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Thread: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

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    8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    sorry I posted this .
    Last edited by Torontoamateur; 1-Oct-2019 at 05:38.

  2. #2
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Re: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    Depending on your location, the greatest value of your service might be its uniqueness. Decades ago Lou Charno operated a unique and successful portrait studio using a tri-color camera and dye transfer prints. These prints had the advantage of potential long lives, a problem with some photographic prints of that time. You can offer instant prints. Remind your customers that your prints are unique. They may be unretouched 8x10, just as Edward Weston did long ago.

  3. #3

    Re: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    sorry.
    Last edited by Torontoamateur; 1-Oct-2019 at 05:43.

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    Re: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    How much money can you stand to lose? Professional photography in any form is a very competitive business, and the margins are getting lower all the time.
    You have an interesting niche idea, but it will take a lot of work and a lot of money in front to succeed. I assume that you have your gear; building a portfolio will take time and effort- studio space, marketing, (who is your target market, and how much disposable income do they have?) There's the added unknown with instant materials of how long your film will be available.
    Even if you're in Toronto, take a look at asmp.org for some very useful information about running a photo business (because that's what you intend to do).

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    Re: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    With your type of photography, it's not going to happen to compete on price, your costs are too high.
    Better focus on just covering the cost and as a start, if you don't depend on this for your living. Then put all marketing out on the unique product.
    In an amusement park near me, they did this, 8x10" Polaroid, through a sepia filter. They put some clothes on you, gave you a gun and made Western style images. It was a steep price, as much as the entrance to the park, but you saw the unique quality in the examples. They had real customers all the time.
    I own the gear, but those don't make masterpieces. My everyday experience.

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    Re: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    Beyond the other considerations mentioned, the supply of 8x10 Polaroid film has been unreliable - it has been unavailable for months at a time, with the timing of its return always uncertain. Nor can you just stock up, even if you have the money up front, because the stuff has a relatively short expiration date and is unlikely to keep nearly so well in storage as traditional B&W film does.

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    Re: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    I suggest comparing what you want to do with the modern Tintype Portrait makers, particularly comparing prices for 8X10 portraits. I can find prices ranging from $435 (one of the best studios) to as low as $150, with the average being around the $250-$300 mark. Its more labor intensive work, so I doubt you could market an 8X10 Polaroid portrait for anything close to the high end of those Tintype prices. So the question is: can you do what you want to do for $150 a session or less? I suspect that is what you'd have to do. (The prices I quoted are in USD, by the way)

    As Oren stated, there is the unreliability factor of the Polaroid materials to consider. Perhaps you'd be better off learning how to make a good portrait on Harman Direct Positive paper, or even take the "Afghan Camera" approach and make a paper negative and then print a contact positive for the client.

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    Re: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    FWIW, Florian Kaps is charging €77 (currently about $84) for an 8x10 Polaroid B&W at his studio in Vienna:

    https://the.supersense.com/collectio.../8x10-portrait

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    Re: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    Quote Originally Posted by paulbarden View Post
    Perhaps you'd be better off learning how to make a good portrait on Harman Direct Positive paper...
    Interesting thought. A very contrasty, narrow-exposure-latitude material, but it's way cheaper per sheet than the Polaroid, and if you're going to work in your own studio space, with a bit of testing up front you could figure out a standard lighting setup that could somewhat mitigate the high contrast and help achieve consistent exposures.

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    Re: 8x10 Polariod Portrait Prices ???

    If you plan on using instant 8x10, then you unless you have one, figure on spending bucks for the electric processor, or huge $$ for the manual one. I find the powered processor more consistent in terms of goo spread etc.., but the manual can be used in the field.

    As for how long unexposed film keeps, I've exposed and processed four year old Impossible film, and it came out very good. But nonetheless, I'd factor in at least a couple of shots because the chances of a clean spread on the first shot, imo, is not guaranteed.
    notch codes ? I only use one film...

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