How much to bid per child in School contract?

[Paul Kuroda]

Thanks Doug for the elaboration on shooting 400 kids. Not sure if I'm even going to get this, but I always wondered the best method to keep track of each child and pair them up with their names when prints are made. Organization is the key, and you doing this full time must have a great solution. Do you have an assistant writing the digital frame number and match it that way? Have them hold a board with their name? I rather not shoot excessive frames if possible just to keep the volume down in post and save wear on the equipment.
Thanks,
Paul

[EricC]

Just to touch on the LifeTouch issue. It is not Paul's place to investigate who has or doesn't have contracts with the school. Unless you are looking for a way out of bidding the job, I'd tell you to keep such questions off the table.


-Eric

[DougAxford]

I probably agree with Eric. Obviously, they've done it before and it's not your issue, it's between the school & the contract company.

We keep track of students the old fashioned way. We have a form they must fill-in while waiting that has their name, address, phone, email, etc. I'd use a full sized page and on it add a few lines of your info for re-sales. You can also ask if the style of portrait they prefer or better yet, have a few samples printed and they indicate the poses they like best. When the student comes to the camera, the photographer quickly reads the info, makes a quick note of any requests and anything special they are wearing (green necklace, blonde, etc.) then the page either goes on a peg or into a box the same size. Do not ever write anything bad on the page such as big nose or overweight. You can note the sequence number on the page (23rd, 24th) and that stack of pages never gets touched until edit time. If for some reason you get out of sequence, simply refer to the brief description. Mostly, we have them come for senior shots as boy - girl - boy - girl. That way, it helps keep our sequence and also keeps them from goofing around as much. You do not want 6 girls waiting inline going giggly.

We also have a TV set-up so that each student sees the image as they are being taken and that helps make sure they are happy before they leave the stool.

If I were doing this, I'd go for full length and have props to work with. You want to make it very different from the school photo style.

Doug

[Mike Keller]

Originally Posted by Paul Kuroda

My kids' school district is looking for me to give them a bid to shoot 400 kids and need a kid per price. No reprints, they just want a single overmatted 8x10 to be used as a fund raiser.

Having never done such a thing before, I'm seeking you advice to how you would price it if that is at all possible. They hope to "auction" each portrait for around $50-60 and have other local photographers bidding. I'll have some volunteers to help organize the prints.

Thanks,
Paul

Where are you located that this is such a good fund raiser? Is this public or private school, and are these elementary or older kids? Have you had a look at the work that was done last year?

I'd have the kids fill out a piece of paper and shoot that as the first frame of each sitting. Don't give them choices if this is supposed to be a low-price job, shoot what you think. After all, the parents are buying, not the kids. Sorting is easy, you're picking the best shot from each kid and moving on.

Where are you getting overmats for these? I don't see how you can do this for less than $20 a kid and not lose your tail. A day of shooting, a day of sorting, lab prints and the overmats...lots of work. I did Breakfast with Santa photos at my kids' elementary for about five years when they went there, that was enough of a mess.

[ChrisPerry]

You can keep track a couple of ways.
Do you have or can you get a list of the kids ahead of time?

No list: Since they're not ordering anything at the time, all you need is a legal tablet and a pen. "NAME?" write it down. Shoot. Write down the ending frame (so if you shoot more than one you'll be fine). I find writing down the ending frame harder to screw up than writing down the first frame and less disruptive. An assistant would make this easier of course. If you do the preview bit and they pick one you can write than number in the next column.

List: Print out an alphabetized list (excel will do this easily) and then write the ending frame down next to their names. Missed kids will be obvious this way, no name mispellings, etc. Enter the data back into excel and you can sort on frame number if needed.

Best option is to contact H&H Color lab and get their EZ Event software - it's free. The barcode scanner is $200, the only cost. It's best if you have a list ahead of time, but can be done without a list. An assistant will make things flow MUCH easier.
You load into the software the list of kids - and teacher/class/team, whatever. It prints out the barcodes. Three pages basically - the packages (not applicable in this situation), the class/team/group and the list of kids.
Kid arrives - scan package, class/team, then kid. If you print the kids on labels you then peel and stick that label on their order form. Shoot kid.
At the end of the day you load the scanner data and CF card into the computer. It time syncs the scan to the image. It's bloody accurate - 100% with a practice session - errors are gonna be human ones.

You can then choose the poses in the software. It will assemble the packages and team/class photos automaticall. Upload to H&H (excellent prices on this class of product) and they will bag and label each student by class and sent it back to you for delivery. You no nothing else. Slick and cheap.

[DragonflyDM]

I have done a couple of projects like this.

I think that the best price points for fund raising worked in the $20 range for an 8x10. If this is for a good cause, then you should take a small fee for materials and just donate the day. In fact, you may find that it works for your favor for promotional purposes.

As far as LifeTouch or other businesses like this-- they give a cut to the school for their contract. If you can shoot at the same level, find out what their "kickback" is to the school and beat it. Make sure you do it for a multiyear contract.

Sometimes, you can't beat the other guys kickback, but you can beat their terms. For example, the one company I pushed out for a school was to offer a free roster board. The other company charged $2000 for this board with mounted images. I was able to just make it a big 30x40 poster. It took me 10 hours in editing and $100 in materials, and it pushed out the other guy for a three year contract.

[Noel_Carboni]

I always wondered the best method to keep track of each child and pair them up with their names when prints are made.

Just thinking a bit outside the box here...

The camera shoots 8 x 12 ratio, but you only need 8 x 10 so you shoot a bit loose and crop.

If each person put their form in a slot, with their name and/or a sequence number showing, and the slot happened to be lined up so as to appear at the bottom edge of the photo.... Voila, the info is right in the photo, and you / your staff don't have to keep track of anything except that the subject puts their paperwork in the right place during shooting. With today's modern high megapixel cameras even the fine print would be captured and readable.

Just a thought. I don't feel much like thinking in a box today.

-Noel

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