Club stuff.....get in here night owls

I just signed on with a local club and will be selling prints, from the nights festivities and some of my own work outside of the bar.

We've got the business model pretty much worked out but we're running into two problems

-Group photos....how to charge and how much? We're thinking of doing 10 dollars for an 8x10 single portrait (Icebar in Orlando in the tourist trap does 20 for a small 4x6 with a frame, I've got one) would like some input on that

-Holy **** lots of people......the first two nights this club was open we had to close the doors before midnight because of how many people were there. It was literally "nut to butt" as we call it. I have little room and a LOT of people asking for prints, which is good, more money for me.

How do you keep track of who is who? I was thinking a ticket system.....start at 0000 for the night (and make a new folder in my camera, start the filenames at 0000 for single portraits and make a separate folder for general stuff for the club) give them a ticket for purchase and use it to find their photo....opening night I did literally 304 shots and 90% of them are portraits so I have the chance to make serious money, on top of what the bar already pays me.

I've been doing clubs and night life for about 2 years but never on this scale, many of the clientele recognize me from other bars and other areas and events so they're always wanting photos.

Thanks dudes

Also FWIW, my setup

5D Classic
Stroboframe rotating flash bracket
Strobies TTL cord
540EZ (also have two 420ez's and Metx CT45 for my 645)

One idea I've used is write the next file number from your camera on a 4x6 note card. Have them hold it and grab a mug shot before you shoot the real photos. I would assume they are filling out something for their orders so I'd just have that number on their order form.

I have been a nightclub photographer for 8 years and I would never bother with a ticket system. I would instead use SmugMug or similar for gallery hosting and print fulfillment. Make sure you have business cards to pass out, have an organized album system by venue, and make sure your website name is obvious on all club advertising. Move from being just another vendor to a co-promoter ad use your mailing list and FB/Twitter followers to promote events and eventually get paid to help advertise.

Is this a night club where people are drinking and dancing? Or more of a formal dinner club with a 'show' involved?

I used to do nightclub photography, and I don't feel that prints are going to be worth it for people who are looking to get drunk and have a good time. Handling the prints becomes a hassle for the patrons, and many of them want to save their cash for drinks / coat check / valet / danger dogs / etc (although credit card options are much easier now than when I was doing night club stuff - square, intuit, etc). The best way to get paid was from the promoter or from the venue itself as the real money is at the bar (most promoters will get a cut of the bar at a good venue).

Also, will these be posed shots with a backdrop? or around-the-club PJ-style shots? Be very careful about publishing PJ-style shots as some people don't always make the best decisions in a night club, especially after midnight. I would make it a point not to shoot anything after a certain time unless they were people I knew or people that the promoters requested shots of because I had many emails asking me to take down images due to said poor decisions.

most of the people in this club already know me from other venues so that will not be a problem

i was thinking about the smugmug thing, and I may or may not go that route, the idea is to get them to purchase the print in house, but digital download is always good as well.

The big issue is keeping track of everyone. And of course, venue pay beats client pay. I get them both here, the venue pay covers my time and equipment anything else after that is pocket change for later.

This is a traditional night club, people will be drinking here. Despite all of that I have had a decent number of requests for prints but not anything I would spend ludicrous money on start-up costs for printing and product presentation.