Opinion needed!

[rsefitpro2009]

Hi

I have started out as freelance sports photographer, I live in the United Kingdom, have a website and take decent sport's photos.

However i am strugglign to make money out of this type of business and struggling to get a foot on the ladder forwards.

So my question is any tipes/suggestions in how i can make my own business as photorapher succesful?

Any help/advice would be great


thanks

Richard

[OldClicker]

Hi

I have started out as freelance sports photographer, I live in the United Kingdom, have a website and take decent sport's photos.

However i am strugglign to make money out of this type of business and struggling to get a foot on the ladder forwards.

So my question is any tipes/suggestions in how i can make my own business as photorapher succesful?

Any help/advice would be great


thanks

Richard

I may be way off base here, but one problem may be a lack of polish or style in what you present. This post went out to the photographic community - both local and worldwide - and the spelling, punctuation, etc. is terrible. Impressions are important and this is the audience you are trying to reach. – TF

[Axle]

Also who are you targeting as the purchaser of your images? Are you attached to any local newspaper as a freelancer? Could we get some examples of your past work, maybe a link to your website?

Also I noticed in your profile your camera type is Point & Shoot is this a fact?

[SmartWombat]

Sample photos linked in the photo forum are with an A200.

[mattbikeboy]

Also who are you targeting as the purchaser of your images? Are you attached to any local newspaper as a freelancer? Could we get some examples of your past work, maybe a link to your website?

Also I noticed in your profile your camera type is Point & Shoot is this a fact?

Funny, you noticed that he uses a point and shoot. I covered a mountain bike earlier this year where there was a truck with a fancy sports photographer banner parked at the main venue. I was all over that mountain and I never saw any other pros out there except during the final day.

After the event I browsed over to his website to see what he got and found a few photos with me in the background. Turns out it was a kid with a low to mid range Olympus point and shoot. I had been talking with him and extolling the virtues of shooting in manual, aperture or shutter priority modes in order to get better shots from his camera. Unfortunately he said he didn't know how to use those modes and his images were very poor. His shots where out of focus, poorly cropped and badly composed. Much of those issues could be easily corrected with the fasted speed that even a mid level DSLR can deliver.

My point is that nearly all point and shoot cameras are much too slow to catch sports action. It was too bad that he drove from out-of-state to cover the race.

mbb

[Axle]

For those who haven't gone down to the sports forum here's a thread with his photos.

Football Photo critique needed

I must say, wow, that's some impressive work you have there. But my questions still stand, except the P&S question...

[mattbikeboy]

Okay, never mind the Point and shoot stuff above. You've got a good start. Now you need to work on your cropping, editing and composition. Sports can be challenging to compose the shots, but once you do it for a while you'll start anticipating where the action will occur -- you always shoot a bit wide and crop it down afterward.

For the good: I like your foggy football shot (would be better if the feet weren't cut off though).

I like this one -- but it would be better if the vertical light poles and roof supports were vertical in the frame.


1) Watch for cutting feet and heads in your finished images.



2) Also look to visually balance your images.

This shot would be better if the action was in the lower or middle right of the frame rather than the upper left. That way it gives the viewer the impression that there is room for the players to move.

3) Start playing with your editing. Increase contrast and saturation a bit and develop a style.


You might start saving for fast glass so you can maximize your keeper rate. Some of your shots appear fairly soft. Faster glass lets more light in when its dark or cloudy --which allows your camera to shoot at a faster shutter speed that would reduce some of the blurriness you get when lighting isn't ideal. Keep it up and have fun. The more you shoot the move improvement you'll see in your own images.

mbb

[another view]

Can't remember the name, but a photographer got into Magnum a few years ago with the work he did in the Middle East on a couple of Olympus compacts. However if you're going into business they might be fairly limiting if used exclusively. Work shouldn't be evaluated on the equipment used to do it, so this is maybe something to keep in mind for the future.