School Photo question

[fotodave]

I was just contacted by a local school asking if I could do their school photos for next year (meaning late next month.)

This is the first time I have done anything for a school and was wondering if anyone had some helpful tips on what to do or not do. I have some successful experience shooting DayCare centers, but they were quite a bit smaller than this project.

The photographer they had last year had too many options and packages and messed them up badly so I'm inclined to go with fewer. I think that would make it easier on me and give me fewer opportunities to mix up an order. What types of packages usually sell best?

Is it usual to give a "donation" to the school? If so, what percent is normal?

This will be a middle school, so the kids will be able to take some directions. How many children per hour should I be able to shoot?

Any other hints you can offer will be greatly appreciated. I'm really scratching my head over this one...

Thanks,

David

[bondarnes]

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[VisConPhoto]

This is what my old boss did when he did schools and it worked great. Whe did the spring pictures at a Christian School. K4-8th grade, aprox 600 kids, shot in 2.5 hours. We did not do any pre-orders like most school photographers.

We had two stations with one photographer and assistant each. The assistants were mostly collages kids that some one knew so they really did not have any experance in photography. We also had one person there to take the name of the teacher and what image we were one when we started that class. Also having good comunacation with front office to get the next class down there before we ran out was the key to keep things moving.

The assistant would sit them down position them mack sure there hair, jewlary, and cloths where strait. Then the photographer would shoot the photograph check the image on the TV monitor connected to the camera for blinking eyes or glare on glasses. If every thing was good one to the next victim. All that took about 15 to 30 seconds.

Once the shooting was over we would upload the images print out mini wallets with the image number for the proofs, staple the proof to the order form. Then send them to the school for one week. One week later collect the order forms and print the orders.

The commision was about 20% to 30% but remember to charge what you need to make money then you let them choose how much extra they want to charge the parents.