Sports Photography

[Armadillo]

Hi all

Finding myself a little unfulfilled in my current job so have been thinking about what to do with my life.
Since I was young I've always had an interest in sports photography, more specifically but not exclusively, football.
Now, I really fancy the idea of doing this for a living but I have no idea how to go about getting into it.

Is it a case off everyone being freelance? Spending thousands on equipment and selling your shots to various publications?

Is it more like a 'normal job' ? Employed and given the tools to work with? Told to go here and there, take pictures and report back with what you've got?

I have no photography qualifications. Would this work against me?

I don't really know where to start to be honest!

Any advice or help is much appreciated.

Cheers!

[Jessicus]

Freelance (mostly)

Tiny pay (mostly - unless you have fantastic rep)

Incredibly hard to get into (getting press access for non-league clubs can be hard!)

Costs thousands to set up properly - single lens for football (400mm prime) will cost £3 to £4 thousand. Plus at least 2 bodies costing £2K each - £8-10K minimum for starters.

Competing with people who give photos away for free (hobbyists who have lots of time/money and like to see their name in print)

Former professional photographer.

[Armadillo]

Oh I see! Well thanks for the info.

Unrelated matter (honest). Anyone know how much I could sell a kidney for? £10k?

[TheTiger]

Don't be put off by the above.

Start as a hobby/sideline, publish online work you're way from there.

[Armadillo]

Any tips where to publish? Start a blog of some description? Use Twitter/facebook?

[Jessicus]

TheTiger said:

Don't be put off by the above.

Start as a hobby/sideline, publish online work you're way from there.

No, don't let reality get in the way - forget the fact that if you have any kind of professional looking camera with you at a football ground then you are likely to be jumped on by the stewards - the FA control the grounds and the clubs have contracts with sports agencies which they pay for - so they are guarded fiercely. From Fleetwood Town to Man City, tickets will state no photography within the ground. Most will ignore a little point and shoot job as they are most probably personal use stuff but two SLR's with 15inch lenses will attract attention!

Start a fansite blog about a particular club and do good pictures and writeups - no problems (usually) - publish online (commercially, trying to sell pictures/make money out of the likeness of the club) and you'll likely get sued.

Getting written permission to shoot inside stadiums is crucial for commercial publication.

[Armadillo]

Righto. Sounds like a bit of a minefield really!

How far down the football pyramid does it apply. If I went to more local football ( Step 3, 4 and 5 ) clubs and asked for access there to take pictures, would that be a route that might get some success?

Do local/regional paper employ photographers in such a capacity?

[sunoco69]

Am I missing something here. People actually get paid to take photo's of a football?

I have a few in the garden from the kids next door, now where did I put my Kodak?

[StevieBee]

Armadillo said:

Do local/regional paper employ photographers in such a capacity?

This would be your best staring point. They'll not employ you but may well give you the press credentials to get access to local league games and may buy the odd pic if it suits their story. You'll not earn a living but will start to build your portfolio. Also, broadening your horizons to other sports will help too.

If you want to earn big bucks, then the paparazzi route may be worth exploring but you have to be a of a certain mould to do this plus willing to work stupid hours and there's still a risk you'll get nothing.

[minky monkey]

I'm Kingstonian FC's club photographer. For me it's strictly hobby based.

I know loads of the local guys and girls in the game. Most local papers want shots for free these days, apparently they don't have much of a budget. No budget, no shots from me thank you very much!

I was chatting to the guy that shoots for the local paper last week, working it out with all the hours spent travelling and processing the shots, he's on minimum wage. He doesn't just do sports stuff though, he covers anything and everything.


There is money in it, but it takes a long time to get there and it's as much about who you know as the quality of your work!

You got more chance of making money working at the youth end of the club. Parents always want photos of their kids at matches. You'll sell more youth photos than you ever will first team stuff!

[Armadillo]

Thanks to all who replied, especially sunoco69 - your reply was extremely helpful.

Guess I'll just start off down the hobby route, doing local stuff and see what comes from that.

Cheers

[z4chris99]

a friend started out doing county cricket. easy access

he now does it as a job

[mike80]

I'm a sports photographer, although motorsport. I don't know what level you are at as far as the actual picture taking goes, but try and find some games where you can practice your technique, that have easy access.

If you know what you are doing, start right at the bottom and take on whatever jobs come your way, and try and get noticed!

It's not easy, sometimes it seems everybody wants to do it, but somebody has to...

[bodysnatcher]

Armadillo said:

Unrelated matter (honest). Anyone know how much I could sell a kidney for? £10k?

In the UK - nothing - it's illegal.
Outside the UK - you're on your own, but 10K is cheap.

[Armadillo]

mike80 said:

I'm a sports photographer, although motorsport. I don't know what level you are at as far as the actual picture taking goes, but try and find some games where you can practice your technique, that have easy access.

If you know what you are doing, start right at the bottom and take on whatever jobs come your way, and try and get noticed!

It's not easy, sometimes it seems everybody wants to do it, but somebody has to...

Thanks for the info. How did you get into it? As above or some other way?

[Cheib]

Have no personal experience but a mate of mine is now a professional sailing photographer having started out as a very keen amateur. That said he was very lucky in that in his previous job he earned enough to be able to buy all the pro lenses and bodies he needed, then through some very good contacts/friends the worked for free at weekends taking pictures of races and eventually got some "jobs/work" for race teams though still not paid anything more than his costs. He then got made redundant and went full time, using his redundancy to fund his living costs for a year he's now become full time, loves his job and has some seriously very prestigious contracts....he's not earning huge amounts of money but is bloody happy with life.

[mike80]

Armadillo said:

Thanks for the info. How did you get into it? As above or some other way?

Pretty much, I was a keen amateur, and had a bit of luck getting some pictures of a newsworthy story that a couple of magazines used, plus a website that then offered me the oppurtunity to get to races with media access. Then another website asked me to do some jobs for them, then I used to get the odd magazine/paper offer as well.

At the time I had a crap shift based job, but the advantage was I could work lates all week and go out in the daytime to do photography stuff. Then I won the MSA Young Photographer award at the end of 2006, and was offered a full time job with an agency, which I've been doing since then. So there was a bit of luck, and a lot of going to cold race tracks, plus a fair bit of cold calling, but got there in the end!

The above took just over two years, from first published shots in late 2004, to starting current job in February 2007.

[Super Slo Mo]

A friend of mine does it for a local conference team, when he's not working elsewhere doing the old TV stuff.

He started by simply taking pics from the stands, then approached the club and asked if he could take pictures at home matches from pitchside (I suspect waving his SKY/Setanta/ESPN passes about helped a bit). They let him, liked his stuff, and now he's officially able to take photos for the team, even when they're on away games.

I have a feeling he either does it for free, which helps no one (and I've told him this but he doesn't care), or for a tiny payment. It's more of a hobby for him anyway, as he earns a decent wedge behind the scenes in televised sport.

[jurbie]

A good plan is to check out the leagues directly below the Conference as I believe even the Conference operate some kind of license system like the FA and Premier leagues which means you won't be allowed to shoot there.

Find some teams local to you and turn up and take some pictures; usually the access is pretty good and you won't need to go pitchside, I would recommend having some sort of public liability insurance if you are going pitchside but at that level you'll be fine shooting behind the spectator barrier. Then spend the next few years learning your craft. The club will love your pictures and will be more than happy to use them on their website and in their programmes. Whether you ever make a living out of it is in the lap of the gods but you'll be in a better place to make it happen.

[Armadillo]

Gentlemen and gentleladies, you have all been a great help.

It's great to hear from people that can count their hobby as their job. Thats the dream really. Guess I'll crack on at a few local games, practice and see what comes my way. Quite prepared to 'graft' for a few years to try get somewhere, as it's something I enjoy.

Thanks again all.