Proof Viewing & Order Techniques

[gatrump05]

Hello to All, I am having my first "Quicktake" Holiday sessions this weekend and am looking for advise to make it go smoothly, being the experienced and professional experts everyone seems to be, I am coming to you for advise.

I have been taking Holiday Studio appointments every 20 minutes and plan on doing 3-5 poses, they have a choice of 3 different Holiday setups. Then they will go and view the proofs and place orders then for delivery the following week. How can i make this process go smoothly?

Is it possible?

The place I am taking these at is a dance studio and one of the sets is a "Nutcracker Theme" that has gone over really well, and now the owner wants me to take the spring costume photos also, if this turns out well, so I really need it to be a positive weekend for all.

I am looking to have 2 preview stations and an assistant to help with the orders and my daughter to take care of them when they walk in the door to get prelim info.

What else can you help me with? I am planning on 15-20 sessions on Saturday and Sunday

Thanks so much I love the info on this board.

[jazzology]

Not what i do... but I would suggest going to the local mall and watch the production of the "Santa" shots... I watched in amazement as this particular photographer never looked through a viewfinder while working. She was good with kids, held a remote trigger and when the lil buggers would look cute she would "duck and click"...shooting tethered, the results were immediate on a laptop screen and of course mom could whip out the visa card and make prints for everyone. Access to internet or phoneline i suppose would be a requirement for charging orders.

Sounds like you have a more leisurely pace...but the most important thing I notice is the personal engagement of the photographer and subject...have fun, and have some gags like a rubber frog in your pocket... nothing will get a subject to smile quicker than you being able to make it seem less serious when you put that frog on top of the lens hood.... My experience with kids has been in TV... YMMV... good luck

Happy Holidays,
Jeff

[joshranwest]

I am doing one on the 16th, and I am setting them up every 30 minutes. They get an online gallery the next day to order prints from. I will take the orders, and ship them. I try to keep it simple as can be.

[gatrump05]

Josh, I too offer the online gallery for ordering which is my usual practice, but I am trying to speed up the process so I can have the orders processed quickly. It seems in my area folks like to be SLOW in ordering online and this way you have the $$$$ faster.

This will be my first time ordering onsite so I can't wait to see how it turns out.

[Unkl Buck]

You lose sales by having an online gallery. They get the fun and joy of seeing their images and not costing them anything. Not to mention, don't think that some won't try to download the images and print them themselves or email them to family and friends. Again, not costing them anything.