how much should I look for?

[taupofreeride]

Hey everyone,
I have been doing photography for the last year, and I seem to have a growing passion for it, and I have noticed that my best shots are of high speed sports. and since I am almost 14, I thought that I would be able to make a business out of my passion. So I was wondering if you guys could tell me were it would be best to grow awareness of the fact I can do cheap sports photography? and how much should I expect for an hourly rate? how can I get the photo's to the customer?, and finally, is there a chance of a profit? as I am planning on selling my downhill mountain bike for 1500$ to fund an upgrade of my camera, and I would like to one day be able to buy another from the profits of my business. and my final question is: Is this a realistic idea? or is it improbable?

[PureKiwi]

I am not sure if you have a speedway or something in taupo , but down here in invercargill we do i have sold a few shots to motorbike riders and now i am a team photographer there is about 5 riders that like getting there photos taking of them every season , mostly for me tho its abit of fun and learning i have only just got my dslr but they feed me pick me up and pay for me at the gate they are even taking me to the championships later in the year


And all i was doing was sitting watching and one of the Riders came up to me saw i had a camera and there we got

photography i think is one of the hardest professions to get into i think , and with anything else im sorry to say but most people will be weary of your age , but you got to get out there and get your self known , anyone i meet i tel them i love to shoot

Iv seen a couple of people taking photos out the speedway and handing out contact cards in-case they would like pictures , if your going to do flyers i suggest you talk to the organizer and make sure you can some people are abit funny about advertising

I wish i had not waited until i was 26 to get my camera so your on the right track

[Redal]

reagrding how much should i look for,

an easy way to work this out is,

How much is your gear worth? How long will it last, when do i want to upgrade? How much to repair if shutter blows.

How much is your time worth? If you have to travel for 40 minutes both ways to shoot , this needs to be accounted for. how good are you at post processing? are you effecient at it?

How much will the prints/cd cost?

How will i get to the event/shoot? how much does that cost?

why do you need to upgrade to a new camera?
what will a new camera do that your old one wont?


Do some market research,
How big is your target group?
How much do they earn?
How much do they value photos?
Will they repeat buy?
How much do you consumables cost ? eg prints ,cd,

[Rick0r]

Study photography more, look at other photographers you admire, see what they do to make their shots look awesome.
Specifically, look at other people that shoot BMX, try and mimic their shots.
Learn the limitations of your current camera before you start wanting a new one just for the hell of it.

You'll never get by with an "hourly rate" for sports photography, it just doesn't come into the equation at all.
If you're an absolute pro 10 years from now, you MIGHT be comissioned to certain events (they'll pay for $3k to show up for the day) but other than that, it'll be entirely on a "per photo" basis. If they like 5 of your 1000 shots of the day, they'll pay you $20 a photo.

As i'm sure you can do the math, it's hardly worth your time when you're starting out.. but it's all in the name of experience, making contacts, and hopefully something you can use for your portfolio.

I took photos for Wellington Phoenix at every home game they had this season, didn't make a dime from it, but now I have some awesome sports photos in my portfolio, a whole list of professional contacts, and made some good friends while I was at it :]

Final note, don't be too proud of that shot you posted :]

[Redal]

taupofreeride,

Photography business is 90% about YOU and 10 % about the images

From my experience, dont think you can sell to magazines/newspaper and make money, they want to much for way to little, and there paying is very slow. There are plenty of people that will give away there images for a byline ( name in paper/mag).

Dont work for free, if you are still learning shoot for yourself and dont give away your images, if you start giving away your work, it gives the impression you dont value your work, so why should people pay later when you think you are better.
Most sports events in NZ are very easy to get into/ and get a media pass to, and you don't have to give them anything.

Dont shoot on spec, eg you shoot a game of kids playing rugby and hand out flyers/business cards with a web address so the parents can look and you HOPE they buy. Again from my experience, this doesnt work, people can copy your images off your site, or they can bookmark the page with the photos , and they have them for free.

I find it best to shoot for a set price, and get paid before you touch the shutter.

I shoot lots of kids sports, i charge $XX-$XXX depending on length of the games and proximity to where i live, and also depending on what else i want to do at that time.

eg i'm asked to shoot 5 year old playing soccer, park is just around the corner, game time is 40 minutes, the total time im working for is 1hr, post processing time (including burning cd) for that is 30 minutes.
For this i charge $90 for an individual of that age,and supply a cd with large and web-sized images the number of images vary between 50-100, if the team want me to cover a game i charge $150 and supply between 100-120 images.
My costs for the game is minimum, i have worked out my wear and tear of camera gear to be $5 per game, cd to be $1 , computer/software/misc costs is $3, transport is $.50 per k

I also looked at some of your images, i think they are a good starting point, we all have to start somewhere, be tough on your images, and only post your best work, look at lots of other photographers work and try to see what they saw.

[fokker]

Just get out there and take as many photos as possible. Mountain biking is a great sport and one that doesn't seem to have an abundance of photgorpahers out there taking good pictures.

Check out Caleb Smith's work (www.calebsmith.co.nz (http://www.calebsmith.co.nz)) and try to do what he does where possible! Learn about off-camera flash, panning and other suitable techniques.

Don't even think about how much you should get paid at this stage, it's all about experience and getting some good shots. If you do this you'll meet people who like your work, just by you being out there and visible in the scene.

Taupo and Rotorua have a fair few mountain biking events, most of the ones I've seen haven't even had a photographer there. If you're the only one there taking decent pictures then peoplpe will take notice.

[Chocolate]

Blimey another Downhiller!

(Don't sell ya bike! You'll regret it - take it from my experience!)

Although I don't know anything about selling photos - you should check out the link from Fokker above.
Also Check out Johnno's photography on Vorb (good guy) - he's been into it for a while now.