Photos - a polite request

[Psychosis]

This isn't going to be popular, but people choose to have children, and one of the factors in that choice is being aware of the fact that a family with children will incur additional costs. Holidays, food, bills, whatever.

 

I have no problem whatsoever with reduced costs for children, perhaps some sort of grading system, where <12 is half price, and babes in arms go free or whatever. But to expect a family of four to pay the same price as a single person is unreasonable and unrealistic.

 

You're a braver man than I (that, and I'm a woman)

 

But I understand where you're coming from!

[AJ Jones]

This isn't going to be popular, but people choose to have children, and one of the factors in that choice is being aware of the fact that a family with children will incur additional costs. Holidays, food, bills, whatever.

 

I have no problem whatsoever with reduced costs for children, perhaps some sort of grading system, where <12 is half price, and babes in arms go free or whatever. But to expect a family of four to pay the same price as a single person is unreasonable and unrealistic.

 

You're a braver man than I (that, and I'm a woman)

 

But I understand where you're coming from!

I do not see it as brave. I see it as honest. Someone has said that some people do not choose to have children, which in some cases may well be true and only the parents will know that. But the matter of fact is that the parents who bring the children with them choose to do so. Someone will more than likely say that they couldn't leave them at home etc etc, but it is still their choice to attend an event. Once you start helping one section of attendees, or customers for a better word, then you have to look at helping all attendees/customers. Otherwise you will get a bad name for yourself. You could put a sound bet on some attendees at other events who offer the tye of deals being asked for, who are unhappy that they pay full price whilst someone wise pays £x to go in as an extra body. Single photos can be scanned, saved as a jpeg and taken to a photo shop to be professionally printed. So, if there is a group of four paying £20 for a photo plus £5 per extra person totalling £35..what is to stop them taking the photo, scanning it and saving it and getting 3 copies professionally developed for £1.49 each (current price at Photo Klick in Bristol). That would total £39.47 instead of £80. They have saved themselves alot of money where as single people are still paying full price. Where is the fairness in that?

 

At the end of the day, the parent or guardian who brings a child to an event knowing the prices has to accept them. To plead special dispensation is wrong to other attendees.

Edited November 9, 2007 by AJ Jones

[orlilover]

I to agree with children wanting to go in photo shoots with a family member should be free up to at least 14. My children have missed out in many photo shoots with me because of this.

 

There was 1 occasion where i had a photo shoot with Craig Parker that my daughter got upset because she couldnt come in with me. The photographer asked Craig if this was ok for my daughter to come in on the shoot, he said yes luckily for my daughter. I suppose it also depends on the photographer and celeb.

 

I do agree that children under 15 should be allowed, and maybe spouses if no children, as my hubby has also wanted to have a photo done with me and Robert Englund.

 

Try and sort something out for us SM.

[AJ Jones]

I to agree with children wanting to go in photo shoots with a family member should be free up to at least 14. My children have missed out in many photo shoots with me because of this.

 

There was 1 occasion where i had a photo shoot with Craig Parker that my daughter got upset because she couldnt come in with me. The photographer asked Craig if this was ok for my daughter to come in on the shoot, he said yes luckily for my daughter. I suppose it also depends on the photographer and celeb.

 

I do agree that children under 15 should be allowed, and maybe spouses if no children, as my hubby has also wanted to have a photo done with me and Robert Englund.

 

Try and sort something out for us SM.

Okay then, what about those of us who are unemployed? Do we get help?

[Adz931]

I think common sense needs to prevail here.

 

If you want a photo with a guest, by yourself, you pay the one price.

 

If you are a couple or family or group and decide to get one photo together with the guest, you pay the one price.

You only get one photograph at the end of it.

If you want more than one photograph then you pay the extra charge.

 

That is not wrong, nor is it unfair.

 

It is your own prerogative to get a photo by yourself or with other people.

 

Ad

Edited November 9, 2007 by Adz931

[DavidB]

And if you 'decide' to get one photo with a guest, and bring along your friends to get in there too, then take the ONE photo home and get it copied so everyone has one .. that's fair is it?

[Psychosis]

I do agree that children under 15 should be allowed, and maybe spouses if no children, as my hubby has also wanted to have a photo done with me and Robert Englund.

 

Try and sort something out for us SM.

 

Maybe spouses if no children? Why? Basically what you're saying is that anyone has a right to a buy-one-get-one-free regardless of who the other person is. No, no, no. 99% of married couples earn more than I do so I don't see why they should get things cheaper.

Edited November 9, 2007 by Psychosis

[Too Tall]

Okay then, what about those of us who are unemployed? Do we get help?

No, go get a job

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just playing I understand your point.

 

I think like with anything it would be fair to have a child's price. How that is to be implemented I'm not sure.

 

But I do agree that it's unfair to say husband and wives. Because, you should then allow, boy and girlfriends, boy and boyfriends, girl and girlfriends, friends and friends...the list goes on.

 

For adults I understand why SM do it the way they do. Paying Per Person is the only way to be fair to everyone. It's got nothing to do with overheads, or time and it's irrelevant if you only want/need one print at the end. What you are paying for is the privilege of having your picture professionally taken with the guest.

 

Other shows may do it differently but you can not argue that everyone that stands next to the actor gets the same benefit. They get to have their picture taken with the guest. It's their decision if they wish to have someone else in that picture with them. But that other person gets the same benefit (a picture with the guest), so it is only fair that everyone pays the same price for the same benefit.

Edited November 9, 2007 by Too Tall

[Noddy]

And if you 'decide' to get one photo with a guest, and bring along your friends to get in there too, then take the ONE photo home and get it copied so everyone has one .. that's fair is it?

 

Absolutely as the cost of the additional copies are paid for by the punter and not SM. The organiser has made no loss on the one photo taken has it?

[DavidB]

People don't have to pay to get stuff copied. It's like they're paying for one photograph, but easily able to get others.

 

Why should Showmasters allow a group to pay one price and then be able to go away and end up with a photo each?

 

While not an actual 'loss', there's certainly potential for lower 'profit' there, amongst other problems that have already been addressed. And yes, they are a business so I don't see why they'd want to do that.

Edited November 9, 2007 by DavidB

[lallen]

I'm no tsure why people keep saying if that Family of 2 - 4 people have a photo then they will only pay £10 - £5, where as I'm single I have to pay £20.

At the end of the day you are paying the same it is £20 for one photo.

 

People keep on about if a group has it done then they can scan it and get copies, these don't always print as well as the original.

 

I suppose that Showmasters could still do a, one, photo for £20 for a Family group, fairly easy to recognise as two adults with children, and then a limit of max of two people, this would take into account couples, but it will only be for the one photo. Everybody who has a photo will still be paying Showmasters £20.

 

It is then up to people if they want to have more than one photo they then pay the extra £20 per photo.

 

It's the same as the autos, you pay per auto not what is being signed.

[DavidB]

People keep on about if a group has it done then they can scan it and get copies, these don't always print as well as the original.

 

While that may be true to a certain extent, I'm sure a lot of people would be willing to have a slightly inferior copy for free rather than pay £15-20 for another photo, and I can see lots of people taking advantage if they were able to.

 

It's like when you go to a theme park or something, and have those group photos on the rides. It's always easy to just buy one copy of the photo, then copy it yourself, rather than paying for one each. I know loads of people that do that.

[stobbs]

when people put up their photoshoot pictures on the forum i just copy them and photoshop myself into them ... the much cheaper option lol

[AJ Jones]

And if you 'decide' to get one photo with a guest, and bring along your friends to get in there too, then take the ONE photo home and get it copied so everyone has one .. that's fair is it?

 

Absolutely as the cost of the additional copies are paid for by the punter and not SM. The organiser has made no loss on the one photo taken has it?

 

It is not fair one bit as those friends are getting it cheaper than people payig full price. Those people asking for dispensation when they choose to go to the event are being selfish. Your reasoning is complete tosh as the people who are impacted are the ones who truly matter - the fans. I am sure that the friends I will attend with would love to have a group shot with Patrick or Micheal as we all adore Smallville and Star Trek. We could then take it home, scan it, save it to a memory stick and get 10x8's perfectly printed off for £1.49 each. We may save money, but I would feel for those - Yes, I have a conscience - who went alone and saw others sharing the cost of a photo.

 

To those people asking for reductions I ask this question...say that you are towards the back of a queue waiting for your turn to have a photo, and suddenly the session has overrun and had to stop with some people - including you - being refunded the money. Will you be upset/angry/p*ssed off? Or will you be magnanimous and say.."At least those families/couples got their group photos?

 

Exactly, it will be the angry/upset/p*ssed of answer.

 

Add onto that the people who may end up missing an autograph as the signing time has been eaten into?

 

I'm no tsure why people keep saying if that Family of 2 - 4 people have a photo then they will only pay £10 - £5, where as I'm single I have to pay £20.

At the end of the day you are paying the same it is £20 for one photo.

 

People keep on about if a group has it done then they can scan it and get copies, these don't always print as well as the original.

I suppose that Showmasters could still do a, one, photo for £20 for a Family group, fairly easy to recognise as two adults with children, and then a limit of max of two people, this would take into account couples, but it will only be for the one photo. Everybody who has a photo will still be paying Showmasters £20.

 

It is then up to people if they want to have more than one photo they then pay the extra £20 per photo.

 

It's the same as the autos, you pay per auto not what is being signed.

 

I brought this up as I know for a fact that the copies are brilliant if you scan the original with a basic colour scanner, save it to a memory stick and take it to a Photo Klick shop (or similar) to have it produced to 10x8 size for £1.49.

 

Okay then, what about those of us who are unemployed? Do we get help?

No, go get a job

 

Just playing I understand your point.

Too Tall..am I going to have to bring the wet celery to CM13 young man?

 

Dude, I would love a job but I am under restrictions to what I can go for until the end of the year (long story, won't bore you). I know I will be walking into a job in the new year. I just want to be able to b*tch and moan and back it up with an example.

Edited November 9, 2007 by AJ Jones

[Keiralouise]

The cost shouldn't be reduced. Yeah it was annoying at LFCC when me and my friends couldn't get a group picture with Dominic but that was because my friends couldn't afford it while getting other signatures, I was the only one who could.

 

Group photos shouldn't have a discount, most of the time you want a copy each, therefore you pay for a copy each not a split cost. If they start doing the discounts it will be taken advantage of. There's no two ways about it.

 

I do agree with a family price, but to an extent. Up to 14 the kids may still want a copy each and if they scan and reprint they will cheat the system that way. It's not fair on people who save up for the events and pay full price for the one photo.

 

People who attend these events should know the rules, and save accordingly, like the rest of us do. I don't expect preferential treatment because I'm still in full time education and have to save to come, so why should families? It shouldn't be hard to set away some money a month for these events so you can get the experiences you want

[Psychosis]

We may save money, but I would feel for those - Yes, I have a conscience - who went alone and saw others sharing the cost of a photo.

 

A what?

[AJ Jones]

The cost shouldn't be reduced. Yeah it was annoying at LFCC when me and my friends couldn't get a group picture with Dominic but that was because my friends couldn't afford it while getting other signatures, I was the only one who could.

 

Group photos shouldn't have a discount, most of the time you want a copy each, therefore you pay for a copy each not a split cost. If they start doing the discounts it will be taken advantage of. There's no two ways about it.

 

I do agree with a family price, but to an extent. Up to 14 the kids may still want a copy each and if they scan and reprint they will cheat the system that way. It's not fair on people who save up for the events and pay full price for the one photo.

 

People who attend these events should know the rules, and save accordingly, like the rest of us do. I don't expect preferential treatment because I'm still in full time education and have to save to come, so why should families? It shouldn't be hard to set away some money a month for these events so you can get the experiences you want

 

Hallelujah..someone who can see the impact on the fans...us!!!

 

Have a donut KL....

 

[TommyT]

Okay then, what about those of us who are unemployed? Do we get help?

Hey, let's go the whole hog. What about a nice fat discount for all those of us singleton taxpayers whose taxes are subsidising other people's kids? What with my taxes funding schools, child allowance, child tax credit, childcare tax relief schemes, child trust funds ("baby bonds") etc, it's about time somebody gave us childless folks a break for a change...

(Only joking, but I still think I'd better don the flak jacket and tin helmet and hunker down behind the sandbags for a while )

[steevofromglasgow]

Hi

 

Just wanted to add my thoughts on this.

We collect photos of our 5 year old son with the guests and 4 photoshoots for a 5 year old at LFACC cost us £70-£80. Granted, I wasn't in the shots otherwise we would have been looking at double this price. Showmasters is a business so I understand why the rules are in place.

 

Of course, it was our choice but we always felt it was a bit unfair.

We've easily spent several hundred pounds attending events this year (our choice again) but have decided not to attend any more as it was simply costing too much. Being unable to take photos during signings or having to pay another £40 (in some cases) for me and my son to be in 1 photo has prompted us to call it a day.

 

If others feel the photoshoots are too expensive or unfair then avoid them.

 

Steve

Edited November 9, 2007 by steevofromglasgow

[AJ Jones]

Okay then, what about those of us who are unemployed? Do we get help?

Hey, let's go the whole hog. What about a nice fat discount for all those of us singleton taxpayers whose taxes are subsidising other people's kids? What with my taxes funding schools, child allowance, child tax credit, childcare tax relief schemes, child trust funds ("baby bonds") etc, it's about time somebody gave us childless folks a break for a change...

(Only joking, but I still think I'd better don the flak jacket and tin helmet and hunker down behind the sandbags for a while )

I will join you in the trenches Tommy..

 

[zaknfang]

I can understand this mothers request but i can also see other ppls points too

 

i am a mum of 2 my 7 year old loves the cons and why she aint to bothered about the photo's or the sigintures, she's happy to just walk up and say hi.

 

sometimes we are lucky to be able to do this, most times we are going for a sig anyway and thats when we request a shot with our own camera for our little ones or us

but to suggest we USE our children to get longer with the stars is very out of order most of the time its the stars who want to spend a bit more time talking to the kids helping to encourage them either into the show they are in or inspire them to follow there dreams etc.

Alot of stars have kids of there own who they are missing for us fans and seeing kids is a little reminder for them of there own kids and some cant help but get distracted by seeing kids.

 

we are a family of four 2 adults 2 kids , YES we save up for the Cons, last one we actually borrowed some money to allow us to have a good time but this time we did not bring the kids and we got just as long with most of the stars as we would have with them!

 

i mean we got professional shoots even tho we also managed to get our own shots with our own camera before hand so a photo shoot really is a personal decision if you ask me

 

on another note, i thought you was paying for the photos not the amount of ppl in them myself and my husband are in a club and we and our team make up SG13 of the SGC UK we would have loved a group shot with the guys from stargate but we instead got a photo each and to be hojnest why would i need a pic of the stars with me and then with my hubby? especially has i was so darn nervous he had to basically push me towards "Daniel"

 

we got some great pics and this was our first photo shoot:

BUT

we brought 2 tickets for each of the stars we wanted shoots with so both me and my hubby could have a pic wih our fav ppl

we got back - 2 pics each of us with Michael Shanks but we only got one each of us with Jewel staite and chris judge yet we paid the same price for each photoshoot some would argue that was not fair!

we thought they was well worth the money

 

and to end on i'd like to point out that while discounts may be preferable for some you cant label ppl that way its not right, I personally am registered as disabled so i get connession prices most places i go but that dont mean showmasters should feel they have to do it!

 

they are not every other con, thats why they are so good!

 

i guess to sum up without meaning to sound mean rembering i too am a unemployed mum of a benefit income family and disabled myself , i see no reason why SM should have to suffer our money misfortunes and make exceptions for our family or money situations, we have been to a con and not gone up to see a single person or brought a thing cause we been broke but we still been able to enjoy the con itself

 

go or dont!

 

Rant over, sorry but i had to post how i felt about it

[Psychosis]

but to suggest we USE our children to get longer with the stars is very out of order most of the time its the stars who want to spend a bit more time talking to the kids helping to encourage them either into the show they are in or inspire them to follow there dreams etc.

Alot of stars have kids of there own who they are missing for us fans and seeing kids is a little reminder for them of there own kids and some cant help but get distracted by seeing kids.

 

Nobody's being mean, it's a FACT that some people do that, there have been threads posted by them about it.

[DavidB]

Yeah - while it may seem like people are generalising, we all realise not EVERYONE does it, but we use examples that we've heard of or seen ourselves.

 

It's not a case of 'all kids are used to exploit' or 'all friends would take advantage of group photos' etc, it's just that people are wary for good reason.

 

It's unfortunate that a few would ruin it for others, but as with anything in life, it does and will happen.

[Keiralouise]

The cost shouldn't be reduced. Yeah it was annoying at LFCC when me and my friends couldn't get a group picture with Dominic but that was because my friends couldn't afford it while getting other signatures, I was the only one who could.

 

Group photos shouldn't have a discount, most of the time you want a copy each, therefore you pay for a copy each not a split cost. If they start doing the discounts it will be taken advantage of. There's no two ways about it.

 

I do agree with a family price, but to an extent. Up to 14 the kids may still want a copy each and if they scan and reprint they will cheat the system that way. It's not fair on people who save up for the events and pay full price for the one photo.

 

People who attend these events should know the rules, and save accordingly, like the rest of us do. I don't expect preferential treatment because I'm still in full time education and have to save to come, so why should families? It shouldn't be hard to set away some money a month for these events so you can get the experiences you want

 

Hallelujah..someone who can see the impact on the fans...us!!!

 

Have a donut KL....

 

 

Why thank you

 

And I don't see families as using their kids to get more time with guests, it is usually the guest who likes to spend time talking to the kids. Obviously some would use that so they get more time with their favourite guest but not all would.

 

I agree with what Badges said. It is our choice to go and spend the money, and she's just proved that if you save you can get the experiences you want regardless of the cost.

[AJ Jones]

We may save money, but I would feel for those - Yes, I have a conscience - who went alone and saw others sharing the cost of a photo.

 

A what?

I now sweetness..it's a nightmare having one...

 

Question: With the amount of spam on this forum, and one shot wonders coming in and causing cr*p..has anyway else noticed that the original poster has posted once and once only. They have not even bothered to reply or post again in what has become a heated debate. Hmmmm...