Ok, firstly everybody THANK-YOU so much for your insightful, informative and
detailed replies. I am glad to see that this topic has progressed into a
full-scale discussion that can be useful for many others on the list, as
well as myself.
Thankyou also to those of you who have offered encouragement and also praise
of my work on photo.net. I am not naive or stupid enough to consider
anything I have produced to be faultless or even anything much more than
amateur in its appearance, but judging by your responses, and those of the
kids' parents that I have worked with, I must be doing at least SOMEthing
right.
It is now at a point where it is physically impossible for me to reply to
you all individually. There has been such an overwhelming number of
responses and posts on this topic that I just don't have the time, and with
my poor neglected hubby being home, I'd soon be divorced if I even attempted
it! ;-)
So I will summarise by saying that I have read EACH and EVERY response and
analysed them all to the "nth degree" in a bid to come to a decision about
how I should approach any prospective "clients" and in what direction I
should take as far as photographing for payment is concerned.
I have tried to come up with a situation that will allow me to make some
money, will allow me to keep my creative control, will be value for money
for the client, will provide the client with portraits that are soulful,
thought-provoking and very personal, will not jeopardise the standing of
other photographers in town, is in line with what others in town charge, AND
will offer me promotion and experience and a chance to add to my portfolio.
I have considered all of your suggestions of "sales", discounts, donations,
etc, etc and I have devised a plan of attack, which should in theory,
provide all of the above as well as satisfy you lot as well. It is a
combination of a number of the ideas input through your suggestions on PDML
and will work in conjunction with fundraising efforts with my son's day-care
centre....
I will be offering each parent a special "Exclusive" priced sitting (which
must be booked and paid through the day-care centre) of $250, while
stressing that payment via cash or cheque must be paid on the day of the
shoot or prior (to emphasise the importance of the "special" price). For
this, I will spend 2 hours with each child at their choice of location/s
(petrol/travel is not an issue as it only takes 10 mins to drive from one
side of town to the other, and I mean from boundary to boundary here, no
exaggeration, that is how small this town is!) I will shoot 3 rolls - 2 x
24 exp colour, 1 x 36 exp b&w. The child/children/family can make use of my
props/costumes etc or they can wear what they already have (this will be
discussed in an initial meeting with the parents so that I know "what I am
in for" and can make alternative suggestions to ensure that I have the input
and the outcome that I want from the photographs). They will receive
(included in the $250); a single set of all prints (except for the crap ones
that I will - and always do - ditch before they see them), so about 70-80
shots in all, printed at 5x7 size. For an extra $75 they may have an 8 x 10
enlargement that is framed in a handmade, rustic style frame in their choice
of coloured stain (these are beautifully constructed, high quality frames
that a friend of mine is going to produce for next to nothing in a bid to
promote his "rustic" furniture business). Of course, any other
enlargements/reprints will be subject to cost plus a small mark-up on my
behalf (probably 25% to 50%-ish). I am also looking into bulk-buying a
number of basic albums to present the shots to the clients in and for them
to keep.
In return for their support and assistance in promoting me/my work, I will
be "donating" $25 from each sitting to the day-care centre. They jumped at
the chance when I offered it to them as they are constantly fundraising to
try and make ends meet. When I said to them, "we only need 20 sittings and
you have $500 in your pocket", without any effort on your behalf, they were
extremely excited. There are over 70 kids enrolled in the centre, so 20
sittings should not be too out of reach. I will earn about $2500 after
expenses, a total of about $60 per hour (about 40-45 hours shooting time),
not including the work I put in at home on props/costumes/backdrops etc,
which I would be more than happy with. I may also be able to increase my
profit margin by approaching the lab that I use and striking up a deal for
the processing and film since I will be purchasing large amounts (eg. about
40 rolls coloured film - probably Fuji reala 100, 20 rolls b&w - Kodak
TCN-400, plus 5x7 printing (doubles, I'll keep one set for myself) of all of
these films). This shouldn't be hard as they already offer me a discount
cause I give them so much business.
I look at it like this, if I can book at least 20 sittings like this, I
will then have enough money to at least purchase the photo-quality printer
and neg
scanner that I want. (Any extra will go towards a Pentax 500ftz and a good
flash/light meter). Hopefully, it will also generate word-of-mouth and
referral bookings (which is THE way to do things in a town as small as
mine). Then in all of my sittings afterwards, I can charge a little more as
this was a "special" deal just for bookings "through the child care centre".
I will also be saving myself lots of money in processing costs as I will
process my own film, scan it into my pc and then I can start selling the
individual prints for their true value. I can also imprint my own watermark
into them for copyright purposes.
I think that this way, I am offering a deal that is being fair to other
photographers in town, as I won't be "advertising" anywhere except through
the day-care centre. I will be charging a price that I feel is reasonable
and not overly-inflated and it won't generate more business than I can
handle at this point in time (with my kids and hubby working away etc). I
will be covering all of my costs and should be able to purchase the
equipment that I would like to get. I will be providing the parents of the
kids with very good value for money as well as individually catered
photoshoots. And I will be able to establish a reputation in town of
providing a quality service, while not being "cheap" as it will be seen that
I am doing it only in good faith as a fundraiser for the day care centre
(which of course I am also doing, as any extra funds injected into the
centre can only go on to benefit my kids who attend it as well as the other
kids there). So, it is a "win win" situation in all respects ie. I will be
making some money for new stuff that I want while building a portfolio, the
day-care centre will benefit (and as a result, so will my kids and others),
my friend who is just establishing his furniture business will make some $$
while also getting some free promotion, and the parents will be getting a
value for money service and an album full of memories that they will have
forever (call me cheesy, but this is what I consider to be most important).
Lemme know what you guys think....
Oh, one more thing, in Australia, WE spell it civiliSed! hehe... 8-)
fairy.
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