Ron sent me a PM on some of his sales info which he didn't want to broadcast (I agree, sometimes my competition sees this site too). I wanted to post a couple of thoughts from my reply for general use for all those lurkers out there.
I'm not a sports action photographer. My primary interest is in T&I. I shoot action because it augments T&I and by doing so, it keeps me in good standing with the leagues. It's not that I don't like action, just that the pay STINKS. I know guys that spend all weekend from Friday evening to Sunday at 5:00 pm in a freezing hockey arena for $700. in sales. I don't have enough days left in my life to waste it like that.
Every action shot this year was on the 40D w/70-200 2.8 non IS. The 40D shots (even cropped) make unbelievably gorgeous posters in 24x36. I was super impressed. Of course, I used to sell 24x30s off the 10D and thought it was good enough at the time, even though I spent 80% of my career with 6x7s & 6x4.5s. PS does wonders to an average file. I agree with Mike that FF is so much nicer to shoot, but I try to keep my costs as low as possible.
My point is that what we see in SI (Sports Illustrated), etc. is far different from what I am finding that actually sells. Parents are still mom & dad. They want something that shows their son/daughter to be proud of. Personalizing, making multi-image comps, adding a bit of flair, really adds to your bottom line. Next year I'd love to see how much more I can make by setting up my 24" printer on site. Do I hear Norm smiling??
Second point, selling on the internet is full of challenges. Many photographers have come & gone even though they take great shots, not enough people buy. Lots of views (is Drew reading this? ;-) ) but not enough buying to cover the costs.
I did one experiment this year with 2 leagues. One was lightly watermarked, one was heavily watermarked. You guessed it - sales on the lightly watermarked stunk. People have no problem copying off the internet and printing any size they want. Unless the watermark is so strong that it is offensive to you the photographer, it's not strong enough to deter theft.
This is a great discussion. I'd love to hear any other ideas that have worked for people.
DougA
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Once again, Doug has crushed one out of the park. His message is clear and if you don't see it I'll try to put it this way. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE! The peak action photo of the top athlete won't be as hot a seller as you would hope and trying to make a living selling after the fact is a great way to go broke.
There is an outfit near Chicago that solicits parents before the season starts and gets paid up front for guaranteed coverage of their son or daughter. They accept 15-20 players per game and just blast away. They post the images to individual web galleries and notify the parents when the gallery is live. They do well to augment their staff jobs as news photographers. They're great shooters, but it's not their full-time gig either.
To be clear, this is not something I'm in the business of doing, but I'm around it enough to know who's working and who's faking. Take Doug's advice and find the market for your pictures first and then go out and make the pictures that market wants to buy.
Good luck Ron!
Mike
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I agree that you have to shoot for your market. I sell exclusively prep sports photos online and it is a ton of work. Since I have a full-time day job, I don't have time to print photos and collect money and mail the photos myself and therefore, I choose to turn it over to an order fulfillment company. I just shoot, edit and upload. The parents buy the pictures with credit cards and the photos are printed and mailed to the customer. I get a check for the net amount.
I agree with Doug about the amount of work and about the theft of pictures. My 15-year old daughter tells me I need to make my watermark more prominent in that all the kids have my pictures on their Facebook. And since the watermark is not prominent, it barely shows up. I'm not sure the extent they print from the low-res screen capture, but I'm sure it more than I think, especially for the kids whose parents can't afford the pictures. So, I'm considering switching to another order fulfillment house, as while mine prints gorgeous pictures, their watermarking is not prominent enough. I would be interested in another thread on comparing order fulfillment houses and people's experience. I was considering Smugmug, but didn't know the quality of their prints. I know MPix seems to do good work, but haven't explored if they offer order fulfillment services. I also think the "Fathead" type wall cling products are offered by Mpix, but not sure they give wholesale prices to photographers selling pictures.
Anyway, sorry for straying off topic. Back to the shooting topic, while some people just follow the ball trying to get the Sports Illustrated shot, there are only so many shots of the same runner making his run that you can post. I know the tendency is to shoot it all, for fear that if you aren't shooting the ball, then you might miss the one grand shot. However, one has to remember when shooting football, that there are other players on the field doing their jobs, that many times never get their pictures taken. Every now and then focus on a lineman and shoot a couple of shots. You'd be amazed that you will get sales of two guys blocking each other. And it is because nobody bothers to shoot these type shots. So, take time every now and then to pick out certain players and shoot a sequence of them.
Another thing that if you are following a team and get familiar with their players. If you see players come into the game who never get to play, catching them in action may be the only pictures they will have, so these might be picked up by parents starved for pictures of their athlete in action on the field of play.
So, when selling pictures on line, I have to remove my sports journalist hat, thinking that I have to capture every run, or pass, looking for the headliner shot. A technically good shot like your first picture of the quarterback, poised to throw, just sometimes sits out there with no purchase. It makes you scratch your head and try to imagine what kind of shot does your market want. As mentioned by others, it is amazing but true, sometimes the best action shot is not purchased (it may be screen captured though), but many times, the more mundane shot.
You always have to try to get into your market buyers head and analyze what is selling. I think you have the technical skills, timing and compositional shooting skills. It seems it is always finding what the market wants. I wish we could all share the "secret" but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) markets differ. Best of luck! And if anyone wants to open a thread on selling on the web and which companies produce the print and mail the image to your customer and handles credit card transactions and sends you a check for the net, I would love to discuss this related topic to shooting and selling sports photos.
Right on Ken, those buyers will talk to you if you know how to listen to them. For example, a shot I thought was absolutely LAME of the football team huddled together with their helmets in the air (we've all seen a million times) was licensed by the school and turned into THE most viewed image on their website. Next thing I know we're printing lots of posters and framing prints for silent auctions. The idea of shooting something OTHER than what the news guys are shooting is a big deal here. The tight end and O-Linemen are working just as hard as the fullback.
This is a great discussion and I agree with Ken, the "what works with on-line sales" would be a great topic. I'm sure we all have different and valuable experiences to share.
M
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
WOW!!! This is GREAT. This information could not be more on target for me. THANKS. As I mentioned previously, I, like Ken, do not have interest in doing my own prints etc. I am in the process of checking with Zenfolio.com (Mpix affiliated) and would appreciate finding out what is working for other members. I will start a new thread that will deal with this and what sells on the net. Thanks again.
Ron
__________________ "I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live." Socrates.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Ron,
you may want to also look at Exposure Manager (Welcome to ExposureManager l Home) i have used them for almost 3 years. Site is easy to use and set up. they do order fulfillment or you can do it. i have not had one complaint on thier pictures. price is reasonable.
Gene
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Linear Mode
