 Tammy L. Newcomb |
Shooting Cheerleading and Football Teams I need feedback from anyone who has ever taken on photographing kid’s cheerleading and football teams. I have been asked to submit a proposal to possibly photograph my entire county’s cheerleader and football teams of all ages, which is said to be 300+ kids. I am new to this sort of thing and need advice on the best way to organize the photos as I take them and I would like it if someone could share an example of a price sheet that you have given to the customers (which would be the parents). Does anyone have any links on how to shoot outdoors in high sun? I will be working with a Nikon D40X (which is similar to a D80) I do have a SB-600 speedlite and I need tricks and tips. I have heard a lot of complaints about past photographers and the hot spots on their child’s photos but most often the photographs are taken around noon in the middle of an open field when the sun is at its worst in my opinion. I want to be able to avoid (if all possible) the very complaints of the parents. Right now I getting ready to submit a proposal and need a price sheet template…
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Timothy Tapio |
Hi Tammy! I too am interested in this area. Right now I'm working with the local parks & rec people as we start the t-ball/slo-pitch season but I need experience. Please let me know how this works out for you.... Thanks! Tim T.
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- Dennis Flanagan Contact Dennis Flanagan Dennis Flanagan's Gallery |
To me, photographing sports is like real estate.........location, location, location. Avoid taking shots that look like you were sitting in the stands with the parents. They can already to that.
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Tammy L. Newcomb |
Thanks you all and I finally made up my own brochure with pricing. The problem with my area is that everyone complains about the work of previous photographers behind thier backs but yet re-pickes them for the work at hand because they have became friends with the photographers. Beats all I have seen.... There were three of us competing for the job and I have heard nothing and I feel the guy who has the most experience should be the one to get it. I hope he did get the job and this will give me another year to get more experience under my belt. I already have two weddings booked this summer and they are both outside....Yeah!!!
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Jesse C. Plummer |
Tammy, I have done this, not on the scale you are considering, just my neice and nephews games. Get your best walking shoes, clean your lenses, keep the sun to your left or right and know that not all game fields are designed to make this possible and when that is, get your favorite photoshop pc or mac out. Also consider adding to the bid a second photographer. One thing I recall that stood out the most when I was shooting my neice and nephews games was that the official league photog was a husband wife team and they alternated between games. They each used their own camera and they each downloaded from their SD cards when they were between games. I asked them how many images they get from a single game. Their response was more than 300 and usually close to 450. Then I asked how many were usable as I was looking at the album and it definitley did not hold that many images. They responded they get 20 to 30 maybe as much as 50 from a game worth working with in Photoshop. Out of those, they are able to identify each child in the game and enusre they get at least one good shot of each player. I was fortunate that I was only after one subject, our nephew and my wife was after one subject, our niece. Out of the 60 or so images I shot, I have 10 to 15 that are clear, sharp and balanced contrast and workable. So on that note, do not get discouraged if 85% of your images are useless. Buy the highest capacity SD card you can and get the fastest writing one you can afford. Remember one thing, they will be expecting images soon. So as soon as you get home, work the images in photoshop and get the proofs printed before the next game. If you intend to print your own, shell out for the highest quality printer on the market made for home use. If you intend to ship off for printing, MPIX or Adorama are good image printers and can usually get a good turn around. That still does not mean you cant print a contact sheet or proofs at home, this way at least of they are not back fast enough, you can get the parents interested maybe start generating a second income source. Mpix, I believe, also has a feature where you can take a posed sports image and they can make either a sports poster or a trading card out of it comeplete with stats. No kid it playing sports has an issue with their image on a poster or trader card. Now for the last of the advice, even if someone else got the job, I was able to run the sidelines even though there was a contract photographer there. The key is to stay out of the way of the contract guy. Then, with this experience and showing your work to parents and league officials next year, you will be more likely to get the job.
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Tammy L. Newcomb |
Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. My bid is still in for this project and the more I think about it, I pray that they don't pick me since it just seems to be a lot of work with that many parents and kids for someone of my level. I just do this for a hobby and should have never submitted that bid but my friend who sits on the very board who will be deciding wanted me to submit a bid and I did. If I get the job, maybe I will put my friend to work helping me....Hee Hee.. maybe she will not ask me to submit another bid after she sees how much work it is dealing with that many kids and parents....LOL
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Jesse C. Plummer |
I think you will find you will enjoy it. I shoot my nephews games as often as I can get there, and now my friend at work has a 8 year old playing and I shot his game this past weekend. I am finding I like youth sports photography.
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