Professional photography

[Stitch]

I've been looking at a few photographers on the Web who take photos of various local events and there stuff just doesn't cut it. Does anyone know if many of these "pro" photographers make much money.

I assume a lot of you who cover preps see these people at games. It seems some of them just spent a few grand on equipment, but have no idea on how to use it.

 

[93Devil]

I think you can pick up a few extra bucks if you latch on to a local league.

First get permission from the parks and rec department, shoot away and then bring a contact sheet to the games to hand out to the parents.

Charge them 10-15$ for a 8x11 of their kid in action or that much for the image that will cost you $1.50 to print at the local photo shop.

Tons of assholes have nice cameras but either they have no idea how to use it or they have no idea how to take a decent sports photo.

 

[RickStain]

I've always been convinced there's money to be made there, and I've even seen a few little businesses pop up here and there. But when I brought this up here before, the legal hassles of getting permission seemed to be a little bigger than I thought (though not necessarily enough to make you not want to do it).

 

[93Devil]

I've always been convinced there's money to be made there, and I've even seen a few little businesses pop up here and there. But when I brought this up here before, the legal hassles of getting permission seemed to be a little bigger than I thought (though not necessarily enough to make you not want to do it).

That is why I said get permission from the Rec Department (if that is even the way to go.)

I think permission is the hard part. Selling good action pics of their kids is the easy part.

You can also contact the individual coaches, but I think a blanket "ok" from the department would work as well.

 

[murphyc]

I've done photography for a while and have seen some "official" photographers with a group or organization that make me shake my head. They'll have the latest Nikon or Canon gear (much newer and nicer than my Nikon D1H) but not understand the first thing about shutter speeds, lighting, etc. They crank out one blurry photo after another. Gee, you took pictures of ANOTHER event looking right into the sun and again the photos all suck? And you can't figure out why?
Some get paid, some give away photos for free in exchange for access, some sell photos on the side. The problem these days is there are so many decent cameras Joe Blow can purchase, if you charge for your work, there's always someone willing to give away their halfway decent photos for free. The quality may not be there, but the price is right.

 

[93Devil]

Hopefully they would pay for this...

Over crap like this...

 

[Rhody31]

We pay our freelance photog 50 bucks a week and in return he shoots 5-6 games a week during the prep season. In return, we cannot sell his photos but on his byline we put his web site, where people can go an buy his photos.
He loses money on us, but he's picked up contracts with various schools in our area to shoot senior night events, games and other things. It's worked pretty good for us because we don't have any staff photogs.

 

[FleetFeet]

I've always been convinced there's money to be made there, and I've even seen a few little businesses pop up here and there. But when I brought this up here before, the legal hassles of getting permission seemed to be a little bigger than I thought (though not necessarily enough to make you not want to do it).

That is why I said get permission from the Rec Department (if that is even the way to go.)

I think permission is the hard part. Selling good action pics of their kids is the easy part.

You can also contact the individual coaches, but I think a blanket "ok" from the department would work as well.

While I can see that by getting permission might be seen as a good faith gesture, I'm not at all sure permission is needed. The league would neither ordinarily own the rights of the photos to players, nor could parents, coaches or athletes have an expectation of privacy by playing in an open field. This is certainly true of outdoor sports.

"Trespassing" on private land would not be a general issue either, I imagine, as many local parks and fields are own by local governments. Shoot away. Earn a few $$. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then; an amateur photographer can take a decent photograph of your kid, even if it is by accident. If it's good enough, somebody'll pay for it. if not, they won't.

 

[93Devil]

I've always been convinced there's money to be made there, and I've even seen a few little businesses pop up here and there. But when I brought this up here before, the legal hassles of getting permission seemed to be a little bigger than I thought (though not necessarily enough to make you not want to do it).

That is why I said get permission from the Rec Department (if that is even the way to go.)

I think permission is the hard part. Selling good action pics of their kids is the easy part.

You can also contact the individual coaches, but I think a blanket "ok" from the department would work as well.

While I can see that by getting permission might be seen as a good faith gesture, I'm not at all sure permission is needed. The league would neither ordinarily own the rights of the photos to players, nor could parents, coaches or athletes have an expectation of privacy by playing in an open field. This is certainly true of outdoor sports.

"Trespassing" on private land would not be a general issue either, I imagine, as many local parks and fields are own by local governments. Shoot away. Earn a few $$. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then; an amateur photographer can take a decent photograph of your kid, even if it is by accident. If it's good enough, somebody'll pay for it. if not, they won't.

I agree, but this small headache is much easier to rememdy than people constantly wanting to know why you are taking pictures of their kids.

 

[Songbird]

I got a new Samsung S20 the other day and have been driving the camera like a BMW on the open road.

I am so in love with how it performs so far. Here's a blown glass vase in the sunshine on a marble counter.

 

[Azrael]

I don't see a photo.

 

[Songbird]

It's there.

 

[Azrael]

I get bubkes.

Must be a setting.

 

[Moderator1]

Yeah, I don't see it either

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Hopefully they would pay for this...

Over crap like this...

I see the top photo, but not the bottom photo.

 

[Songbird]

What about now?

 

[Azrael]

got it

pretty

 

[Songbird]

Good. Yes, pretty. I'm more excited about using a high-end smartphone camera. Been stuck on an S5 for 3-4 year now. The difference is night and day.

 

[Azrael]

Do you have a regular camera as well? Or are you shooting entirely with your phone?

 

[Songbird]

Wish I had a regular camera still.

Shooting entirely with the phone, for now.