how many photos for an event

[kamari]

I've migrated from doing sporting events to covering parties and club events (guaranteed fast upfront money and very very little post processing needed). I'll usually put in 3-4 hours at an event shooting candids thru the night and will hand a CD with full res and low res images for the promoters to use on their websites. Until this past weekend I've never had an issue with the number of photos I've delivered to a customer. In those 3-4 hours I'll usually get between 100 & 125 shots of people at the event. Are any of you ladies or gents doing the same types of events, and if so, how many pics (on average) are you delivering?

I had an event that began at 10pm last wed. At 10:45 there were only 7 people in the club. The promoter is jumping on me to take photos, and I'm lookin like "umm...there's nobody here" Even at midnight there was still only about 40 people at the place and I'd had maybe 20 shots. I ended up with 104 after sifting thru and trashing the handful of unusables with a crowd turnout of 75. I did another party for the same person Friday night with a very similar outcome. They're jumpin on me to shoot, shoot, shoot when there's less than 15 people in this big a$$ club...and mind you that not everyone wants their photo taken. I'm trying to approach this from a professional standpoint for the customer but it gets real hard when they're jumpin on you to shoot...but there's nobody around to shoot, unless I'm taking 30 shots of 20 people dancing or posing with their friends, and that gets really annoying to them...really quick.

[kachina]

I shot a kids birthday party on Saturday and wound up with around 150 keepers out of 219 shots.. There were about 25 kids at the party. That is about normal for a 2 hour kids party of that size. I shoot substantially less around adults because they actually stop for more than 10 seconds and there are not as many "cute" moments.

You should sit down with your client and find out what he is talking about by "shoot, shoot". Take a few images and ask him if he would like for you to capture things differently. You know, give him the old "I want to bring as much value as possible to your operation" speech.

Hope this helps. Please note that I am pretty green and only have about 10 events under my belt.

[CaptainTom]

A couple of ways to go.
Find out ahead of time what the clients expectations are.
Shoot what is comfortable for you, and if they want more, pour it on.
If they say shoot, shoot, it is for a couple of possible reasons.
A- they want to have a shot of everyone and everybody in every situation.
B- they want there to be an appearance that this is an "important" event that needs lots of pictures.

The results can be the same. You can shoot shoot shoot and get crappy photos, but they call you for the next gig. Or, you can ignore the shoot shoot shoot request, and not get asked back.

At some point you have to figure out what your limits are and stick with them for your own peace of mind.

My experience is that you can't take too many photos for the client. It's better to overshoot than undershoot. I find it harder to say "I didn't see anything worth photographing" than " I thought it was such a great event that I wanted to record everything for you".

[kamari]

I understand what you're sayin Rusty, and I do agree that shooting away at kids is totally different than shooting away at adults. My dilemma is that there's a balance that you have to maintain with getting photos that the client wants and pissin off the people at the party. I guess in a way I'm not really there to appeal to the people partying, but at the same time I'm the one who has to deal with the "Well damn, how many pictures of me are you gonna take?" attitude. I'll end up with 3 or 4 pics of everybody at the event at the end of the night, as was the case last wed. 104 photos with 3 and 4 people posing in each photo while there was a turnout of 75 people. You feel what I'm saying?

A few days after the event I usually get the "holy s#!t these are awesome photos." Guess I've just gotten used to having satisfied customers, lol. Most of the time I don't have the time to sit down with the client. I'm getting last minute calls or calls the day of the event asking if I could show up. Most times I don't even get to see the client until after the fact. Well, guess this particular client wasn't too upset...they've expressed interest in me doing more work for them.

[kachina]

I feel for you. It is a delicate balance. You could always take a 50 f/1.4 with you and do some ambient light shots. Sometimes this is less intrusive if folks are getting pissed about a flash going off in their face 15 times during the evening. I'm not sure if the conditions will allow this sort of shooting but it my be worth a try.

[RobyMD]

I honestly typically have the exact opposite problem. I shoot too much. But that's my style whether it's a wedding, birthday party, cocktail party, retirement party, or party party. My style is to tell a story. So I'll be all over the place. At the front door getting people coming in, at the bar doing some creative stuff with lights. I may even try to get on the bar and take some shots from up there also.

I guess my point is with 15 people that would be tough for me to get more than 50 shots but if the client is using these photos to promote his event I can do the best job i can to make it look as flattering as possible.

Make it look like there are a ton of people having fun. Or no?