party proofer P
arty people don’t always want to be reminded on Facebook of their Christ- mas excesses – but if you’re a Facebook regular, you’ll know what to expect as the office and social party season gets under way. Generally everyone wants to share their happy moments. And the same may apply to on- line sales sites, party pictures posted for an invited group to view can be ‘viral marketing’ with friends sending the link to remind each other. It’s also great to offer prints on the night – as Keith Trainor’s Events Photography did in aid of charity on the MPA Awards night. Keith used one of Lastolite’s big white-background light boxes, a kind of shallow cuboid white tent into which two flash heads are aimed from the sides. This creates a surprisingly even, brilliant field of white which shows no shadows. That means you can use optimum frontal lighting for the subjects.
Consider offering a package deal to social event organisers wanting prints on the spot this festive season – with an agreed price for every extra one you provide. The right evening event job could pay outright for a new dye sub location printing system.
For output, the dye sub printer is now considered to be the only choice for events. The latest systems output prints in under a minute from economical roll-format media, and laminate them for handling resistance. As long as you have mounts or folders ready made which are easy to load up, the finished product will be worth £10 or more for each 7 x 5" print. Systems from Sony (Pho- tomart), Mitsubishi, Olmec, Co- pal, Citizen, Olympus, Hi-Ti, Fuji ASK and Kodak all compete on price of acquisition or leasing, materials and maintenance. Just
do a Google search for ‘dye sub printer for events photography’ and you will find that a stack of sources for rental or purchase of complete systems or the printers alone pops into view.
The costs of an 8" location friendly high speed printer could be written off by just a couple of large seasonal functions, but it makes sense to aim for corpo- rate clients or firm commissions rather than private parties or speculative attendance. The reason for this is cash – many partygoers won’t be carrying cash, or want to use a credit card for a transaction.
Corporate clients can be signed to a contract based on a per print price. If they have 100 guests at a party, you could reasonably price up your attend- ance at £1,000 including the provision of one 8 x 6" for each guest but with an additional fee of £10 for every print over 100, payable by the client, provided you obtain guest or staff names and signatures for each batch of prints. Many executives will happily organise groups result- ing in dozens of extra prints, and sign on the line for their company to pay the extra. You benefit from the enthu- siasm of the moment (and a glass or two) but the client can be rewarded with a discount on your normal print price. Provide vouchers that guests bring to have their shots taken, mark them once ‘used’ but have your event’s on-line sales URL printed on them for the guest to keep. And on your print folders! – DK
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MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY 33
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