Raises £££’s for your school (or other organisation) with minimal effort.
We turn your school hall into a fully equipped photography studio and have a
day of relaxed informal contemporary portrait photography.
You can give families something they really value at prices well below those
normally available on the high street. And let us do all the hard work.
Parents are invited to book sittings, usually at a weekend, using a
leaflet which Prêt-a-Portrait provides and which is distributed via the
school. We can also provide posters to put up at school or elsewhere.
Sittings are booked directly with Prêt-a-Portrait to keep administrative
burden on the school to a minimum.
On the day Prêt-a-Portrait sets up a fully equipped studio in the school
hall or other similar space and runs a series of 30 minute sittings.
Parents pay a fee of £32.00. For this they get their sitting, one free
picture, and their own password protected online album so they can view and
choose at their leisure.
In addition to their ‘free’ picture, parents can also choose from a range
of high quality products (e.g. prints, frames, canvases, acrylics, books etc)
and place orders online, or by telephone.
The school earns a minimum of £10 per sitting and can earn more (subject to
total order value)
Just call FREE 0800 021 7626 to fix a date
Questions
The operation is designed to keep the administrative burden on the school to an absolute minimum.
Simply:
- Call Prêt-a-Portrait to arrange a date
- Distribute leaflets (which Prêt-a-Portrait provide) to parents via the children a few
weeks beforehand and put up the posters we supply in a prominent place.
- Liaise with Prêt-a-Portrait to arrange access to the school hall or similar space on the day.
A single studio can accommodate 18- 20 sittings. When demand exceeds this we can often set up a
second studio which allows us to handle more sittings.
We generally assume an 8am arrival, a 9am start and run sitting every 30 mins until approx 5.30pm.
Our studios each take up approx 6m x 8m and need access to a normal domestic 13A power supply. We
fit comfortably in most school halls or village halls.
We try to stick to a minimum of 10 sittings in one day and there is rarely a problem in filling this
many spaces. If every member of the PA ‘sells’ one or two sittings you’ll be well on the way to a
successful day.
We keep albums on display for an initial period of 6 weeks. If customers want to extend this they
can simply call us. If they want to place further orders later in the year (e.g. for Birthday or
Christmas presents), we can usually put their album back on display within 48 hours.
Orders can be placed online, or by telephone.
Prêt-a-Portrait is a different kind of photography company operating without high street shops
or studios, and using the internet for viewing. This keep costs down and so prices are very much
lower than those normally found on the high street. To see a full price list please click here.
We pay the school or PA £10.00 per sitting or 10% of net order value — whichever is the greater.
We pay the guaranteed minimum £10.00 per sitting the week after the event; then 4 months later (when
everyone has had plenty of time to order) we will make up any difference.
We are happy to put you in touch with other schools who have run family portrait days if you wish.
If you have any other questions please call 0800 021 7626 or email
office@pret-a-portrait.co.uk
The Studio
We shoot against a large white backdrop. It gives the pictures a clean modern feel –
more like something from a magazine than a traditional portrait. The studio has a floor area
of approximately 4 metres x 4 metres. This means there is plenty of room to jump, kick, catch &
play – and that we can manage quite large groups if required.
What happens on the day?
We will always ask you if there is anything in particular that you have in mind. We are happy
to take direction and suggestions from customers to take the lead ourselves.
Most sittings last approximately half an hour. In that time we can cover quite a number of
different set ups and photograph different combinations of people (e.g. the whole family, the
children together and individually). Simply tell us if there is anything you particularly want.
Be prepared to be asked to do anything from lying on the floor to jumping in the air; it often helps
to get great pictures - but of course we’ll never try to make you do anything if you really don’t want to.
We’ll play music, we’ll have a range of props to use, we’ll have fun and we’ll take a lot of pictures - the
number varies but it is rarely less than 50 and sometimes as many as 150.
Shortly after your sitting you will be able to see all your pictures on a laptop but there will be no pressure
to make any decisions on the day. Instead we’ll give you some viewing instructions and a password to take home so
that you can view and choose your pictures online, securely and at your leisure.
What happens afterwards?
The pictures will be available to view within a few days of your sitting – occasionally even the same day.
We will normally be able to be more precise on the day of your sitting.
Your pictures then stay on display for 6 weeks; but after this you are welcome to call us to have your pictures
re-posted at any time. Many customers place an initial order soon after their sitting and then later, perhaps when
it's Granny’s birthday or Christmas time, they ask us to re-post their album as the pictures and other products
make great presents.
Our online viewing system is designed to help you view and choose pictures easily. You can create favourites
albums, crop pictures, view them in colour or black and white or see how they would look when used in any of our products.
You can place orders online or by telephone.
If you need help or advice we are always happy to help.
What to wear?
The first thing to say is that there absolutely no hard and fast rules. You should dress to feel comfortable and
according to the kind of pictures you want.
Some people worry about wearing white or very pale colours given that we shoot against a white backdrop. You don’t
need to. If that’s what you want to wear we make it look great.
It can look good if a family or group are all dressed similarly – e.g. the same colours or themed in some way.
It can help to make everyone look like they really belong together but of course it is entirely a matter of personal
taste.
If you wish you are welcome to bring a change of clothes however you should be aware that:
- we can’t promise there will always be a suitable place to change.
- If you have several small children, changing can eat up a lot of time in the middle of your sitting
Colour or Black & White?
We shoot in colour and store the images as high resolution digital files. Initially all the pictures in your
album will be shown in colour, however any of the files can be printed in black & white.
When viewing online you can easily see what your pictures would look like in black & white before making
any decisions.
All our prices are the same for black & white or colour.
Props?
We will have a range of props available (e.g. balls, hoops, balloons, toys, feather boas, cushions etc)
but if you’d like to bring anything of your own we’d say - absolutely yes!
Bringing your own props can help in lots of ways; from making the pictures particularly individual, personal
and appropriate to helping young children settle when they first arrive.
We have had children bring their favourite toys or books, musicians bringing their instruments, sportsmen
(and women) bringing balls, racquets, sticks, bats etc. We’ve had skateboards, bikes and even the odd laptop.
We simply ask that anything you bring is reasonably clean and won't damage or mark the white vinyl studio floor
Pets?
Yes - sometimes. We have photographed numerous dogs, cats & rabbits but it does depend where we are. If you
would like to bring a pet please be sure to ask us beforehand, when you book your sitting.