how much for an onsite print

[mark watty]

Hi all,
I’ve been asked to do a 2 day show and basically set up an onsite studio in a gazebo in a field. Never done this before in my life.......
I have a full studio flash setup, a canon pro 1 printer and all that’s needed.
I’ll print 3 sizes, A3, A4 and something smaller say A5, I’ll only offer a bear print or maybe in a cardboard mount.
The venue is a show for German Sheppard dogs, working and agility.
My question is:
Do I charge for taking the photos and how much would be reasonable?
What would be a realistic price for each size of print?
Any input or advice would be gratefully received

regards Mark.

[Bawbee]

Re: how much for an onsite print

You will need to sit down and work what your costs will be Mark. From there you should be able work out hat to charge. A lot will be down to how much business you expect. Sorry I can't be more helpful but Good Luck.

[JaKS_Foto]

Re: how much for an onsite print

I attended a junior scramble event last weekend. Guy there, who does sponsor the event to a degree, charges £25.00 per print, £10.00 for a digital copy.

[paul linton]

Re: how much for an onsite print

charges £25.00 per print, £10.00 for a digital copy.

Should do it the other way round,Once you've given your Digital file away that's it no more future sales.

Paul

[mxshooter]

Re: how much for an onsite print

Hi, don't know whether this will be any help to you, but here goes

If you are planning on calling yourself an Event Photographer then you don't generally charge for attending, usually you expect to make your money from the prints and maybe secondary business such as pet portraits, or even people portraits.

I have just invested £3500 in an on-site printing setup. This includes a new DS80 Dye Sub printer that will go to a max of 12" x 8", each print equates to a basic cost of 80 pence (doesn't of course take in to account the cost of the printer which was £1500) and takes 45 seconds to produce, plus a cheap printer for contact prints, along with a powerful PC to process the images and a couple of monitors, and more importantly, a trailer van to house it in and a 2.2kw generator. I shoot motorsports (mx, off-roading etc) and after researching the current market, what with the financial situation as it is, have decided that my 12" x 8" will be £10 each, 8" x 6" £6 each or 2 for £10 and will offer a 3 for 2 deal on the day. I calculate that I will recover my initial investment in two years maximum.

My friend who is a Pro Equine photog charges £16 for her A4's and as I also assist her at Dressage and Shows, I hear comments from her customers and prospective customers alike...many consider her A4's to be expensive, especially as money is tight, and tend to buy A5's only because of the price.....she will not reduce her prices as she considers that she will be 'under selling' herself!! She doesn't seem to grasp that by reducing them by 25% she could very well double her sales!! Punters like a bargain...for example...£12 each, 2 for £20, 3 for £30!!.

Can I suggest you google other dog agility photographers and see what they are selling at? I think my prices are about the norm for most events, not too expensive and not too cheap. I had an old Epson printer that was very slow but the quality was within 1% of the Dye Sub prints, however it took 3 minutes to print an A4!! Another thing for you to consider...

Calculating the cost is easy...cost of cartridges, how many A3/A4/A5 can you expect to get from them, cost of paper and Bob's your Uncle. you also need to consider fuel costs to get you there and back, cost of petrol for the generator and most likely a donation of a photo or two to the Club Organisers, always a welcome gesture....

My first major event with all my new kit will be on the 19th May when I take it all to a big off-roading day, there are over 100 vehicles expected...I will have around 3 1/2 hours to shoot as many as I can then get back to the van and prepare for selling, that will give me 2 1/2 hours to sell....unfortunately for me, my son who covers this with me will be on holiday so I think I could be rather stressed byt the days end LOL

Whatever you decide, good luck with it...I've just got a booking for a Nurses Graduation night in October, they want an on-site printing service...what a coincidence!! I won't change my prices for it, I'm guaranteed sales of 70 x 8" x 6" as it is included in the price of the Tickets, and there are at least 110 people expected!! And I have never done a Graduation night before either so I have some research to do...

I'm sure many of the other members on here can offer contributions as well

[AlexR!]

Re: how much for an onsite print

You may have already had your event, but if not:
I went to my annual black tie ball last night, where there is always a photographer to take pictures of you in your finery. He charges £5 for a 9"x6" in a cardboard mount. He won't offer digital versions, but I can see that the pricing for this would be difficult as for a group shot you'd really have to charge per person in the shot, because if he didn't he knows that each group would just buy one and then ignore those copyright laws that we are so exercised about.
That said, I guess his costs are less, being indoors with power etc, and his challenges are different in that he was only providing studio shots. Presumably you'll be stationed somewhere on the agility course so your biggest challenge will be an information management one of search and discovery to find the correct dog from amongst your 100s of speculative shots.
Good luck.