What do you provide to clients

[David]

The business card of very good photographers ; which I am not.

[Bill44]

I'm mainly a shooter of junior sports and cost is nearly always a major consideration for parents. I supply high res CD's and one shot, my selection, printed at A4 size by me.

The purpose of throwing in a print is to demonstrate the quality that can be produced, and to eliminate any dispute over the technical quality of the shots when they get crap prints elsewhere. Many of my clients come back to me for decent prints after getting garbage from the 18 cent machines.

[arthurking83]

I tend to give all my images to my clients for free, usually in digital form

not all clients are prepared to pay for everything!

[habro]

DVD with hi- and lo-res is part of all of my wedding packages, prints start coming on at package 2 & 3. I hated handing over the digital images before I started... but I wouldn't book any jobs if I didn't conform

[NikonNellie]

I am only new to the business side of things but at the moment I give the clients a DVD with both hi-res images for printing and a selection of images resized for the web with my watermark on them. I give them permission to only put the resized images on their facebook page. I get my clients to sign a contract saying that they will not reproduce, publish or modify the images in anyway without my permission. I have also included a permission clause giving me the right to publish some of their images on my webpage/blog for display purposes only.
I always advise them not to print their images at places like K-Mart or Harvey Norman and supply them with the names of some pro labs. I tell them that I will not be responsible for the quality of images taken at these kind of stores and not at a pro lab.

SO FAR SO GOOD!

[reaction]

I'd argue against full size jpg, since with the D800 now you'll get some 36MP files and some 12MP files. There'll be some confused clients why some pics are '1/3rd size only'!

[ricktas]

I chose Gravy, cause I give my clients what they want/ask for. We discuss it all. If they want processed jpgs on disk, then that is what I give them. If they want a canvas print, I get that done as well. If they want an an album, easy!

Everyone should stop treating clients like they are all the same, and look at them as individuals with individual wants, and provide each client what they want, not what a restrictive business model says I as the photographer wants to provide. The only person losing out is the photographer if they do not listen to a prospective client and/or are not able/willing to give the client what they seek.

[ktoopi]

Well said Rick, I'm not a professional ie I don't sell my pics but I agree with your comments and I would also agree with Nellies comments regarding facebook and printing at non pro labs!

[BLWNHR]

Gravy for me too.

Some clients get prints, some pay extra for digital versions. Commercial clients all want digital, and some I even give them the RAW files (many will be shocked at this no doubt).

[ScottM]

I've just accepted photographing an Australian juniors sports championship down here.

My proposal included prints, and also DVD of team/groups, candids, and action, for the national organisation, but me keeping ownership. I provided broad rights for re-use related to their business but being a sports organisation, 'activities directly related to their business' are somewhat restricted but suited to me too.

I also proposed that players/families/officials to be able to purchase either prints or digital from an online store.

So depends on the situation - but I chose the 'both'.

[Film Street]

I can see the benefit of providing digital files to the client as it may prevent them from hassling you down the track for re prints etc. It also makes for a somewhat less complicated pricing scheme.

However I'm thinking of one potential disadvantage to not handling the prints yourself (albeit a very minor one).

The major disadvantage would be lost income.
Having to resize and shape for different printing sizes should not be a hassle, but rather a part of your business.

As an aside (and not to hijack this thread but it is relevant here from reading some of the replies), I offer wholesale printing rates to professional photographers for this very purpose - to resell the prints
and not just hand over a C.D.
I do this locally and as my business is Australia wide is open to all professionals. I will post more info in the sponsors section.

For photographers, printing should be right up there for products offered because of the income you can make from it. Probably more than gravy.

[aponzo]

I offer my clients both high and low res shots, plus I always include some prints - normally 6x9" or 11x14".
One thing I always mention is that getting them printed at BigW/KMart will always look a LOT different to these prints, and if they don't want to purchase more through me, to always use a good quality photo lab.

[JM Tran]

I offer and deliver quality