Lifetouch job?

[MRCPix]

anyone ever deal with Lifetouch I have an oppertunity to work for them, but don't know anything about them except they do directories for churches and K-12 photography.

[toverman]

I only have the experience of them being used by my church, and it was the salesman rather than the company that was the issue. He was very hard-sell, but that was his job as each family got a free 8x10 as part of images being taken for the church directory. We ended up paying $30 for enhancements to that 8x10, but as a photographer I'm OK with that!

So if it's something you're interested in, go for it. Sure a way to expand your horizons when dealing with different kinds of people.

[CaptainTom]

Mike
I have no direct experience with Lifetouch, but I have researched them quite a bit out of my own curiosity.

1- It's good if you want to get out and work alone.
2- I believe the photographer is seperate from the sales force....
3- You are on the road a lot.
4- Pay isn't that good..
5- weekend work.
6- Seems like a chance to see different areas and to have some free time to shoot landscapes, etc.

Working with kids can be fun and it can be a horror.

[L Stegall]

I haven't dealt with them personally, but I've seen images of a friend's children, whose pre-school apparently uses them. Well, while I know those kids are cute from personal observation, cute kids did not equal cute pictures. I was not impressed at all - really poorly exposed, horrible color casts and, at least to me, very cheesy looking poses, backgrounds and props (course, I think pretty much all scenic backgrounds and props are totally cheesy anyway so take that for what its worth - my mother-in-law wouldn't recognize an image as "good" without them). I guess if I had been the parent, I'd have probably bought the absolutely cheapest package they sold - because I felt I had or I'd scar my kids for life -- and then promptly put them in a drawer.

[brad]

Run.

Lifetouch stuff is crap. They had the school contract at our elementary for years until parents complained them out of the district.

[MRCPix]

thank you Brad that is the kind of thing I want to hear.
Tom sounds like you have looked at them pretty hard.
Wow Lisa thanks for being honest I appreciate it.

[CaptainTom]

Maybe they just need some good photographers like Mike to help them turn the corner.

I can imagine that being a school photographer has more challenges than we know. Some people have raved about their good photos, while some have ranted about the bad ones. Like any cookie cutter, mass production effort, there are some good and a lot of bad ones.

[L Stegall]

I figured you wanted to hear good and bad. I agree, they definitely need some good photographers! If my friend had brought in one bad batch of images, I'd be more inclined to chalk it up to a bad day (either for the kid or the photographer), but I've seen all 3 kids images over a several year period. I'm sure it is a thankless (and hard) job trying to get hundreds of 5 year olds in/out quickly and get them to sit still and look in the general direction of the camera. I'm sure parents buy the stuff as well because (a) they feel guilty not doing it; and (b) lots of them may not have any better images. As I said, my mother-in-law's den is full of similar images. I guess, if nothing else, you'll learn to work quickly under pressure.

[bondarnes]

If you can put up with shooting very basic images over and over, and being on the road a lot, then it can be a great training ground. You will learn how to pose quickly and get good expressions most of the time.

They like to hire women photographers, because they are less likely to try a different lighting setup or creative poses. They guard their work closely so you will get no portfolio images.

When I first opened my studio in 1975, business was slow so I went to work for a church directory company. Minimum wage then was around two bucks an hour. I worked March, April and May with only eleven days off then school let out and no churches booked. They paid me $200.00 a week draw against commissions for March, April, May, June, and most of July before we were even. It was great experience for me and to this day I can arrange any size family in only a few minutes.

[brad]

Also keep in mind that the photographer's job at a place like that is to set up lights and standard background, set the kid down, press a button twice, and move on to the next kid... and do it very quickly... and in the way they train you to do it. Nothing creative, nothing fun.

They do not do any of the post work.. color correction, printing QA, etc.. is all handled in the back office. The photographer just turns over CF cards at the end of the day.

[toverman]

To be clear, the photographer worked alone at our church and was the salesperson as well. His job wasn't easy ... my wife and I and our two young children showed up at our appointed time 15 minutes early as advised and had to wait more than 30 minutes past our time to get in front of the camera. Then the photog was annoyed that our kids weren't cooperating and we got only one decent pose (we still liked it enough to buy one). But it seems like the setup is geared toward failure when it comes to someone who cares about photography (as I'm assuming the OP does) vs. herding cattle and trying really hard to make a sale.

[mom2aidan]

i worked for a company owned by Lifetouch and from my experience HR sucks personally and it was more of a sales based company. I know every company likes good sales but this is all they base their company on. They could care less if some random person that has never held a camera in their hand took the photo, they will try their darnedest to sell that photo and sell it with a collection package even if the photo sucks BAD. not a very nice "sales driven" company per se. It is one thing to try to sell your work it is another to pressure and hound someone to buy your work and that is what I feel Lifetouch does (also being on the other side at church and trying to buy photos from the directory).

[Debbi]

Originally Posted by brad

Run.

Lifetouch stuff is crap. They had the school contract at our elementary for years until parents complained them out of the district.

Totally agree! They have had the contract at my kid(s)' school for years. I hate (and now refuse) to spend $40 up front for what I know will be just a couple of crap pics. Their pics remind me of kid mug shots. Don't order them any more since I can now take them myself.

[Ribbons&Bows]

I worked for lifetouch last year and it was ok. Your drive time will be up to 1 hour away and your set up time will typically be 6:30 am. Your schedule is subject to change throughout the week. You will be paid for your drive time and mileage which is a good thing. The set up is very specific and they require it to be done this way only. They provide posing cards for you to follow. They expect you to "average" 10 kids per hour. Creativity is allowed but only on small percent. This was a one season thing and it did help my posing skills but that is about it.


p.s. Don't forget about the non compete clause you have to sign before going to work for them.

[MRCPix]

thanks everyone for your input.