Logistics of Printing On Site

[BenJohnson]

I have been asked to help cover a basketball tournament, and the intent is to print the photo's on site. We have both covered many sporting events (with prints sold after the event), but on-site printing will be a new venture for both of us. I was looking for any insights from others who have shot sporting events and attempted to do on-site printing.

I believe the plan is to have 2 computers. 1 for sorting, editing, and possibly tagging photos, and the other for the customers to view/choose pictures for printing. Will 2 computers be enough? How many staff members would be minimum to run the booth? Any other tips on the best way to handle the huge amount of pictures coming in?

There will most likely be at least 3 shooters. My thought was to get small-ish CF cards (2-4GB's), use one per game, and then go drop them off at the booth. This will keep a steady flow of images coming in for transfer. Do you have any tips on avoiding duplicate filenames? This seems like it could be quite a hassle if they must be kept seperated. Possibly just keep each game in a different folder, so that duplicates would not be an issue?

Any tips on pricing? Can these images be priced higher than ones printed at a later date? Or should they be priced the same? For the extra effort, I would hope a premium cost would be justifiable.

Thanks for any help!

[Concretin Nik]

There are several threads on onsite printing here. I have no experience with this, but I'll state 2 suggestions from what you presented...

Take advantage of half time and dump some photos to the booth. So by the end of the game, you already have some shots up for those kids/parents, so they're not waiting around for uploading/sorting...

And you probably could price the later sales a lil' cheaper, but don't tell anyone that day of. Anyone who hears that will likely say, I'll wait and save a few bucks... and then might not buy at all... go for the impulse purchase. Don't gouge 'em, but make your money. It is indeed a big endeavor.

Good luck. Please post up how things go. So many people don't and so those of us without the experience never know what worked and what didn't, or what we might not have seen coming...

[dreamcatcher23]

We do a lot of on-site printing, so I'll do a full reply later, but just read the above poster's tip - DO NOT offer the prints cheaper afterwards, because maybe the first time they might not know but after that they will. Make them cost at least at much, if not more afterwards.

[BenJohnson]

There are several threads on onsite printing here. I have no experience with this, but I'll state 2 suggestions from what you presented...

Take advantage of half time and dump some photos to the booth. So by the end of the game, you already have some shots up for those kids/parents, so they're not waiting around for uploading/sorting...

And you probably could price the later sales a lil' cheaper, but don't tell anyone that day of. Anyone who hears that will likely say, I'll wait and save a few bucks... and then might not buy at all... go for the impulse purchase. Don't gouge 'em, but make your money. It is indeed a big endeavor.

Good luck. Please post up how things go. So many people don't and so those of us without the experience never know what worked and what didn't, or what we might not have seen coming...
We do a lot of on-site printing, so I'll do a full reply later, but just read the above poster's tip - DO NOT offer the prints cheaper afterwards, because maybe the first time they might not know but after that they will. Make them cost at least at much, if not more afterwards.
Thanks guys! Great tips. I look forward to your full reply :)

[Concretin Nik]

I actually agree with DreamCatcher on the after sales.

What printer(s) are you planning to use? Framing? Matting? Packaging?

[J.Napier]

Ben,
1. How soon is this event?
2. What type of printer (s) are you planning to use?
3. Do you have some kind of software to help with ingestion/file management?
4. What software will you use for fulfillment?
5. How many courts are you covering at this event?
6 Do you have an order form ready yet?
7. What form of payment are you prepared to take?

There are a few threads that may help you here on POTN just do a search. Here is a link to one that I participated in awhile back.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=812539

It sounds like you have the photography aspect under control. The printing will more than likely be the easy part. If there are other vendors there make sure you are on a different/dedicated circuit. This will benefit you as well as them if and when either has an issue.
Set up nearest the concession stands more people will be milling around in that area. In general set your booth up where people have to walk by it. This may or may not be near the food. Possibly have someone taking pre orders from people that are more likely to buy your work. Post vinyl banners or signs letting people know you are there and what you are offering. Have this fact announced if at all possible as often as possible during the event.
Bring back ups for everything if at all possible for “when” not” if” something breaks. Redundancy for everything is a must.
The real issue will come with the handling of the files and getting them to the folks with dollars attending the event. Get a schedule of the event ASAP. Get your folders or however you plan to organize your files figured out prior to the event. You will have plenty of other things to deal with that day trust me. Especially if this is your first onsite sales gig.
Get some small coin envelopes (Office Depot or Max) write down the game # on the envelope to coincide with however you have set your folders up to hold the images, put the CF/SD card in the envelope after each game and give that to your runner so the person doing the ingesting knows what game that particular card is for.
I do not know what body you will be using but 2-4 gig cards will be fine, I prefer 4 gig cards. Shoot large jpg.
Format each card as it comes back you, this will prevent any possible corrupted file(s) from causing an issue from recording new images and ruin your day…trust me I have seen this happen and its not pretty. Luckily it was by another shooter when I was working for another local company. There’s nothing like shooting western conference girls softball tournament game in 109 degree weather with nothing to show for it. And with teams coming from as far away as Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska to name a few. Saving grace was it was a three day event.
‘BACK UP YOUR FILES’ immediately, I use an external drive for this and it works great.
The software that I use (Photo Parata) is awesome for this. There are others out there but I chose this software after much research and a variety of other reasons.
How much are you willing to invest in this first onsite gig? Photo Parata will eliminate your file duplication issues among a lot of other issue like folders and uploading quickly.
At the last particular BB tourney we did, there were two courts being played on simultaneously at the same venue, however all teams played at least one game at each court so I was able to shoot this by myself and still get all the teams covered. I chose to shoot in the newer better lit gym, and having never shot for this organization before and not knowing how sales would be, it kept my overhead down.
I can quit shooting 2-3 minutes prior to the end of the game and walk my CF card to the booth and have the images up and ready for viewing nearly by the time the game is over and people were walking out.
You will not have this luxury at a cheer/dance event as they move at a very fast pace and you will need a runner, or a more advanced system to get the files to the computer in time for quick viewing. As the photographer(s) you will need to be ready for the next contestant/team that is coming up in about two to three minutes.
Wireless would be more likely than not an “Epic Fail”. There’s way too much info to pass in to little of time to get it there. However there are ways to do this. But what’s your budget and time frame here???
This was an all day event a lot of people coming and going and not really hanging around to much, and for that reason I do not see BB as profitable as say a cheer/dance event where people tend to linger and most need to stick around for the awards. This gives potential customers plenty of time to come back and check out the photos if all screens are busy.
This is not to say your results may differ and every gig is different.
Try to keep your cost down. As far as photographers go, without knowing how many courts you will be covering it’s hard for me to say how many you will need. “You can’t sell what you don’t have” and “you can not have too many viewing stations”.
We recently covered a BB tourney with just me and my wife, usually my daughter will run the computers, ingestion/fulfillment and doing any PP needed to graphics, posters collages and the like prior to printing, while my wife handles questions and sales and runs cards back to the booth. We did not do onsite printing for this particular event. And sales were generally equal to an event where we did do printing.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like to provide instant gratification/fulfillment and have the customers walking around with my photos in clear plastic bags for all to see but it doesn’t always equate into more $$$.
On site “printing” does not necessarily generate more sales. Just capture the ‘SALE’ onsite if need be.
This brings up another question/benefit you may or may not have but, did not touch on. What type of funds are you willing to take for payment onsite?
If you plan on taking Debit or CC, Checks, not printing on site will save you from inevitably getting burned for NSF, or CC, Debit #’s that are no good, unless you have an air card for your computer or access to Wi-Fi for onsite approval codes.
Create some sort of order form for clients to write down and order images.
As far as pricing goes I generally charge the same or a bit cheaper at the event to motivate sales, and sometimes run specials.
We also offer something’s like posters graphics, and things onsite that our website does not offer to promote and generate buzz and onsite sales. You really need to focus on getting that impulse buy.
You will need to take a look around your area to see what the market will bare and price your stuff accordingly.
Your ability to get the shot that the parents can not will ‘Justify the Premium”. That coupled with the ability of your booth staff to generate buzz and close the sell will make a successful onsite event.
Sorry so long and for the possibly jumbled info, but this should get you started or at the very least raise a bunch more questions.
There’s a bit to this successful onsite stuff and more than I probably covered here. I’m sure others may be able to offer some things I missed.

[DDCSD]

Ben, how did it go?

[BenJohnson]

It went fairly well for the first time. We shot mostly 5th and 6th grade, thinking it would be more profitable to shoot the younger kids. The morning of the first day we should a few games each and then dumped our cards. Two laptops were used for viewing and a third for printing. The printer we used was a Sony UP-DR200.

Overnight we dumped the rest of our cards from the first day. We had all games sorted by day, grade, and game (team names included in game description). The second day we had plenty of images ready to go for viewing.

Even starting the first day we had a good amount of interest. A lot of kids and some parents looking through the pictures. We printed a dozen or so for display. A lot of people wanted to wait and look at the pictures online (we did not advertise this option, but if people asked we told them).

We had some severely underpaid help (both our wives and my brother) working the booth. After all costs, the other shooter and I both walked away with several hundred dollars for the weekend. Not great, but not terrible. Despite what it seemed like at the event, we had relatively few sales after the fact (online orders). Maybe a hundred more each.

Overall, it was interesting (and hectic!), but something I'd be willing to try again. We are thinking of giving it another shot sometime this summer. We may try a different age bracket this time, but from what I saw last time it was pretty hit or miss no matter the age.

Thanks to all for the great suggestions!

[Viva-photography]

On-site CD burning is much more efficient.

What I've seen done is one laptop runing a slideshow of the pictures on the disc and another computer hooked up to a multi-CD burner.
Selling the cds for x dollars a pop.

That means you'll probably see your stuff on facebook and etc, but the impulse buy is powerful.

[BenJohnson]

Why would CD's be more efficient? Costs would probably be similar and I can't see it being all that much faster.

Plus I'd MUCH rather sell a print for $10-15 than a digital copy for that much. Unless you can convince people to pay a LOT more for digital copies I don't think I'd want to do that.

[MadisonPhotography]

We have thought long and hard about doing on-site printing but the net profit was just not there. We shoot a lot of swim events and have begun to decline shooting smaller meets where older kids are involved. Parents of older kids don't buy nearly as many images.

One of the things we have begun is to get full involvement from the host club. If they aren't willing to have our link, logo and ad in their programs and website we just decline. Taking hundreds or even thousands of great shots is a waste of time if no one knows about it.

One thing that really spurred our sales is offering packages at a discount for a limited time. When done correctly our sales have been great. When we have chosen to not have "specials" or have that incentive pricing for too long of a time sales drag. Typically a swim event will end on a Sunday so we offer incentive pricing through Thursday....it is well advertised and we don't typically extend....it's just not fair to offer someone a 20% discount for ordering early and give it to otherfs two weeks later.

We also send out an email blast..we use Exposure Manager and have the emails collected into our database..we also ask for preregistration so we have those folks..and let them know the discounts end "tomorrow"...amazing what a gentle reminder creates...

We have been asked to print on-site but have gently declined. Besides one or two photographers one or two people are needed in the booth or as runners and that just adds to the cost...free help only comes to one or two events before they say "nuts"..