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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
maxpreps
Jason Minto, Photographer
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Dover | DE | USA | Posted: 10:33 PM on 06.22.07 |
| ->> I just got a email from maxpreps seeking sports photographers for the 2007-08 season. Does anyone shoot for them? How do you like them? |
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Evan Dyson, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Harrisonburg/Va Beach | VA | United States | Posted: 10:44 PM on 06.22.07 |
| ->> Hey Jason, check the message board archive. This has been covered pretty well in the past. Type maxpreps and you'll be good to go. Take it easy. |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Darren Whitley, Photographer
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Maryville | MO | USA | Posted: 5:24 PM on 06.23.07 |
| ->> Stay away. There's no need to support a corporate (money-hungry) brand. Do it yourself or don't do it at all. |
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Dennis Wierzbicki, Photographer
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Plainfield | IL | USA | Posted: 6:39 PM on 06.23.07 |
->> "There's no need to support a corporate (money-hungry) brand. Do it yourself or don't do it at all."
Wow...have you actually SHOT for them, or do you hate ALL corporate brands?
Anyway, MaxPreps is an OK company, but like dealing with any company there are challenges, both administrative and creative, in addition to the obvious royalty sharing involved.
These challenges aside, and as someone who HAS shot for them, I have found the people who work for MaxPreps are good folks who are genuinely committed to putting out a quality product. I haven't always agreed with the way they do things, or their technical and creative decisions, but at the end of the day, they have been responsive and supportive to me as a shooter, and this is somewhat of a rarity these days.
As with any "partnership", the question to ask yourself is "Is the percentage I share with MaxPreps worth it, or could I do better on my own?". I won't presume to tell you what to do, as this is a personal decision.
I'll say this, though - I've been surprised how well-known the MaxPreps brand has been (at least while I was shooting in Florida), and I've had coaches and players come up to me when I've been wearing the MaxPreps shirt/hat to a game, and say "Good to see MaxPreps is here - when will the pictures be up?". |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Fontana | CA | USA | Posted: 8:38 PM on 06.23.07 |
->> Darren, do you even know what your talking about? I am sure everyone has a bad experience at some time or another, I hope you are speaking from some personal experience with Max Preps or CBS and not just looking to jump on the bandwagon of bash the "evil empire" of corporations.
I have had a very good experience with MaxPreps, the people are nice and yes, there are times when we didi not agree on everything, but over all I have to say, my experience with them has been great overall. |
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Joe Nicola, Photographer
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Fort Worth | TX | USA | Posted: 10:50 PM on 06.23.07 |
->> Darren, just wanted to echo Louis's remarks...you don't know what you're talking about.
I shot for MaxPreps a couple of seasons and enjoyed every minute of my association with them. They are an excellent and professional group of people who are enthusiastic about their organization and the service they provide. Todd Shurtleff, the Director of the Photographers Network for MaxPreps, is also a member here at Sportsshooter, as are many of their photographers.
My work with MaxPreps was able to be seen nationwide by a wide market, which resulted in sales to prep-sports oriented magazines and markets I wouldn't have been able to touch by "doing it on my own."
Association with MaxPreps earned me credentials to shoot at the highest levels of high school sports because I had their clout behind me. Now, even more so since they are a CBS-owned company, which I'm sure they didn't get to be by being some fly-by-night, "money-hungry" brand.
I don't currently shoot for them, but, if my circumstances--my schedule--were a little different, I'd do it again in a New York second. I HIGHLY recommend them, if for no other reason than their professionalism, organization and enthusiasm for the products and services they provide. Andy Beal, President, Chad Downey, VP of Operations, Todd Shurtleff, Director of the Photographer's Network and Juliann Tallino, Photo Editor are some of the finest and most professional people I've ever had the privilege to work with in this industry. Ever.
So, please, a little less "brand-bashing" and a little more homework before you bash a corporation in a public forum.
Joe |
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Cecil Copeland, Photographer
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Marietta | Ga | USA | Posted: 2:56 PM on 06.24.07 |
->> This upcoming football season will be the 4th season for me of shooting for MaxPreps ...
Todd (Shurtleff) both introduced me to and recruited me into the shooting ranks of MaxPreps ... and I've thanked him for that many times over the years .... and I myself have recruited other shooters in my state to shoot and post galleries at MaxPreps (heck, I've even recruited OUTSIDE my own state! Shhhhhh, but don't tell anybody that, though!) ...
I've always considered MaxPreps to offer more "visibility" to my work than just here in my little corner of the US, which has resulted in other prep sports outlets picking up some of my images (for which I've been compensated for very nicely by MaxPreps). That just would not have happened without that "national" market that MaxPreps provides ....
Now, is MaxPreps a good fit for EVERYBODY ? Maybe not .... I've seen photographers come and go .... and I've also seen photographers come and go AND THEN come back to them! That should tell you something!
MaxPreps is a very professional bunch of people who both love and are enthusiastic about what they do - and, like Joe, I HIGHLY recommend them. My association with them has just made me a better shooter .... |
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Gray Quetti, Photographer
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Jacksonville | Fl | USA | Posted: 9:27 PM on 06.24.07 |
| ->> I second, third and fourth the comments about the good of MaxPreps. This will be my 3rd year shooting football for MaxPreps in Florida and I've really enjoyed it. They are good people to work for and it gets better each year. I'm really looking forward to their association with CBS. It can only help. I know shooters that have had bad experiences with them but it was mostly because they couldn't adjust the the MP methods. Night time high school football isn't the easiest game to shoot. |
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Dirk Dewachter, Photographer
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Playa Del Rey | CA | USA | Posted: 12:29 PM on 06.25.07 |
->> Like others have said on this thread, I have enjoyed my relationship with Maxpreps, nothing is perfect but Todd and John are great to work with.
All the kids here in the South Bay / Los Angeles area know about maxpreps especially when it pertains to football. I've shot other sports for maxpreps but most seem to associate it just with football, baseball and basketball. Sales in football are good and like anything else you have to do some research and find the interesting games and teams to cover. |
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Kirt Winter, Photographer
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San Diego | CA | USA | Posted: 12:55 PM on 06.25.07 |
->> I shoot for them. They are dedicated to offering a quality product and it shows. Hopefully I will slay that night time high-school football dragon this year, but last year I had a grand time (and reasonable results) from shooting basketball and baseball.
And I'm still getting basketball orders...
I can only think of one coach (out of about 50) I've approached who didn't know about MaxPreps in my area. You can do it yourself, assuming you can get the access you need, but unless you spend a whole lot of time on marketing instead of shooting, I have a hard time believing you will do better unless you invest a few years. |
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Rick Rowell, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Santee | CA | USA | Posted: 12:58 PM on 06.25.07 |
->> Oh those evil coporations that employ millions of americans. They should all be disbanded and not allowed to do business anymore! Hey Darren, when or if you ever deside to get off that college campus. You might find that you will need to deal with some of these evil money grubbing coporations in order to put food on the table. Think about it. Maxpreps is a good company now owned by CBS. Todd, John, Juliann et all, are great to work with most of the time.
I dought CBS will shake things up very much. My guess is they bought the site bacause of the number of hits it gets each day. More eyeballs, more ads, more money. Ofcouse coporations are not supposed to make money, right? |
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Rick Rowell, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Santee | CA | USA | Posted: 12:24 AM on 06.26.07 |
| ->> Sorry about misspelling corporation, three times no less. I should have read it one more time before pushing the publish button. |
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Armando Solares, Photographer
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Englewood | FL | USA | Posted: 1:27 AM on 06.26.07 |
->> Rick,
You mispelled decide, because, of course and doubt too. I'm not trying to be a smartass. I am only pointing it out, because of your second post. I hope there is no orthographical errors in my post.
Regards,
Armando |
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Marie Hughes, Photographer
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Fremont | CA | USA | Posted: 2:04 AM on 06.26.07 |
| ->> This is why I've got a spellchecker installed in my browser.... |
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Dennis Wierzbicki, Photographer
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Plainfield | IL | USA | Posted: 10:06 AM on 06.26.07 |
->> Armando,
You misspelled the word "misspelled", I believe...;) |
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Armando Solares, Photographer
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Englewood | FL | USA | Posted: 10:22 AM on 06.26.07 |
->> Dennis,
I sure did. I was wondering if someone would catch it. That is why I used orthographical instead of misspelled in the second sentence. - Here is a funny thing about the English language. "It deosn't mattr how you splel a wrod as lnog as the frist leter and the last letter are in the corect plce."
Cheers,
Armando |
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Rick Rowell, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Santee | CA | USA | Posted: 12:01 PM on 06.26.07 |
| ->> Uh oh, did I start something? |
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Craig Mitchelldyer, Photographer, Assistant
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Portland | OR | USA | Posted: 12:13 PM on 06.26.07 |
| ->> I think what Darren is trying to say is, why would you go shoot and hand out the card of someone else, when you could just as easily hand out your own card and keep all the profits for yourself and help yourself in your market. I could understand if your in SoCal or something were people go there automatically and sales are great, but in a non MaxPreps market, why on earth would you market for someone else. That's just not smart business. That said, they have much more marketing power (read: money) and you can get your stuff in front of more people, but you have to look at in terms stock value. Is there a lot of top D1 recruits coming from Delaware (or Oregon for that matter) that magazines or people other than parents will have an interest in. Probably not as many as in Los Angeles. |
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Dennis Wierzbicki, Photographer
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Plainfield | IL | USA | Posted: 12:42 PM on 06.26.07 |
->> Craig,
I understand your point (I wonder what happened to Darren, anyway? He sort of threw a grenade in the middle of this thread and then ran away), but isn't this ALWAYS the question when we evaluate potentially working with another organization, or partner, or company? It's a matter of deciding if the value of the relationship is worth the price we are being charged (and that price is not always strictly monetary - it may be in terms of limitations on our freedom and ability to pursue our business in the manner we would normally choose to, etc.). And as I said earlier, this is a personal decision that each of us has the right to make on our own.
I don't know of any MaxPreps shooters who rely on them for 100% of their shooting, at least not anyone who is serious about their business. They are another tool in your box, a good additional channel to market. They don't force you to shoot for them exclusively, you have liberal rights to market your images yourself even when you DO shoot a game for them, and the royalty percentage is not onerous or exorbitant (Uh oh, better spell check those last two - Armando is on the prowl...).
If you were to go to the MaxPrep site and look up a few schools in your area, you would be able to see how many students from each of your local schools have signed up for MaxPreps coverage (not sure if the general public can do this, or not, but registered photographers can (maybe I'll do this for Delaware just to see...), and you might be surprised to find out how many kids in supposedly small towns are online looking at the MaxPreps site, either for their own team's data or at information about other schools. After all, MaxPreps is really about being THE destination site for HS sports, not just about selling pictures. Selling pictures is just one of their many revenue models. |
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Bryan Hulse, Photographer
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Highlands Ranch | Co | USA | Posted: 12:43 PM on 06.26.07 |
->> Wow! It seems as though this MaxPreps thread starts up every 3 or 4 months. Pretty consistent! Here we go again.
“why on earth would you market for someone else.”
The reasons are:
1) Getting credentials to shoot football in Colorado is difficult without accreditation. MaxPreps gets me those credentials to get field access.
2) The parents and players know about MaxPreps. So, even if they don’t take a card or see an add in the game flyer, they know to look on the MP website for photos if they see a MaxPrep photog on the field (MaxPreps gives us shirts with the logo).
I do my own events too. But without the credentials, I can’t get into high school football games (believe me, I have tried). Also, I can show up for a game, and shoot action shots. If I had to market each game I shot, I would spend a lot of shooting time in the stands handing out marketing materiel, on the phone with Athletic Directors before and after the game, etc.
At least for High School Football, and for me (and obviously others), the service provided by MP (marketing, name recognition, order processing, etc.) is easily worth it. |
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Rick Rowell, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Santee | CA | USA | Posted: 1:06 PM on 06.26.07 |
->> Craig, their are advantages to shooting for Maxpreps. You retain the copyright to all of your images. Their is no buyout or WFH agreement. After shooting the game and selling photos on Maxpreps,you are still able to sell images buy marketing them yourself. Some photographers print posters and supply other products to the parents after the waiting period with Maxpreps, which is 14 days for non commercial sales. You also have the option of letting Maxpreps market your images for you. I have made a few sales this way to ESPN and others. It's not a ton of money and Maxpreps takes their cut, but for me it works as I don't have alot of time to do the marketing myself. It's up to each individual to decide what is best for them. Many of the Photographers that shoot for Maxpreps have day jobs and are not able to devote the time it takes to effectively market the images.
Darrin's statement was clear to me. He made that statement in my opinion, without completely understanding how Maxpreps works with photographers or how CBS oversees the operation of Maxpreps. I think he should have known better, being on a college campus. Do your homework first. |
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Juliann Tallino, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Port Townsend/Seattle | WA | USA | Posted: 1:15 PM on 06.26.07 |
| ->> I don't usually chime in on these threads, but I would like to point out a new feature on the MaxPreps site. It's a bio page for all the photographers where they can promote themselves and their own website on the MaxPreps site. When you go to the galleries the photographers name is hyperlinked to their personal bio page. Pretty cool feature for an evil empire. :) So actually you ARE marketing yourself when you use MaxPreps to move prep images. |
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Juliann Tallino, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Port Townsend/Seattle | WA | USA | Posted: 1:16 PM on 06.26.07 |
->> Rick,
no more waiting period, you can sell images right away on your own site now. |
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Todd Shurtleff, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Cameron Park | Ca | El Dorado | Posted: 4:34 PM on 06.28.07 |
->> FYI: I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm on vacation this week - of all places - South Lake Tahoe (BIG fire here.) I have received many new applications and e-mails about interest in shooting for MaxPreps after this thread was started earlier this week and I'm working to respond to all those ASAP. Please be patient and I will get back to all of you. Thanks for your interest.
Todd Shurtleff
Director of Photography
MaxPreps |
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John OHara, Photographer
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Petaluma | Ca | United States | Posted: 11:38 PM on 04.07.11 |
->> I photograph for Maxpreps. on a limited basis, mostly outdoors. I will say that they are a good organization. You are the only thing that would hold yourself back. You can work five days a week much of the year. How you present yourself at an event, how you promote Maxpreps is half the challenge.
Every game I go to, I have a pressed shirt and pressed wranglers, shined shoes and clean fingernails. All of this may sound a little nuts. Your going to meet Mothers in the parking lot, in the bleachers and at the snack shack while handing out your cards. Their impression of you is lasting. But that is just my opinion.
My career was with the SF Chronicle for 30 years. I have been around the block.
The photo editor Jim Redman, will cut you no slack. He has a quality level that will not be lowered. He requires very clean sharp and well exposed images. Maxpreps is not a place where you can upload slock/sloppy images.
Maxpreps is know by every High school player. Tell one player and you have told them all.
Juliann's comments about self promotion are accurate. Maxpreps is known, you are not. Join Maxpreps and you will be known.
Example: at the first game I did this season, baseball, a father came up to me in the parking lot and was praising me for a photo of his son, a pitcher they purchases last year. I still have no idea who he is. But he knew me.
Give it a try. It is a good organization....John O'Hara |
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John Germ, Photographer
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Wadsworth | Oh | USA | Posted: 11:51 AM on 04.08.11 |
| ->> another 'night of the living dead' posts. This one has risen from the grave after almost 4 years. I honestly have to ask - John: How did you end up finding and responding to a 4 year old thread? |
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Jeannette Merten, Photographer
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Oshkosh | WI | USA | Posted: 11:02 PM on 04.10.11 |
| ->> Being fairly new to the MaxPreps family of photographers, my experience with Jim and Todd has been that they are greatly helpful and professional all the way. It was sort of a rough first winter season for me personally trying to break through the AD’s and coaches’ way of thinking in my area anyways with the use of lighting for indoor sports to meet MaxPreps' criteria. I’m sure it is not the same in all areas. The curve to setting the stage, I figured, would take extra effort and time just starting off. Next year’s season should be a bit easier with getting more schools on-board. Other than getting over that dilemma, I see opportunities. |
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