DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Business of Photography >> Free senior pictures
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 25 of 133, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 07/21/2008 01:42:11 AM · #1
So I have got a few senior friends this year that are needing some senior pictures done. They aren't wanting anything really fancy, just something to hand out to there friends and whatnot. I don't think that their parents would want any to frame.

I know I'm not the most skilled photographer yet, but I think I can come up with something that will make them happy. Maybe do something a normal hired photographer wouldn't? Since I am friends with them and whatnot. I wouldn't charge them anything except for some gas money..we would probably drive wherever we decided to take the pictures together, and for the prints themselves.

But as far as printing.. I know nothing. Where do I start?
 07/21/2008 01:52:04 AM · #2
hey, im doing the exact same thing for my friends as well! What im going to do (but my friends are paying me) is im just going to upload them on the computer, choose the ones you want printed, then just burn them to a disc, go to walmart, or wherever your planning on getting them printed, and there ya go.
 07/21/2008 02:07:27 AM · #3
haha same here! wow. but ya im going to just upload them and use walgreens.com to print wallets and etc.
 07/21/2008 02:46:07 AM · #4
For nice finished look you can get one of these. Sr pics look kinda funky with square corners. Walgreens and Wal-mart tend to not offer die cut wallets.

corner rounder
 07/21/2008 09:13:06 AM · #5
Also, If your photos look professional, Walmart may not print them for your friends without a release form. The Walmart near me wouldn't print MY photos for ME without a release form on letterhead...I had to go home make a letterhead and go back. I can't get a 'big head' from it because their standards are anything that looks posed with a backdrop.

Also, I really HATE walmarts coloring. All my skin tones are redish no matter what I do, you may want to send them to a printer (I use mpix). If all your friends order at the same time you can split the shipping.

Good luck...I'm getting ready to do my nieces Senior pictures in the next couple weeks.
 07/21/2008 09:21:07 AM · #6
Thanks for taking the food from my mouth. My business is photography and you're taking my customers and giving it away free. My kids thank you now that they won't be getting any new clothes for school cause daddy's business was taken away by amateurs.

Then you have the balls to ask me to help you do it!

Sorry, not this time folks.
 07/21/2008 09:39:22 AM · #7
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
Thanks for taking the food from my mouth. My business is photography and you're taking my customers and giving it away free. My kids thank you now that they won't be getting any new clothes for school cause daddy's business was taken away by amateurs.

Then you have the balls to ask me to help you do it!

Sorry, not this time folks.


Hey lighten up. This is a way they can get started and learn about senior portraits. These people may not even be in the same area as you and have an extremely tight budget since it sounds like the parents aren't participating. There is no reason to try to make them feel guilty for helping a freind.

As for printing are you asking for the best places to print on a budget or asking what you should charge per print? The first is a trial and error in your neighborhood and eventually you'll find a printer you like and the second is preference. Think about how much of a profit you'd like to make from it and then set your prices accordingly. Take into account your time and equipment as well when choosing the prices.
 07/21/2008 09:41:39 AM · #8
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
Thanks for taking the food from my mouth. My business is photography and you're taking my customers and giving it away free. My kids thank you now that they won't be getting any new clothes for school cause daddy's business was taken away by amateurs.

Then you have the balls to ask me to help you do it!

Sorry, not this time folks.


WTF?!?!? Chris, again, uncalled for!! Kids taking pictures of each other is NOT taking anything away from YOUR children. Good greif, dude! No matter how much you like or don't like it, kids with cameras, moms with cameras and uncle Bobs with cameras are still going to take pictures and try to make them "professional looking". That doesn't mean they are taking YOUR work. Presumably, your clients are the ones that can actually afford professional photography, not the ones who can't and ask a friend to help them out.

Now, if your marketing to low-budget seniors in Kansas... then I take this back.

Editing redundancy. :P

Message edited by author 2008-07-21 10:24:47.
 07/21/2008 09:53:57 AM · #9
Ooh... that was hot.
:-)
 07/21/2008 10:29:22 AM · #10
Originally posted by idnic:
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
Thanks for taking the food from my mouth. My business is photography and you're taking my customers and giving it away free. My kids thank you now that they won't be getting any new clothes for school cause daddy's business was taken away by amateurs.

Then you have the balls to ask me to help you do it!

Sorry, not this time folks.


WTF?!?!? Chris, again, uncalled for!! Kids taking pictures of each other is NOT taking anything away from YOUR children. Good greif, dude! No matter how much you like or don't like it, kids with cameras, moms with cameras and uncle Bobs with cameras are still going to take pictures and try to make them "professional looking". That doesn't mean they are taking YOUR work. Presumably, your clients are the ones that can actually afford professional photography, not the ones who can't and ask a friend to help them out.

Now, if your marketing to low-budget seniors in Kansas... then I take this back.

Editing redundancy. :P


Hm. Seems very few people are interested in helping the OP today.

To the OP:
My advice is to use MPIX. Their overnight shipping is really priced well and their prints are fairly priced too. Don't click the button for them not to colour correct and you will be a happier person :) The customer service is amazing as well. I got 3 damaged wallets last week due to a printer error and they shipped me 4 more right out. No questions :)

Have a happy day! :)
 07/21/2008 10:37:41 AM · #11
Thanks TCGuru! I was wondering about them as an online printer!!! :D
 07/21/2008 10:38:55 AM · #12
THey are taking business from some professional - not me perhaps in this example or you - but in some forum somewhere this question is being asked by someone down the street from you and me.

This also devalues professional photography over all - these seniors get their pics free or cheap and they're 'good enough' - most people don't know enough to tell a bad pose from a good one, good lighting from bad, etc, as long as it's not abysmal. Now in 5 years when they go to get married they're less likely to choose a pro for that job too, or be scared by the price of it. The more we that make a living at this get clients to experience a pro - the experience, the products (prints, frames, albums, etc) the better for us in the long run.

What I 'heard' was "I'm going to shoot some seniors for free. Will the pros here help me do that?" - this is the BUSINESS forum you know. Why should I help anyone take business away from my fellow professionals? If the question had been phrased differently then my response might have been different.

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

These folks need to eat and clothe their families too.
//www.google.com/search?q=kansas+senior+photographer&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Message edited by author 2008-07-21 10:40:45.
 07/21/2008 10:39:05 AM · #13
Originally posted by TCGuru:

Don't click the button for them not to colour correct and you will be a happier person :)


So, let them colour correct?

Or, don't let them color correct?

(It is just unclear to me -- probably just me and I probably just need a nap)

07/21/2008 10:42:49 AM · #14
Originally posted by karmat:
Originally posted by TCGuru:

Don't click the button for them not to colour correct and you will be a happier person :)


So, let them colour correct?

Or, don't let them color correct?

(It is just unclear to me -- probably just me and I probably just need a nap)


LOLOL Let them :) You can't correct your prints to match their printers if their calibration is set differently than yours. I don't mess in CMYK either :) hehe
 07/21/2008 10:43:58 AM · #15
Originally posted by karmat:
Originally posted by TCGuru:

Don't click the button for them not to colour correct and you will be a happier person :)


So, let them colour correct?

Or, don't let them color correct?

(It is just unclear to me -- probably just me and I probably just need a nap)


Most consumer labs are very erratic on their color correction, exposure correction. They don't calibrate as often or have the need to be consistent like a pro lab.
If you handle the color and tell them to leave it alone you'll get more consistent results - but you MUST have a color calibrated monitor and check a test print from the lab against it to be sure WYSIWYG
 07/21/2008 10:46:06 AM · #16
Well I personally am not the least bit worried about the camera club of soccer moms that meet a few miles from my house to discuss photography. I'm not intimidated by the high school kids who "train" with a local studio so they can shoot the school's sports events. I'm not even worried about mediocre shooters who call themselves professional and hang a shingle. I feel like my work speaks for itself and my marketing sets me apart. There will always be clients who can't afford me and honestly, I really don't care what alternatives they choose. My concern is to the clients who CAN afford my work. Period.

As for printing, I agree that Mpix is the amatuer's best friend. Miller's (their partner company) for more professional choices. And yes, do let them color correct unless you've calibrated your monitor to their lab specs.
07/21/2008 10:46:29 AM · #17
Originally posted by idnic:

WTF?!?!? .......
Kids taking pictures of each other is NOT taking anything away from YOUR children.......

Now, if your marketing to low-budget seniors in Kansas... then I take this back.


My thoughts exactly.....or add low-budget seniors in upstate NY...my niece wouldn't get a photo taken if I couldn't attempt it.....and we ALL (my niece, myself and you) know they aren't going to look like YOURS. But at least she will HAVE a picture.

The first three posters were all 16 & 17!! geez....
 07/21/2008 10:54:07 AM · #18
I would second the vote for Mpix. I've used them a few times now and they have always been very fast and high-quality.
 07/21/2008 11:15:05 AM · #19

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
Thanks for taking the food from my mouth. My business is photography and you're taking my customers and giving it away free. My kids thank you now that they won't be getting any new clothes for school cause daddy's business was taken away by amateurs.

Then you have the balls to ask me to help you do it!

Sorry, not this time folks.


Chris, if your kids won't be getting any clothes this year due to loss of business from amatuers, maybe you should re-evaluate a few things. Seriously, your arrogance is sanctimonious. Price is not the only reason someone would choose an amateur over a 'pro'.

Message edited by author 2008-07-21 11:15:29.
 07/21/2008 11:18:34 AM · #20
Originally posted by KaylaSkye:
So I have got a few senior friends this year that are needing some senior pictures done. They aren't wanting anything really fancy, just something to hand out to there friends and whatnot. I don't think that their parents would want any to frame.

I know I'm not the most skilled photographer yet, but I think I can come up with something that will make them happy. Maybe do something a normal hired photographer wouldn't? Since I am friends with them and whatnot. I wouldn't charge them anything except for some gas money..we would probably drive wherever we decided to take the pictures together, and for the prints themselves.

But as far as printing.. I know nothing. Where do I start?


MPix all the way, definitely professional quality printing, very fast, and they have good prices to boot.
 07/21/2008 11:20:02 AM · #21
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
THey are taking business from some professional - not me perhaps in this example or you - but in some forum somewhere this question is being asked by someone down the street from you and me.


Following this logic, people should stop helping others as a friend doing any odd job so professionals (in any profession) can take their food, gas and clothes money from them. Have you never helped someone out? Perhaps mowed the lawn for a elderly neighbor or changed the oil in some else's car for free. Think about it, you've either done similar favors or you are just a self centered ass....
 07/21/2008 11:25:43 AM · #22
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
THey are taking business from some professional - not me perhaps in this example or you - but in some forum somewhere this question is being asked by someone down the street from you and me.


We must all stop taking pictures of our children as well! We are taking money away from "professionals" who would be taking the pictures in our place. Anyone have the number to Sears, JC Penny, or one of those other very professional studios that most people use?
 07/21/2008 11:27:07 AM · #23
Originally posted by toddhead:
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
THey are taking business from some professional - not me perhaps in this example or you - but in some forum somewhere this question is being asked by someone down the street from you and me.


We must all stop taking pictures of our children as well! We are taking money away from "professionals" who would be taking the pictures in our place. Anyone have the number to Sears, JC Penny, or one of those other very professional studios that most people use?


We shouldn't vacuum our houses, drive ourselves around, or make our own dinner either...shame on us...
 07/21/2008 11:33:59 AM · #24
I guess I shouldnt have helped that man in the emergency room when his wheelchair wouldnt fit through the door
i shouldve let the professionals do it so that i wouldnt belittle them

Message edited by author 2008-07-21 11:35:00.
 07/21/2008 11:34:46 AM · #25
Costco has really good (not great) low cost prints.

And best of luck with all your shoots. It’s a great opportunity to learn. And don't forget to play with some DOF.

If parents start asking for some prints don't be afraid to ask for a little cash or a gift card for your fav camera store. That’s what I did when I firsts started taking pics for friends/family. Often they will look at the prices in the store and add a little more to the card then I would have charged.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 04/25/2024 12:33:53 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 04/25/2024 12:33:53 PM EDT.