Prints for Clients

[XaiiaX]

Hey there!

I've negotiated a deal with my local veterinary surgery to put photos on his walls in exchange for advertising my services as a photographer.

I'm 18 and inexperienced when it comes to dealing with the business side of such things, so I've got a couple of questions!

What are reasonable fees to charge for portraiture? I'm not talking big businesses here or anything, more likely old Mrs. Muriel and her beloved Dachshund.

And what's the cheapest way of getting good sized quality prints for your client? I live in the UK, incidently.

Apologies if these questions have been answered before, I searched to no avail :]

[amfoto1]

Okay, just to clarify.... As I understand it, you are putting samples of some of your images on the walls of your local vet's office, with which you hope to generate some business doing pet portraits for patrons of his or her business. Right?

Normally in this case the veterinarian would get free, unique and entertaining decor for his office (not your photographic services) in exchange for allowing you to display your work. (Office decor varies, but can be a pricey consideration for a business, so this is a good deal for them.)

A suggestion, be prepared to rotate different photos in and out of his office, to mix it up a little and keep his clientèle interested in new work. So, mat and frame some extras right away, or plan to do so soon. Maybe leave things up for a month of two, then rotate new images in. It's okay to bring back previous ones.

Oh, and something to watch out for is if the vet or his office manager ask you to pay "rent" or share your profits in some way, I'd be very reluctant to consider such an arrangement. They are getting plenty of benefit from the free decor and you will have plenty of strain on your resources with the printing, matting and framing, to begin with.

In fact, you may want to write up a simple agreement to sign with the vet, detailing your arrangement. It could be for the term of a year, say, and perhaps renewable at the end of it's term, should both parties agree.

A written agreement is a professional approach. You might be able to Google for some gallery agreements or contracts, and adapt them for your purpose.

If it were a gallery hanging your work on their walls, there would also be the matter or insurance coverages, for accidental loss or damage of your images through theft or fire or whatever. I'm not sure if this is possible with the vet, but they might have some sort of insurance already in place.

You actually have two or more selling opportunities here. One is to actually sell the framed images themselves. I have been surprised how often I've sold images of pets that I really didn't expect people to buy as fine art prints. The original intent was just like yours, to generate some pet and people-with-their-pets portrait business.

The next question is whether you are offering to do the portrait session in a studio or on location, or both? Prices may vary a little, but also might be quite similar.

I can tell you that in US $, I think most would strive for roughly $400 for a session like this, on location or in studio, with some sort of print package included in the price, and potential for additional sales of prints after the fact.

You might offer a discount from this price initially, "while building up your portfolio", and ask for a model/property release in exchange for the discount. A release isn't really needed for pets, at least here in the US, unless they are competitive/pure bred with some attached celebrity status. Nor is one really needed for you to display the images in your portfolio or sell prints as fine art. You can justify the release so that you can use the photos in ads and such, and getting one signed would also allow you to sell the images as stock photography, giving you yet another potential revenue stream with minimal additional effort.

Here in the US we have portrait studios in some of our retail store chains, and chains of portrait studios that set up in malls and such. These often have "teaser" packages offered for parents, usually under $100 US for a small package. But, in truth that's just where the upselling starts. I have friends who work in or have worked in these places and they tell me it's rare for a customer to buy less than $400 US worth, even though they often come in planning to make the minimum purchase. They just can't stand to see all those great photos of junior deleted, so out comes the credit card!

One thing you shouldn't do is set your prices too low. That will rather permanently establish you as the "low cost" photographer in peoples' minds. Instead, survey what portrait photographers of all type are charging in your area, position yourself in the middle of the range, and offer some discounts "for a limited time" to get things rolling properly.

There is a couple, Pam and Jeff Farr, here in the US who teach a simple, straightforward business model similar to this in much greater detail. It's called "Not Your Normal Photography" school and it isn't cheap to take the full course, but will walk you through a lot of the land mines and gives clear guidance on getting up and running as a business. This business model is just as applicable to most pets as it is to people. Check out www.pamfarrphotography.com and nynphotoschool.com if you want more info.

With this sort of thing, I think you will find it's 80 or 90% business and sales abilities, and 10 to 20% photography skills. That ratio may skew a little bit more toward photo skills if you also try to do fine art sales and stock photography.

There are a lot of great photographers who are poor or misinformed business people, and fail or barely get by as a result. I think there's a bit of a left-brain and right-brain conflict that goes on, because there are also plenty of mediocre photographers who are great at the business/sales aspects and are quite successful as a result.

No hard and fast rules here, of course. You just need to think of this as a business, as well as a creative endeavor.

[XaiiaX]

Thank you for your response!

Okay, just to clarify.... As I understand it, you are putting samples of some of your images on the walls of your local vet's office, with which you hope to generate some business doing pet portraits for patrons of his or her business. Right?That's correct. The surgery gets free decor which (hopefully) simultaneously acts as an advert for my photography services.

Thanks for the advice, rotating is likely a good idea and I'll be sure to write something up so that I don't get screwed around. It shouldn't be a problem at this particular surgery as I used to work there and know the staff fairly well, but I'm essentially using this as an experiment in the hope that - if successful - such a scheme could be expanded to more venues :] So yeah, probably a good idea to start as I mean to go on.

Selling the framed images isn't an option I'd considered. No reason why not, really, if people want 'em it'd be foolish to turn them down!

The next question is whether you are offering to do the portrait session in a studio or on location, or both? Prices may vary a little, but also might be quite similar.I would be working on location, either out with the animal or in the owner's home, I would imagine.

Thanks for the money tips, all sound advice! Indeed, an intial discount of some degree would probably be sensible, and if it means people are more willing to sign a release (if they feature in the photos along with their pets) then all the better!

So how do you go about printing and framing? Do you use a commercial service and get them to cover the cost? Or do you have the facilities to do it yourself?

[XaiiaX]

No one willing to share how they produce and handle prints for their clients? I just want to make sure I don't go and do something that I will consider foolish in retrospect...

[XaiiaX]

Bump... :S

[sevillafox]

Bumping is against forum rules.....


As for printing, I outsource it. I don't know of any labs in the UK but a search in the forums should come up with answers for you.

Framing I know nothing about. You can get some cheaper pre-cut mats and frames and put things together yourself or have it custom done. Either way, figure your cost into your final pricing.

Pricing low to start is generally not recommended. You can always price a little higher and add a discount so people feel like they get a good deal and you end up with the profit you want.

You should always get people to sign a release anyway just to cover your bum.

[amfoto1]

Hi again,

Custom framing and matting is quite expensive. I try to avoid it.

You might be able to find a local class on matting and framing, to learn how to do it yourself. I see "night school/adult" framing classes offered frequently in my area.

Well, I've got an unfair advantage with respect to matting and framing. Before and during college I did it professionally for a few years, so it's no big deal to me. Framing I do myself.

I do try to work withing standard sizes. That really can help keep your costs down. A very high quality 11x14 double mat (into a 16x20 frame) costs under $10 US when I buy in bulk. If I were printing 11x13 and had to have a custom mat cut, it cost about $40 US!

I buy mats from several online sources, since a good mat cutter is expensive and takes up a lot of space. There are less expensive options that work, but most are slow and tedious. So, I outsource the mats and try to work with standard sizes. (Here in the US, Matcutter.com is one of my key sources.)

I also buy ready-made frames from various sources, mostly local since frames and glass are fragile and expensive to ship. There are modular frames, but I mostly prefer wood and most of the modular frames are metal. Here in the US, I frequent a number of places as possible frame sources. One retailer I often buy from is Aaron Brothers. When they are having a sale, I stock up on the more common sizes I use, in several styles of frames.

For basic, individual print orders, unmatted and unframed, I use Printroom.com mostly, but occasionally print my own (I will soon need a new printer at home, though).

I do all my own "fine art" prints, though.

Now, with your pet portrait business, you will probably want to set up an online printer for much of you order fulfillment. Many people will want to shop galleries online and chose their prints, then order immediately. This it the most efficient for you. You can probably handle 95% of your jobs this way.

But, there may be occasional special orders, and you might want to print the sample work that will hang on the vet's wall yourself, to make sure it looks great. Of course, this depends upon your skill as a printer and the equipment you have access to. There are alternatives, 16x20 and larger prints I have to outsource currently, through a couple local printers that aren't too expensive. This isn't a perfect arrangement, but I manage. I don't get a lot of call for prints this large or larger (but probably would sell more, if I displayed some great big posters at the events I photograph).

Hope this helps!