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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
GWC 's recruited as biz model
Jeff Napier, Photographer
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Portland | OR | USA | Posted: 8:33 PM on 07.16.11 |
| ->> NICE ! This should help my High School sales. |
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Derick Hingle, Photographer
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Hammond | LA | USA | Posted: 10:31 PM on 07.16.11 |
| ->> A true professional with his 70-200mm on a monopod, (sarcasm off) |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 10:26 AM on 07.17.11 |
| ->> The guy is brilliant. He's put himself as a middleman between the GWCs working for free and the schools. I wonder what his "cut" is? |
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Michael McNamara, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Phoenix | AZ | USA | Posted: 1:10 PM on 07.17.11 |
->> I'm sorry, but am I the only person who has an ethical problem with the second photo of him in the story's gallery?
It's of the subject pretending to take photos at a baseball game. Shooting a portrait of somebody is not a big deal; we do it all the time. But saying "Just pretend to do what you normally do" is one of the cardinal sins of photojournalism. |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 1:52 PM on 07.17.11 |
->> "Sports photographer Bill Schneider of Mill Valley holds his camera behind the backstop of the baseball diamond at Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield, Calif. on Friday, July 15, 2011."
Looks accurately described in the cutline to me. And if he actually shoots that way, he'll have fence in all his photos. He's too far back. |
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Michael Fischer, Photographer
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Spencer | Ia | USA | Posted: 2:41 PM on 07.17.11 |
->> Michael, glad you pointed it out. I didn't even bother to click on it originally.
IF you go to the actually website, a look at some of the work, you'll notice that most of it isn't suitable for publication. What it is suitable for is for parents to buy - when they can tell who the athlete is. (Go look at some of the swimming stuff...)
So, how big a threat is this business model to pro photographers?
When there's plenty of light, the snapshooters are ok in terms of exposure and stop action. Again, perfectly suitable for parents. Very, very,very little of it is anymore more than snapshot quality and if that's all the parent is willing to settle for, then that's what they will get.
Football, basketball and volleyball - sports that are difficult to shoot with amateur and many prosumer cameras - is another story. You can see they try to crank up the ISO, but the limitations of the cameras is very evident. Additionally, there's very little actual usable peak action to choose from. Lots of backs, darn little with faces.
So, is this competition? Maybe... or maybe not.
How would you compete? In the case of football, if you can shoot night football well - you'll clean up. This is arguably the hardest sport to shoot. Even with a D3s, I use strobe. Better color, lower ISOs, etc.
Personally, I believe there are some opportunities. This type of business model attracts the bottom feeders but it also expands the potential market. Remember, they are charging for the images.
How do you compete? You go upstream to where you can get paid what you should get paid.
In the case of basketball and volleyball, I, like a lot of you strobe the gym. I could shoot it available light and on occassion do, but 98% of the time I bring my own light. Lighting is a competitive advantage - use it.
Instead of covering the team, offer to capture one athlete exclusively for a game. Charge accordingly. You'll make more money even if you do it occasionally.
Build extra into the price and offer to donate that percentage to the school.
You don't compete with free. You use it to eliminate the bottom feeders and seek out consumers willing to pay more for better quality.
Quality - expertise - images that POP when Mommy sees little Johnnie or Janie like they look like they're on the cover of SI - that, my friends, is the market to target.
Michael
Now, I'll go run and then edit baseball that ended up getting shot at ISO 5000 last night... |
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