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Sports Photography
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Hi Everybody,
My query is how do you become a sports photographer like the guys who sit behind the advertising hoardings in football stadiums like Croke Park and in the newly revamped Landsdowne Rd.
There are many many ways. Not an easy question to answer.
The best way – work for a paper or a photography agency (Inpho, Sportsfile, Getty, etc).
Other than that, build up a portfolio of sports photography, and find the right person to ask about access.
My website has some tips for sports photography, including how to gain access to events.
Work your butt off with no weekends/evenings off for a few years. Get to know people, it’s who you know that gets you in. Don’t bother with qualifications, not needed for sports. Experience and enthusiasm might get you in the game.
Go take sports photos – anywhere and everywhere you can. Get involved with a club, sell your soul, give free photos for match day programs. Get a portfolio. If you get some decent pics, try touching base with a local newspaper that may be interested. This is all part of how I fell into it anyway. The one thing that I would say about it is that while it is a brilliant side to photography that I would love to do full time, as a freelance I would not like to depend on it for a living. These days the digital age have meant that anyone can take a photo and have it sent into the papers within minutes, so competition can be very high. I am very concious of the fact that I could impact someones elses career (I already have a 9 to 5) by attempting to compete for sales. It is a different story if I am requested by a newspaper or club to cover an event – they will normally ask the full time freelance guys on their books first and only come to the like of me when they are light on the ground for photographers. So my final tit bit is – Do not step on toes – respect others who depend on this for a living/career.
Use opportunities to build portfolios – for example I have recently started covering Munster rugby matches for the Supporters Club. I am not allowed to sell any photos, I am not allowed distribute to the media, there is a restriction to the sites photos can be published on, I have to pay for a ticket to get in the gate, I miss most of the match (not easy to know what is going on through a viewfinder), I have to stay late to take presentation photos, stay up late processing pics, – and all for what?? Because I get access that not many others can. I get photos that can be used in a portfolio, get seen on the web, get talked about, it gets my name out there, I make contacts. Who knows where it gets you – maybe in a year or two I could earn accreditation with the Munster branch / IRFU to get better/more access
Take sports photos – learn, get out there, start small and local and who knows where this weird life could drag you. Work for your dream – its no easy ride – believe me. Respect others – until you make it big.
Rebel Red wrote:
Go take sports photos – anywhere and everywhere you can. Get involved with a club, sell your soul, give free photos for match day programs. Get a portfolio.
I’d be loath to give away free photos. It doesn’t really get you anywhere at all. In fact, giving away free images is the quickest way to step on the toes of the other photographers.
It is always worthwhile taking as many sports photos at you can, at as many events as you can get to. Show your best images to anyone you can – the club, the supporters, the press, and see who is interested. If you can demonstrate consistent quality of images, then you will get places.
Giving free images won’t get you much. But, it never hurts to trade images for something – better access, letters of accreditation, contacts higher up, etc.
I started covering sport last year. I covered some local games, and also covered Leinster rugby. I have full press photographic access. I am currently accredited with the Magners League for Leinster, ERC for Heineken Cup, FAI for all League of Ireland football and Ireland international games, as well as being a registered member of ASJI and AIPS.
Getting press access is never easy, and it does take work, and making contacts. More than anything else, you need to be able to show consistent quality images.
Hi
thanks for all your reply. They all say much the same, spend every minute of my time making a porfolio then put your faith in someone you know and not what you’ve learned. Seems a lot of work and effort for somethings that ends up out of your hands.
Again thanks for your replys, MUCH appreciated
Regards,
Dónal
Don’t give your photos away for free – that’s what’s caused the downfall of most of the industry already. Unless you work for a big agency or have a major sweet contract with a commercial sponsor, forget making any money anymore in sports, mainly because of all the wannabe’s who give their stuff away for free, in return for a “press-pass” for the game. Harsh but true.
Oh, yes it helps to know the right people…but you still have to know what you’re doing!
paul wrote:
Giving free images won’t get you much. But, it never hurts to trade images for something – better access, letters of accreditation, contacts higher up, etc.
Paul you are right on both counts – what I meant was deal photos for access/accreditation – its not always easy to get paid when starting out. Once started – for sure nothing is free.
It can be a case of catch-22 – without a good portfolio you can’t get access/accreditation, and without access you can’t build a good portfolio.
Practice your settings, positioning, timing and technique at any game you can. It does take some time. The more you know the sport, the better. You can use images taken at lower leagues/games as a beginner portfolio to get to higher league games/clubs.
I also find that the higher the level of the sport, the better the picts tend to be, because the play is cleaner, and the “background” tends to be more pleasing (large crowds, etc). So, covering Ireland international football is easier to get good picts, than covering the local side in the local park.
It’s never easy to get paid, no matter what you cover. And the higher the games you cover, the more coverage they get, and the harder it is again to make use of your images. Always have a price in your head for your images, and always be prepared to haggle. Make it seem like they’re getting a deal, and you still make a profit.
You can always check out your local paper, and see what sports images they print and what sport they cover/report. You can then contact the editor or sports editor and offer to cover games. Most papers have set standard rates of payment for images printed. Ask for their rate card.
Also, when possible, try talking to sports photographers covering any games you do attend. You can make great contacts that way.
I’m so glad I’m not in it for the money. :roll:
markcapilitan wrote:
Don’t give your photos away for free – that’s what’s caused the downfall of most of the industry already. Unless you work for a big agency or have a major sweet contract with a commercial sponsor, forget making any money anymore in sports, mainly because of all the wannabe’s who give their stuff away for free, in return for a “press-pass” for the game. Harsh but true.
Oh, yes it helps to know the right people…but you still have to know what you’re doing!
Couldn’t agree more. I don’t think anyone on this site will know more about this sorta stuff than Mark.
My personal opinion would be, big balls, a hard neck, thick thick skinned, dedication, commitment, a set of waterproofs and a flask of hot tea. Hit the papers, mags, agencies with shots from an event, get them in ASAP after the event. Don’t take no for an answer. Over time you’ll build up a couple of contacts. Also, buy yourself a nice bright hi-vis bib, you’ll be surprised how far it gets you (I’ve done this as have friends).
Start with smaller events where it’s easier to get pitch side, such as Heineken Cup games in the RDS, Ravenhill or Munster and League of Ireland and Setanta Cup games.
Oh and take stunning, not just good, but stunning photo’s.
Just to echo most of the comments above. I’ve managed to get in to a few events
(a) by knowing people involved in the running of different sports
(b) as a result of some opportunities that presented themselves by getting in to these games as a photographer and
(c) by just asking up front could I attend as a photographer – some say Yes a lot say No.As in most things photographic the whole key to it is to get out there and practise/hone your skills.
As Paul says – once you get your foot in the door and make some contacts other things can come out of it.
And definitely don’t be in it for the money
Martin.
p.s…..Paul – Hi, just one question ? How did you get the membership of ASJI. Are you working full time in the press ?
(Its Martin from the Sporting Fingal games here)I’ve managed to get into a few events by chancing my arm. I’ve been doing Sports Photography for the last 16 months and I’ve only had two official passes – Ireland U20 Rugby International against Scotland and Dublin V Westmeath Leinster football Championship this Summer in Croke Park.. They are very strict in Croker, especially for the Dubs games. I received these passes on the back of selling as a freelancer each week to the Athlone Advertiser..
I’ve managed to shoot at events like the European Open (Golf), Walker Cup (golf), All-Ireland hurling q-finals (Semple Stadium), National League games – GAA, Under Age Soccer Internationals in Athlone, by just turning up with the lens over my shoulder and looking like I should be there!
Shooting sports has been something I’ve always wanted to do and the last year and a half has been great. The disappointing part is looking at poor images on the local papers when you have some crackers from the same game. Some papers use images from the guy in the stand which is really annoying as they are generally very poor in quality but couple an editor with poor standards and a tight budget and this is what you get! Others use full-timers who haven’t got fast enough lenses to deal with the conditions but like to stay loyal to them as they cover all non-sporting events which account for the majority of images they print..
I charge for every photo that gets printed, I started by handing a cd of my images into the local papers..
Good luck with your journey…
/John
http://www.johnobrienimages.comWhat they all said.
Practice loads and get to a level that gets good comments on there, we each critique each others work quite well I think. Start by shooting 4 or 5 matches a weekend for a few months to time your skills, and you’ll be suprised how quick you’ll learn the sports and learn your camera skills – changing setting without moving the camera from your eye etc. This is not a quick way to make an easy buck! Unil you can guarentee 10 or 20 cracking shots from any match in any weather, your not ready.
Merv.
Just a few pointers..
1) Don’t give your images away for free under any circumstance, even for accreditation.
2) Be very careful whom you send CDs of images to as they will use them again and again and try and not pay.
3) Use a site like http://www.photoshelter.com to make your images available to Clients, it will allow you to control and track their downloads.
4) Any Editors in the Press will have internet access and therefore sending them CDs is uneccessary and slow, use Photoshelter.
5) Just because you get your foot in the door, don’t expect to get the All-Ireland Football Final, there is only one a year, your bread and butter is made on the smaller games.
6) Buy rain gear for equipment, self (in that order).
7) Buy the fastest lens you can afford.
8) Be very critical of your own work and don’t be afraid to crop, crop, crop (within reason).
9) Don’t send newspapers full resolution images, they don’t need them, 2000 x 2000 max pixels is fine. If they need more for a double page, they will ring.Regards,
Conorctwomey wrote:
Just a few pointers..
1) Don’t give your images away for free under any circumstance, even for accreditation.
This can be a bit of a chicken and egg situation. If you read the fine print on tickets for most sporting events it will state that the venue will own the commercial rights to the images, so in theory you can’t sell the images without their permission. Like Rebel Red I get pitch-side for Munster Rugby games but have to have a match ticket, which I assume is just for this reason. I have no intention of turning Pro and the images are purely for my own use so this doesn’t bother me. I am very aware that there are people trying to make a living beside me so I do my best to keep out of their way. I do however swap images for accreditation and they do end up on the Munster Supporters Club Website and on match day programmes in a section specifically for supporters photographs.
For a lot of big events in Ireland, except maybe in Croke Park, if you get in early you should be able to get a spot at the front of the terraces that will only be a few feet from where the pitch-side photographers spend most of their time diring the game. You may not be able to move around because of the crowd but you should be able to get some decent shots.
I also agree with getting the fastest lens you can afford, especially for flodlight games, although the new Thomond Park lights give you a couple of extra stops.
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