Cheesecake
Senior Member
sometimes such things happen.
Looking for Commercial Photographers for Events
- Thread starter tks
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sometimes such things happen.
I took a group photo of 50++ pax, guess how many buy the print from me?
10 prints.
do your math.... if you want to depends on selling prints for profit in local.
10 prints.
do your math.... if you want to depends on selling prints for profit in local.
newtoforums
New Member
As mentioned earlier, nowadays its not viable to just sell prints n hope to cover costs.
1) if Photog/company does not cover its basic costs then how does 1 even make a profit?
2) if you are in biz of Photography for fun ie, just shoot for free or cheaply,
then I suggest you go pick up another profession/career and dont spoil e market for seroius or Pro photogs.
3) for serious amateurs, go polish up on your Photography skills and try to peg your rates close to the Pros. provided your Photography skills are close to theirs, eventually benefits consumers and photogs.
Interesting you mention this. In Asia, kids grow up in an environment that encourages piracy and as a result, respect for intellectual property rights doesn't exist. I'm involved in a project that's still in its infant stages but suffice to say, it involves a global software giant and their initiative to start educating young kids at school about IPR. There are basically 10 concept photos to localize on my part but point is, I see good from this work.
Just yesterday, I showed this post to a photographer friend in Malaysia and he gave an example similar to yours. It was a paintball event and instead of selling the image to many, one buyer bought, made copies and distributed to 20 of his friends.
Prints or Online sales ... different method, same awful risks!
Hey Mel.
I'm just relating a personal experience to others, of course, I don't believe in depends on selling print for profit, that job I already cover my charge, selling prints is just a perk.
btw, I'm Beng's brother, if you still remember him.
newtoforums
New Member
Yes Bro,
I remember meeting you several years ago and also remember your brother.
Pls dont take my posts personally, its aimed at you know who;p
Thank you, I'm just a small fry in front of all the big brothers back than.
no worries...
cheers.
Looks like majority of you do not feel that such an arrangement will be feasible. I did say that it may be feasible only for individual sports where you capture the individual athlete. For such shots, it is not possible to share. For the Canberra games, the company only sold individual shots. There were few group shots. For group shots, I agree that many people will likely buy one and make copies.
I was just looking at the recently concluded Singapore Marathon and they did offer photos of individual runners online for sale. Prints start from S$16.95 for 12 x 17 cm while digital files are going for S$69 for all photos. Prices seems to be similar to what I saw in Canberra.
Can't speak for all runners, but from what I've noticed from a small group sampling of close to 50 runners was that not a SINGLE person was willing to buy a single print. It was nice to have but won't die without.
Or they come here and ask for free photos. :bsmilie:
Or they come here and ask for free photos. :bsmilie:
As for the one person buy and scan then distribute to all syndrome, it has already been happening overseas in countries where they supposedly have higher regard and respect for professional photographic services.
Bottom line is 'Want professional standards and services, companies and organizations should be willing to pay instead of leveraging on empty promises'.
It appears that many event photographic companies as well as smaller set-ups have already tried the seemingly 'lucrative' and 'promising' route of no or low fees and high-profits from print sales, and found reality to be something completely different.
If not, you would see these prints for sale schemes all over Singapore and at most major events.
The runners with the highest likelihood to want their photo are the winner and two runner-ups (making an assumption here, am not a runner) but guess what, the winner had pictures of him appear in all major newspapers and publications. Because he's a winner, he doesn't have to buy the pictures.
I have had many guests who at the end of the event come over and ask to have their picture taken and then conveniently pass me their business card to 1) email them the JPEG or 2) send them 8R print and "bill them" .. at this point, you're packing up, they're leaving the venue happily thinking they're getting the pics for free or paying lab rate for that 8R. I will take the photos for them but I send them their files or prints ... not only is it inconvenient but also unethical making an extra few bucks off your client's event.
Omission: I will take the photos for them but I won't send them their files or prints ...
I wouldn't mind paying $15 or $30 for a picture if I thought there were worth it. Business has to work both ways, if my customers do not mind paying $150 for my hornbill and egret pictures then similar justification can be made too.
Nice. Thanks for the heads up. I missed the Singapore F1 and will need to hook up with the local ministries for the games meet in SG. Have been meaning to work on business of shooting abroad.
I guess I belong to that "SINGLE" person. If I managed to complete the marathon, I surely don't mind forking out a small fortune if someone had a nice shot of me crossing the finishing line in triumph. It's something for me to remember.
bowwow
Senior Member
i'm currently in a mkt situation as described and i've faced the problems and challenges mentioned as well. been there, done that.
my thots... it's not easy initially but if u think yur marketing plan thru, have some guts and be prepared to lay the initial groundwork it can work.
my thots... it's not easy initially but if u think yur marketing plan thru, have some guts and be prepared to lay the initial groundwork it can work.
i take sports photos and sell photos to the kids and parents all the time. there is a way to do it, but i have to tell, it isn't as straight forward as you think. singapore and oz are two very very different markets. the standard way of selling prints online will not work the way it does in other countries and if you don't know how to market yourself and do not understand sports marketing i suggest you don't even attempt to try it the "oz" way.
you have to consider this point, and it is a huge point. in oz, you might have one or two photogs for miles around. in singapore, there are hundreds on every block and photogs are a dime a dozen. this is where you need to understand sports marketing and branding because that will separate you, it's worked heaps for me.
here's the thing. when you open yourself up to this style of doing work, events organizers will also come to their sense and say hey, i will hire a photog, not pay him, and he can earn from photo sales. you are walking a fine line and frankly speaking, the way the market is here, if you do this and do it wrong, you pulled the plug for a lot of event shooter. i suggest you think long and hard because again, singapore market is not oz market.
you have to consider this point, and it is a huge point. in oz, you might have one or two photogs for miles around. in singapore, there are hundreds on every block and photogs are a dime a dozen. this is where you need to understand sports marketing and branding because that will separate you, it's worked heaps for me.
here's the thing. when you open yourself up to this style of doing work, events organizers will also come to their sense and say hey, i will hire a photog, not pay him, and he can earn from photo sales. you are walking a fine line and frankly speaking, the way the market is here, if you do this and do it wrong, you pulled the plug for a lot of event shooter. i suggest you think long and hard because again, singapore market is not oz market.
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