6 | TN Photography | Frames

I recently did a food shoot for a restaurant which invloved 6 food shots to hang on their walls. The prints were A2 and framed. It was a massive job because I made some silly decisions and I ended up making a loss but the learning experience has been very valuable.

1. DO NOT purchase cheap frames. DO NOT deal with retail outlets that sell cheap frames.

• The glass is very fragile and the client smashed the glass on the first frame by accident with not much force
• The wood is so weak that before I even opened the packaging on the frames, it had been chipped in different areas on each frame
• When you purchase frames wrap them in bubble wrap straight away ($7 from Reject shop buys you 10m long, 70mm wide) before transporting and make sure they are placed 'face to face' and not all the same way. If they are all the same way the hooks at the back will damage the wood at the front of the frame on top of it
• The glass inside of cheap frames is dirty and it takes forever to clean the dust off and put the print in.
• Cheap A2 frames are about $30-$40 each
• Custom made A2 frames are $110 or more each. Student discount of $90 per frame - this includes frame, glass, backing, string on back - no matte inside
• Overestimate the time that your client will recieve the goods, framing stores may not always be on time.
• Next job I will deal with the Discount Gallery Framing store and see what they have already got made up as that will be cheaper than custom framing. I will get a quote from them, analyse how long it will take me and what my own costs will be, add some profit and provide a total cost quote to the client. Clients want good quality frames but at cheap prices - this is not possible - explain this to them. The amount of time, effort, enery and money I have wasted with this job has been extensive, I have learnt so much and next job I will do things completely different.