All event photographers give me some advice...

[rcavanaughjr]

I have been taking photos of gymnastics for 2 years. Started off taking pictures of my 2 daughters, and then parents began asking me to take some of their children. I have made some sales, and now I have been approached to be the official meet photographer for a meet coming up in October.

I have read through numerous threads on event photography, but as usual I would like to get some opinions on my own situation.

In the past, the photographer would print onsite for images up to 5x7, and then would take orders for 8x10’s, posters, collages, etc. He would of course collect the money for the orders and then send out to customers. He also had a website for people to view and order pictures after the event. He did not have multiple viewing stations for people to look through pictures. He would print contact sheets with image number and sell from that.

The gym owner is aware that I do not have the set up the past photographer had. He was fine with me taking orders and sending customers the prints after the meet. I do have a website that I can post photos for sale after the event

Few points I would like some advice on:

I should make more sales providing onsite printing (with dye subs), correct?
What software can I use (to quickly PP and rename)? I have Lightroom, CS2, and Elements. Will any of these work?
What is the cheapest way to accept credit cards while having no phone line access, nor internet access? I would need to be able to make an imprint of CC and call via cell phone for approval. There was a post back in 2006 about ProPay, anybody have comments on them or others?
I do not have the available cash right now to invest in a perfect setup. I need one that will get me in the door to make some money to invest in a setup in the future.

Thanks for your time in reading. Any advice you can share would be helpful.

[cosworth]

Get a sony 5x7 dye sub off eBay. Great for event photos. Pictures look like film processing and are super glossy. Good product.

But you need to find software that can output to the printer. So think printer first, software second.

[rcavanaughjr]

Get a sony 5x7 dye sub off eBay. Great for event photos. Pictures look like film processing and are super glossy. Good product.

But you need to find software that can output to the printer. So think printer first, software second.

I think that would have to be a record in response time for a post I initiated. Thanks.

I have looked at Sony, and will look again.

What do you think about the HiTouch 5x7 printers?

[cosworth]

I don't know much about the Hitouch. I used sonys in the Caribbean and had to import the paper/dye in crazy amounts. They load fast, print fast, print @ 300 dpi and the prints never waned under the extreme heat and humidity.

My Canon inkjet prints would fade under the heat/humidity in about 2 months. Dye sub is the wat to go for events. Fast, longevity etc.

[Gary_Evans]

I like Hi-Touch printers (owning the 730PS)- they give superb print quality which personally I think is better than anything else out there. However, be aware that they are quite slow. You are looking at about 70 seconds for a 7x5 print from the moment you hit the print button until the print is actually in your hand. Maybe not really relevant, but they are very light - we have several lady sales staff who can move these quite easily but not our heavier Mitsubishi printers.

Couple of questions. Why do you want to rename your images? And are you talking about credit card payments at gym meet itself or for websales?

Cant you take just cash payment at the event, and card for after sales? Keeps things easy and allows customers to pay by PayPal or any other online facility at minimum cost to yourself. My sales figures did not suffer when we stopped taking cards at the event itself.

To address your questions. Yes, you will make considerably more by printing out onsite - but keep it simple. One size only and use a dyesub, dont inkjet your prints.

If you can nail your exposure you wont really need to use too much PP, probably just to crop for impact and add some Unsharp Mask. Dye sub prints need a little more than other printing methods. We use CS2.

I would suggest that you have someone doing the selling while you concentrate on the shooting. And be prepared to busier in the afternoon than the morning!

Good luck

[cosworth]

My sony dye sub was printing straight from camera JPG from a 1Ds Mk.I with sharpening and contrast upped. No PP %99 of the time. Looked fine to everyone.

I could also get a print in hand from Digital Express in about 30 seconds.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-UPDR100_W0QQitemZ320150251773QQihZ011QQcategoryZ73 451QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[rcavanaughjr]

Thanks for the responses---

Gary-
I was thinking of renaming the images based on the gymnastic team. There will be several teams competing. That way when I print contact sheets, they can be in folders by team. Parents will not have to look through as many to find their child.

Credit card payments at the event. I will be selling online prints through SmugMug. They will handle online credit card orders.

My plans are to have 1-2 assistants handling sales while I take pictures. There is some down time, as the gymnasts warm up before each session. Hard to take pictures then because there are so many girls around each other. During this down time, I will be helping with sales.

I had thought about cash/check only at the meet, but thought that I would lose some sales. According to you, my sales might not suffer.

Cosworth-
After you mentioned the Sony, I did look at the listing on Ebay you linked. Was somewhat leary, as the price was so low based on comparisons of various websites I looked through. Maybe I am just chicken. :)

Thanks again for your responses. I am not at all nervous about taking the actual pictures (other than generally awful lighting in the gym), it is the workflow and sales process that I need to get a handle on.

Looking foward to getting some more opinions.

[bwolford]

My experience is credit card sales will INCREASE your total sales volume.

I'm still looking for a good on site solution. I do know I've seen a vendor that just uses IFRANVIEW (I think it's called) to sit with each parent and look at the images and then print them on a dye sub.

Talk to your bank about merchant services. I registered as an LLC which helps them take you a little more seriously AND you will get a ton of offers for merchant services of all types in the mail. :)

Good luck. I will be following this closely.

[Borderfox]

I think you can get a credit card unit working on gprs to handle sales

[mkuriger]

I print 4x6 photos at event's using the lowest quality jpg out of my camera and they look stunning. clients can then order larger prints at the event (discount for paid orders) or they can order later off my site at a slightly higher price.

I use DSLR remote pro to take the photos from my PC and print them without getting off my butt!

[Transcendence]

I dont use dye subs for my printing. I have 2 Epson 2400's that i use for my onsite printing. his gives me the ability to print 11x14's on site. Honestly though the biggest advantage of this is the 8x10's. I sell the crap out of 8x10's. I believe a large part of on site print sales is an impulse buy. If they can hold it and take it with them then they are more likely to buy right on the spot. I have very few items that are order only items. I do all my editing and printing from photoshop but I use ThumbsPlus to batch rename and to print my contact sheets. I only use this because it is fast and I need the spped while I am at an event. I use an Epson R380 to print my contact sheets, again for speed. As far as CC processing I use Sam's Club merchant services and have a wireless credit card machine. The machine is great and I am usually pretty far in the country at race tracks and have never had an issue with the machine.

[SuzyView]

Give Dave Perry here in DC an e-mail. He does that professionally here in VA with a company. He shoots primarily and the owner and helpers print and distribute with some amazing software and hardware set up. They sell prints on the spot, of any size including poster size and frames. He can answer all your questions.

[bwolford]

What is GPRS.

[rcavanaughjr]

Thanks to all that have responded so far. Each of you have given me ideas and advice to think about.

bwolford--
GPRS is a wireless network used in tranferring data through cellular networks (I believe). It is probably what Transcendence's wireless CC machine works off of.

Again, thanks to all for your input.

If there are others who would like to share some advice, I am all ears (or should I say eyes).

[Transcendence]

The machine I am using is a VeriFone Nurit 8000. It works off of the Cingular wireless network.