Assignment Help

swanny

swanny

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julie
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Hi all just wondered if some one could help me, i'm doing a photography course and one of my final assignments which is a written one asks me to imagine I was starting out as a self employed sports photographer, I need to know how to start out or who my clients would be, eg local papers, what is the going rate for this type of work, how do you make people aware of your work,start up costs and a advertising plan. Now ive done the start up cost:eek: and just struggling with the rest, just going round and round in circles on the net reading article after article:help: any help would be fantastic, I am starting to loose the will to live:cuckoo:
 
swanny said:
Hi all just wondered if some one could help me, i'm doing a photography course and one of my final assignments which is a written one asks me to imagine I was starting out as a self employed sports photographer, I need to know how to start out or who my clients would be, eg local papers, what is the going rate for this type of work, how do you make people aware of your work,start up costs and a advertising plan. Now ive done the start up cost:eek: and just struggling with the rest, just going round and round in circles on the net reading article after article:help: any help would be fantastic, I am starting to loose the will to live:cuckoo:
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Too many Ps in your home town for my liking but here goes :)

Are you positive you got your startup costs correct?

My customers are.. local papers. regional papers. national papers and magazines.. also books on the odd occasion.. local schools and colleges, local council and the general public... sports clubs such as football or basketball or cricket teams.. also local leagues who run sports leagues..


local paper may pay £10-£20 for a pictures.. regional papers average around £50 for a set of pictures.. and nationals pay me between 80 and 160 for one picture ... Those are prices the media set.. not you... I get a steady flow of print sales from my website.. as for the other revenue..well thats whatever your business requires you to charge...

I get business cards printed cheap by the thousands and hand them out to the puiblic at every event i got to for the print sales.. i contact clubs and leagues to make them aware... papers you either send syuff on spec and hope they buy or you contact them in advance and ask them if they require anything from the game your going to..

Most of the above for media.. you need to aquire appropriate licences.. however some people work for agencies.. this can be hit/miss and you only get 70% of what the picture makes... if you ahve your own licence you make 100%

All the above is the way I make a living.. I do not say its the only way or the best way... just the way I live the dream :)


I bet a quid you havent got startup costs right .....


PS I would be interested to see how many full time sports photographers we have in here.. I know a lot do it part time.. but how many full time for sports ?
 
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Tony - part-time for me.

On your start up costs why not put a Spread sheet in Dropbox for us to look at.

Have you got insurance costs in there which covers not just your gear but Professional & Personal Liability cover.

What about the costs of registering a company, registering a domain for your website, website hosting, website building. Who handles your email & the costs involved.

Will your bank charge you for handling a business account?

etc etc
 
...and expensive kit. If you want to compete at the top end, you'll need top-end kit. This is not cheap...
 
bigrob said:
What about the costs of registering a company
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No need to register as a company

bigrob said:
Will your bank charge you for handling a business account?
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I had a meeting with the bank manager at RBS when i started out and they said apart from having cheques made payable to "company name" theres not much advantage to me having and paying costs for a business account at all...

that was me starting small as I owould suspect most self employed sports photogrpahers would have to..
 
Thanks all for the advice especially Kipax, nearly the same name as my village..lol. The list I was told to consider was

Canon
300mm 2.8
24-70mm 2.8
70-200mm 2.8
1.4x & x2 converter
as well as a monopod and a comfy stool?

If I was to rush out and buy these all in one go I would have to sell the husband and part exchange the kids! I must admit I do enjoy taking photo's of my kids playing rugby but not ready for anything else. I started taking courses to learn from the bottom and work onwards and upwards, not jump out of the frying pan into the fire lol
 
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Oh I forgot about the 1d mark IV and a 5DMK III
 
What licenses do you require and how do you go about getting them?
 
I know it's an academic exercise, but do you think they are looking for a £15K+ spend as part of a startup self employed or am I being overcautious? Might they mark you down for over-stretching yourself?
 
Furtim said:
I know it's an academic exercise, but do you think they are looking for a £15K+ spend as part of a startup self employed or am I being overcautious? Might they mark you down for over-stretching yourself?
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If you want to do sports professionally at a decent level, that's an underspend!
 
swanny said:
Thanks all for the advice especially Kipax, nearly the same name as my village..lol. The list I was told to consider was

Canon
300mm 2.8
24-70mm 2.8
70-200mm 2.8
1.4x & x2 converter
as well as a monopod and a comfy stool?

If I was to rush out and buy these all in one go I would have to sell the husband and part exchange the kids! I must admit I do enjoy taking photo's of my kids playing rugby but not ready for anything else. I started taking courses to learn from the bottom and work onwards and upwards, not jump out of the frying pan into the fire lol
Click to expand...

swanny said:
Oh I forgot about the 1d mark IV and a 5DMK III
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and a decent laptop
and software for editing (Lightroom/PS/PM etc etc)
and the ability to wire from pitchside (ie 3G dongles as PAYG or contract)
and sufficient memory cards and back ups
and flashes - preferably at least x 2
and PWs for the above and remote camera triggering
and external HDs for backing up files x 2 (at least)
and at least one peli case/think tank to transport the above


The list goes on endlessly. It's not just a couple of bodies and some basic (read - essential) lenses.
 
DemiLion said:
and a decent laptop
and software for editing (Lightroom/PS/PM etc etc)
and the ability to wire from pitchside (ie 3G dongles as PAYG or contract)
and sufficient memory cards and back ups
and flashes - preferably at least x 2
and PWs for the above and remote camera triggering
and external HDs for backing up files x 2 (at least)
and at least one peli case/think tank to transport the above


The list goes on endlessly. It's not just a couple of bodies and some basic (read - essential) lenses.
Click to expand...

dont forget the car to move this lot about...you cant use your own personal car.. well you can but then you have to reinsure it to cover business... seriously you really have to.. get stopped by police and them your working and they check insurance.. they do book ya..
 
swanny said:
What licenses do you require and how do you go about getting them?
Click to expand...

Most pro sports require a licence and its pro sport that national papers want.. league, championship and premiership football for exambple.. rugby, cricket.. even basketball has a licence system..

how you get them is another story alltogether.. your better googling.. you cant just buy them.. its not that simple..

i do a mixture of pro and none pro sports as you can see from my original list :)
 
KIPAX said:
dont forget the car to move this lot about...you cant use your own personal car.. well you can but then you have to reinsure it to cover business... seriously you really have to.. get stopped by police and them your working and they check insurance.. they do book ya..
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I'm fine using my own car. I just stick on Business Class II which is about £50pa extra. :)

But you're right, unless you're in London a car is pretty much a tool!
 
Saying this, most of the above is about working at the top end, and you won't start there. Depending on how 'sports photographer' is being defined, you could freelance for the local papers and do things like road races and equestrian stuff as well as shooting for local clubs and selling to the participant and their kids. For that you could get away with a good 70-200 on a 7D, get them second hand for not much over a grand. You'll still need to process, and unless you sell on site - printer, monitors, big tent and so forth - you won't make much. But you will be 'starting out'.

Realistically , few photographers do only sports; most either have another job in a different profession, or do other types of photography as well.
 
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Well guys thankyou for the advice, better start this assignment, before I run out of time
 
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