Event Photography - Probably the best business in the world - Page 3

Dye-subs obviously come in a range of different types with prices from £300 to nearly £4,000 but I have found over the years that the most popular print sizes I have sold at events have been 5x7 and 9x6, depending on the event so this rules out the flatbed-type printers which typically print 10x8 or 12x8 on the appropriate sized paper and have the added disadvantage that the prints have to be trimmed to size.

Other equipment would include a laptop or notebook, suitable software (I use Google’s ‘Picasa’ – it’s free and it does the job!), lights and a background to set up a mini-studio and a set of signs so you can direct people to where you are. I should also mention that I always use at least one and often two assistants on the basis that I am there to take the pictures and the one picture I will never sell is the one I haven’t taken because I was trying to do the printing as well!

Instant digital printing has many benefits to the event photographer, not the least of which is that it satisfies the ‘I want it now’ culture. The fact that the picture is available there and then assists emotional purchasing and increases sales. We have also found that each sale encourages others attending the event to buy, especially at an evening event when your customers may have had a few alcoholic drinks! Also don’t forget that selling on the day or evening means you have no follow-up admin and no post and packaging costs.

Having sorted out your equipment, the final, and probably most important, factor to making your event a profitable one is your workflow. You could own the most expensive equipment and be an award-winning photographer with lots of letters after your name but if you get your workflow wrong your event will not be successful or profitable.

The workflow is down to the type of event, where it is, the number and type of people attending, and your own equipment. The simplest and most effective workflow is to actually print every picture you have taken and put them all out on display for sale. This works because your customers will have something to pick up and, once they have picked it up, they are on their way to owning it.

Alternatively, you can send your pictures to your laptop or kiosk system, (either by tethering with a USB cable, using wireless or good old-fashioned downloading from your CF card) and get your customers to view their pictures on a monitor before they buy. The obvious advantage of this is that you are only printing what is bought. A disadvantage is that the image on a screen is a little less impressive than a 9x6 print in a mount.

Again, space precludes my going into all the details of how and when to apply the various workflows but also again (to make yet another plug!) I would mention that everything is covered on the day-long training course.

Pricing your product is really your call as to how you view your market but generally only offer one price and one size of print at an event. Giving the customers too much choice just confuses them and makes the event a great deal more complicated for you than it need be. A good all-round price for a 9x6 print in a quality mount is £10.00. It is not too expensive, it gives a high perceived value and it is easy to count and give change. That being said, you should really charge whatever you can get away with and are comfortable with. After all, the customers are getting your skill, time and the use of all of your expensive equipment – don’t undersell your pictures!

Talking about perceived value, you must always present your pictures in quality mounts – not cheap bits of cardboard,

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Photo Quote: The mere formulation of a problem is far more essential than its solution, which may bemerely a matter of mathematical or experimental skills. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science. - Albert Einstein