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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Marathon photography
Monty Rand, Photographer
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Bangor | ME | USA | Posted: 1:17 PM on 01.26.10 |
->> I've been asked to shoot a rather large marathon coming up. The client wants me to be able to upload the photos and have the runners be able to search for their images by the number they wear. The only way I see this happening is if I rename all the files to the runners number........or is their some software out there that can accomplish this? Anybody here run into this sort of situation before?
Thanks. |
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Wesley R. Bush, Photographer
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Nashville | TN | U.S. | Posted: 1:33 PM on 01.26.10 |
| ->> I've only shot for brightroom and ASI, both of which had their own way of getting the numbers matched with the photo. (I don't know if someone manually went through them or if there was an automated process.) I was just shooting on a work-for-hire, so it sounds like you've got something else worked out. There is a thread in forum archives about a lawsuit from someone who developed a patented system to do just that. I'll see if I can find it later if no one else has posted it yet, just as FYI. |
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Kevin Seale, Photographer
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Crawfordsville | IN | United States | Posted: 2:29 PM on 01.26.10 |
| ->> You could possibly list the numbers in the keywords or another meta field and use that as a search option which would at least save from having to individually rename files. |
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Patrick Kane, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Petersburg | VA | USA | Posted: 2:49 PM on 01.26.10 |
->> Monty, the runner's bib number is typically tagged in the metadata. You can get a matching list of the runners and their bib numbers from the race director or timing company.
Remember to remind (yell) at the athletes to turn their numbers to the front at the finish line! The volunteers will also be doing this since they need to plug in their finish times. |
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Scott Strazzante, Photographer
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Chicago | IL | USA | Posted: 9:52 AM on 01.27.10 |
->> Patrick, when you run a marathon, you attach your bib number to your shirt with four safety pins.
A small number of runners do put their bib on their back but no amount of reminding/yelling by a photographer is going to get a marathoner to stop and "turn" their numbers to the front.
Plus, timing is done by a chip that is attached to a runner's shoe so no need for volunteers to see the number at the end, either.
As for the point of this thread, it sounds very labor intensive. I was very unimpressed with the quality of photos that the Chicago Marathon took of me during the race but I probably am a bit more discerning than the average runner when it comes to photography. |
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Sean Burges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Ottawa | ON | Canada | Posted: 12:20 PM on 01.27.10 |
->> Photomechanic with code replacement. You can then 'caption' the photos with the runner's names and have the bib number in the IPTC field. This, unfortunately, has to be done manually. You can get quite fast at it using a numeric keypad, but it still takes time. Companies such as 'sportstat' who do the timing with chips will have all of the information you need, and it can easily be manipulated into the correct form in a program like Excel.
You won't see all of the number because, well, they get covered whether the photographers shout or not. Two ways to deal with this -- a gallery of 'lost and found' or a set of galleries by finishing times. This last option only works efficiently if you are shooting on the finish line.
How big is the race? At a certain point I think these races get so crowded that decent pictures become pretty near impossible. How can we photograph people we can't see?
Good luck! |
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Bob Ford, Photographer
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Lehighton | Pa | USA | Posted: 6:01 PM on 01.27.10 |
->> Be careful Monty. You might be infringing on someone's patent if you use bib numbers to allow competitors to search for their photos.
http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=28052
I wish I were kidding, but last I heard several large companies had caved and paid the licensing fees. |
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Marvin Gentry, Photographer
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Birmingham | AL | USA | Posted: 7:24 PM on 01.27.10 |
| ->> Hey Monty, contact Brightroom , they offer the online service for marathons. The runner will be able to search there bib number. Not sure what it all entails but give them a shout. |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 9:24 PM on 01.27.10 |
->> Bob-
There are plenty of (a) workarounds and (b) pre-existing works to that patent.
For example, column 5 point 1, there's a requirement that you use the date and time the photo was taken, and also inform them of how you're going to identify them. Obvious workarounds: Don't use the time as part of searching, and don't say "We're using your bib number to match you to your photos"; you could just say "Please enter your bib number here: ...", while not identifying that this is what you're using to perform a search for photos.
Patents are very exact in nature; they differ from copyrights greatly, such that small variations from what is patented will get you right around it. Remember, however, I Am Not A Lawyer :) |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 9:46 PM on 01.27.10 |
->> Slight correction to the above - #24 and #29 on the patent would still require you to inform competitors of the metric used, without the requirement to use the date and time for identification.
The above still applies, however - as long as you don't inform the competitors of the identifying data, you're fine. |
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Bob Ford, Photographer
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Lehighton | Pa | USA | Posted: 9:09 AM on 01.28.10 |
->> Israel, last I heard a few rather large companies have not been able to "workaround" the wording and have paid the licensing fee.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a joke that the guy was able to patent a process that has been used by hundreds of photographers for several years, but he has. |
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Andrew Katsampes, Photographer
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Melrose | MA | USA | Posted: 10:32 AM on 01.28.10 |
->> I wrote two AppleScripts. The first takes the Canon file name _canongggg.extension, where _canon is the prefix for your camera and gggg is the file number, to AKyyyymmdd_gggg. The second applies a prefix to the file based on user input for each file, from AKyyyymmdd_gggg to prefix_AKyyyymmdd_gggg. Files can be sorted/searched by the prefix which could be a bib number. When I use the second AppleScript, I have PhotoMechanic of that folder active. If two participants are in the image, the script will make a copy, so prefixA_..._gggg and prefixB_..._gggg result (two files for the same file number.) The renaming/identifying process for me is much faster. I avoid the clicks involved in renaming files through the operating system.
Rats ... this is probably too technical and confusing. |
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Kevin Johnston, Photographer
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Oden | MI | USA | Posted: 11:55 AM on 01.28.10 |
| ->> I saw somewhere that there was a case before the supreme court that was challenging the ability of someone to patent a "business" proccess. Did anyone else see anything like that and do you know the outcome of the case? |
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Ken Shelton, Photographer
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Wyckoff | NJ | USA | Posted: 11:59 AM on 01.28.10 |
->> Monty
Take a look at my site... www.kenshelton.com & click on any of the pre-2010 links, then pick a race. The runners can put in their bib # or last name and are taken to their own gallery page for ordering.
The back end of this is all done by Backprint.com which is a division of Brightroom.com .
The images need to be 'tagged' with the bib#. There are a number of ways to get this done including keywording as mentioned above. It is mind-numbing. Don't do it if you have over 1,000 images. Outsource.
Galen Davis is the person I work with at Backprint.
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four three nine
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Ken |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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