies and toddlers who CRY at the sight of Santa! I'm sure many of you know how hard it is to get a good shot of a screaming kids :-)

12/07/2006 12:20:11 AM · #16

Photos of realistic reactions can be a source of consternation for Mom or Dad but several have returned the next season to say that the photo was memorable and that they'll never forget it. Its great to see the same kids who reacted to Santa one year react so differently the next or the one after that.

Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 for Canon

12/07/2006 08:25:11 AM · #17

Originally posted by KevinRiggs:

thanks Kevin, that's good to know. Maybe next year we'll try the printing again. I think with more help we could do it right there onsite. And we'd have to have someone else taking all the candids of the event, so at least 2 photographers and 2 or 3 extra people helping.

How do you edit them? do you color correct and crop onsite too?

12/08/2006 01:07:25 AM · #18

We shoot tethered and I start the day by building a couple of actions to color correct for the ambient lighting if we drag the shutter any and to add some contrast & brightness to the images. When the parents make it over to the table from where the kids are they have a sheet that has their name and phone extension (I can lookup their maildrops via Outlook).

I write down the numbers of their photos on the triplicate form we have and while I review the images they can see them on a 19" LCD sitting on the table.

I use the quick labels in Adobe Bridge (6 for red - you'll have to go into Preferences to remove the CTRL key requirement) to visually mark the images they want.

I usually catch a quick lull every 3-5 families that come through because we'll have someone who needs some help sitting with Santa or 'cause Mom needs to work on an outfit or something so during those times I quickly pop open the oldest red labeled image, crop it to 4x6, hit a keystroke (I use the Nostromo N-052 game pad and map its keys to CTRL-Shift-keystroke combos so that I use my regular keyboard for standard Photoshop actions but my special actions that I created are linked to some of the keys on that device); these keystroked actions apply the color adjustment layer and curves that I built earlier that morning and 95% of the images require no further editing so . . .

I print copies (normally they only get a single but sometimes someone will bring multiple children/grandchildren/friends which precipitates requests for extra prints).

I save the hastily edited file in PSD format (maintaining the layer adjustments) and when I return to Bridge I use the 7 key to label the image yellow so that I know I've processed that image.

When I get back home edit all the yellows to quickly crop the images to 800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024 and save in 72ppi format so that I can make a JPEG format of the high-quality image as well as 3 standard screen resolutions available to the parents for download. This also is accomplished using automated actions; once this process has completed I mark all those images that were successful as label 8 (green) so that I know that I've not only printed them, saved my "manual" edits in PSD so that I can quickly return to what the parents got in their prints and created both several versions that the parents can use either at work, at home or share with other family members.

I've considered the idea of not making the screen resolution images and just uploading all these files to the webserver and then when the user selects his/her screenresolution for download just creating it on the server but I don't always like what I get when I programmatically create the screen background from the full res version of the image.

Anyway, that's what I do.