Professional Photography for 6 quid...

Gonetae

Gonetae

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Tommy
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Maybe an interesting topic for discussion. Down the high street one of the key cutting type booths have setup a white background and a couple of softboxes. On offer for your six quid you get a 10x8 , two 6x4's and half a dozen keyring sized pics. The advertising boards on show have a great collection of well presented high key toddler pics and adult head shots... whether or not that is the quality of pic you would get from using them is another thing.

Watched them in action while I was getting my sausage rolls across the way, kiddies was sat down, quickly posed with a couple of soft toys and the tog snapped off maybe half a dozen shots.. memory card into PC to show off images on monitor to parents (I assume to pick the one shot that all the pics would be of). Next kiddie in...

Any thoughts on this folks?, to me it seemed a pretty tacky setup and very rushed but looks to be quite a lot people using it.
 
Gonetae said:
to me it seemed a pretty tacky setup and very rushed but looks to be quite a lot people using it.
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What do you want for six quid, Annie Leibovitz? I doubt it would pay for itself as a stand alone operation in a shopping centre, but as a sideline it sounds pretty good in a "Jack Cohen" sort of way....
 
The photograph development shop in my town is doing exactly the same thing
 
For certain people this will be just what they are after, no fuss, no booking, nop persuasive sell of other packages just in and out for £6 job done. If the images are of a quality that the customer wants for that price sure then theres nothing wrong with it.

For a pro in their own studio, with their work on display, nice surroundings, tea/coffee, nice seats, fully kitted out studio with a number of props/backgrounds they aren't just selling a photo they are selling the photo and the experience and are aimed at a totally different market.
 
Yeah, it's like comparing pizza hut with that italian restaurant that makes the most amazing pizzas and is full every evening.
 
I've seen them and similar offers, dotted around all over. The images that are used are usually the same as pixifoto use on their advertising.

Honestly.... it's aimed at the lower end of the market, I wouldn't expect an amazing shot, don't get me wrong, but there's alot of little slots in photography and if people will pay....... it's all business at the end of the day. I don't think that it would work as a stand-alone other than visiting various shops etc (often happens around here, where a tog will set up a portable studio in the corner of a shop for a day/week, charge silly low prices and loads of people go for baby shots usually - some also offer packages and to be frank, it's also a great way of getting your name out if baby/toddler shots are what you want to do, if they're good shots and you can meet their budget, they'll come back). I think that it's an efficent way of getting regular half-decent/decent shots of a child in the first few years though, as children change so much in such a short time and TBH that's what I've usually seen them being used as.
 
.. .. .. but do you really want to spend your days shooting 15 - 20 kids an hour in a little booth? I know I don't.
 
I'd not even pay £6 for her to shoot my kids TBH

Flash In The Pan said:
What do you want for six quid, Annie Leibovitz? I doubt it would pay for itself as a stand alone operation in a shopping centre, but as a sideline it sounds pretty good in a "Jack Cohen" sort of way....
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There's obviously a demand for it, I doubt this kind of operation is taking money away from established studios, different clients.

It is far from what I would want to be doing though!

Dave
 
There's a similar setup in the local Tesco now and again. I've no idea what the results are like, but it seems to be popular, with people and their kids queuing on a Saturday morning.

FWIW, the results can't really be any worse than some of the photographs I've seen displayed outside "professional" studios in our nearest town. If those were the keepers...............
 
awp said:
.. .. .. but do you really want to spend your days shooting 15 - 20 kids an hour in a little booth? I know I don't.
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Just the thought of it is enough to bring on a migraine:nono:
I think trying to get a set of images of one child in half an hour can be stressful enough.:)
 
joescrivens said:
The photograph development shop in my town is doing exactly the same thing
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Yep and one in my town, £5.99 for 10 prints including a 10x8, The window pics look great but having spoken to the assistant I suspect the pics will be not so good, she knows nothing at all about photography and shows little intrest in it either.
 
I've seen the results from my local (by snooping over the counter!). They are the quality you'd expect for £6. But it's a good money spinner for them - their staff are standing there anyway & can't imagine the prints cost much more than a £1 if that. If they get some shots of kids smiling then parents will be happy too.
 
I regularly photograph young children but my process is to invest a little time building up a bond with the child prior to the shoot, that way you reap the rewards. Just my two pence worth.
 
Sounds like a decent idea for drumming up business for a real photography business. Go into town with your equipment on a quiet day, charge a minimal fee for a basic photograph and then make sure they walk away with a leaflet or business card at least. 1 days work may give you a few more lucrative shoots!
 
swanseamale47 said:
Yep and one in my town, £5.99 for 10 prints including a 10x8, The window pics look great but having spoken to the assistant I suspect the pics will be not so good, she knows nothing at all about photography and shows little interest in it either.
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Nothing new there my local town centre used have a tog ??
Who knew nothing about the technical side apart from how to focus change film!
But boy did she produce some excellent portraits there was a portable backdrop with 2 lights and a manual camera with a 50mm lens on it.
She just had a great way with kids and they were charging a lot more than £6 even back then.

I say good luck to them who are doing it!:clap:
Not everyone has the income or spare cash to go to a studio and spend a lot of time or money for the shoot to be done.

Kids get bored and lose interest very quickly so doing a spontaneous shoot can often work out well while parents are out shopping.

And that's where these togs come into there own :)
 
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dcdanr said:
Sounds like a decent idea for drumming up business for a real photography business. Go into town with your equipment on a quiet day, charge a minimal fee for a basic photograph and then make sure they walk away with a leaflet or business card at least. 1 days work may give you a few more lucrative shoots!
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Ha you expect a PRO studio tog to leave there studio!!! :lol: They are most likely to give a promotional deal for one photography for £30 - £40 quid then try their best to get the customer to spend alot more once they have them looking through the various other shots they have taken during the sitting.

When I got engaged last year with the engagement ring I had bought I got a free picture, still havent used the offer as I just know there well be a lot of hard selling might get round to it before I am married.
 
Donki said:
Ha you expect a PRO studio tog to leave there studio!!! :lol: They are most likely to give a promotional deal for one photography for £30 - £40 quid then try their best to get the customer to spend alot more once they have them looking through the various other shots they have taken during the sitting.

When I got engaged last year with the engagement ring I had bought I got a free picture, still havent used the offer as I just know there well be a lot of hard selling might get round to it before I am married.
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Don't be so synical....and in business you do anything within reason to make your business sucessful, including low immediate profit but high networking events, so why wouldn't a pro tog leave a studio? Plenty on here do...
 
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