Event print charge

I was contacted by a potential client for a wedding photo shoot. She asked me about 4x6 prints which she wants to give to the guests during evening receptions. I only have a HP photo printer, and I don't think it will do the job because it's quite slow. I did some research and found that Sony UP-CR10L sounds pretty good. It takes about 16 sec to print a 4x6, and the cost is about $1000. I don't really mind investing in this printer because this is the second time I've been asked. My question is how much should I charge the client, and should I charge per print or a set fee? 150' roll of photo paper is about $130, and it will about about 300 of 4x6 prints.

I just realized that I should have posted in the Talk About Business section. Feel free to move if this is not an appropriate section.

Do you mean you're photographing her wedding, or you're doing engagement photos before the day?

Before the day - use mpix.

On the day - you'll need a laptop (you're not printing right out of the camera, right?), someone to choose and process the image (you'll be too busy), a printer, and paper. Figure capital costs of $1000 for a laptop and $1000 for the printer, i'd charge one third of that because it's really a rare request, so $670. Person to process things - $300. Consumables, say $100. That brings the total to about $1100, and that doesn't account for the time and effort it's taken you to prepare this.

Alternately you could shoulder the cost of the machine yourself, make it a competitive advantage, print straight out of the camera (a very average print I bet), do it yourself (and be VERY busy if it's a wedding, missing things while you do this), charge $300 and later wonder why you went to so much effort for so little money.

Amorous wrote in post #11208506
I was contacted by a potential client for a wedding photo shoot. She asked me about 4x6 prints which she wants to give to the guests during evening receptions.

Each and every print can be enlarged to 8x10 @ CVS or poster sized @ FedEx Office store.
Looks as though she has made no mention of needing any other photographs.

Thanks Tim. It's for the wedding day, and like I mentioned above, bride and groom will take pictures with guests outside the reception hall as they arrive. I can hire a high school or college kid for a couple of hours for printing and placing 4x6 inside the pre-made "Thank you" frame. I shoot RAW, but I'm thinking I can shoot RAW + Small JPEG, and use small CF cards for that particular shoot. Once I get about 30 to 40 shots, just take the CF card out and have the assistance print them directly, "without" a PC. Of course, no image adjustment can be made. As long as white balance is OK, I think it should be fine. I might shoot with the custom WB.

As you mentioned, not everyone asked, so I don't want to invest too much in this either.

TopHatMoments wrote in post #11213324
Each and every print can be enlarged to 8x10 @ CVS or poster sized @ FedEx Office store.
Looks as though she has made no mention of needing any other photographs.

This is a "separate" request that she made. I will charge her for shooting and prints for the whole event separately.

Don't underestimate the effort required. It's really a rare request, renting a printer would probably be a better option. Shoot all these photos onto one card in medium jpeg, flash white balance (or whatever), once you're done put the card into an inkjet printer and hit "print all". Hire (and train) someone to help out for a few hours to babysit the machine, and put them in frames. Make sure you have an area away from the guests for this work to be done, as it won't be quiet and will require space to be done.

I'd probably charge cost (inc hardware, consumables, assistant training and work time) + $500.

In that case Amorous, wana borrow one of my G9's, slide em auto everything jpeg and just swap out camera and all. Grab all the extra ya can.

Geez,
Buy a Pixma 4000 for 4x6's to guests. <$100

wyofizz wrote in post #11214314
Geez,
Buy a Pixma 4000 for 4x6's to guests. <$100

I think I said that already. If not, I thought it. Don't forget the cost of paper and ink.

wyofizz wrote in post #11214314
Geez,
Buy a Pixma 4000 for 4x6's to guests. <$100

I thought most inkjet printers take around 1 minute to do a 4x6 print. I estimate about two hours to print. So, 1 min per picture, I can only get 120 in 2 hours which is not good. The Sony printer that I mentioned above (Link here) can do a 4x6 print in 16 seconds, and I can get 450 pictures in two hours. It's a big different.

The review of that Sony printer on B&H is all 5 stars, and all of reviewers use it for event printing.

I'd check to see how long 6x4" prints take on an inkjet. I have no idea, I only print documents on my inkjet.

Call or visit a 1 hour photo shop nearby and see if you can arrange priority printing for that block of time with a little bribery. Send someone with the CF card to place the order, come back and voila she can hand out fresh 4x6s that required no effort and minimal investment on your part.

.........or just not do it. Seems like a whole lot of hassle on the wedding day. You're there for the wedding. Then again, I do like the 1 hour photo lab idea. You could always upload them to the 1 hour lab via internet and that would cut out the time waiting once the person you send gets there. Personally, I just don't think it will pay off in the end.

cdifoto wrote in post #11215532
Call or visit a 1 hour photo shop nearby and see if you can arrange priority printing for that block of time with a little bribery. Send someone with the CF card to place the order, come back and voila she can hand out fresh 4x6s that required no effort and minimal investment on your part.

Smart.