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Sports photography career
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ThePitwall
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If you mean an industry where your competing against non employed no insured amateurs give their images away for free and you have to compete against this then no 
D
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IIRC Kipax once posted along the lines of working 48hrs a day, 14 days a week and after taking everything into consideration was making around the minimum wage.
If I am wrong I apologise, but it rings a very large bell.
If I am wrong I apologise, but it rings a very large bell.
Little John
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There are people on here who shoot sports for a living and earn a living doing it. If you want an idea of the amount or work someone does to earn a living out of it, like kipax on facebook he is out shooting everyday not just one event 2, 3 maybe 4 sometimes more and working till late. I guess its like every other job put the effort in and you can make money out of it if your looking at shooting only PL or FL each weekend then your probably not going to earn enough to live on.
pooley
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I walked away from it at the start of the digital era. There were just too many weekend warriors willing to shoot a game using 'auto everything' mode with no film costs to consider producing very average photos for £50 a day because it got them in to Old Trafford.
Obviously some still make a living from it but don't plan on owning a ferrari for a while.
Sorry if thats a bit blunt and negative but the good days of pro sports photography are long gone.
Mike
Obviously some still make a living from it but don't plan on owning a ferrari for a while.
Sorry if thats a bit blunt and negative but the good days of pro sports photography are long gone.
Mike
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haha Martin.. near enough 
I could work less hrs and earn more money on the checkouts at ASDA... But I love what I do
I work mostly local.. rather than shooting at manchester utd or liverpool.. traveling round the world or cricket tests or international rugby.... I tend to stay away from all the top level stuff because its pretty much tied up with agencies..you can make money but not enough to live on as an independant... working for agencies you can make money .. phil-purpleclouds seems to be making a living but dont think he is just sports.. I do Local papers. local schools and colleges.. local leagues... thrown in with some high level stuff here and there.. thats the way I do it.. Took a few yrs to figure out what pays and what doesnt though..
look on my website.. most of what I do is listed..
I could work less hrs and earn more money on the checkouts at ASDA... But I love what I do
I work mostly local.. rather than shooting at manchester utd or liverpool.. traveling round the world or cricket tests or international rugby.... I tend to stay away from all the top level stuff because its pretty much tied up with agencies..you can make money but not enough to live on as an independant... working for agencies you can make money .. phil-purpleclouds seems to be making a living but dont think he is just sports.. I do Local papers. local schools and colleges.. local leagues... thrown in with some high level stuff here and there.. thats the way I do it.. Took a few yrs to figure out what pays and what doesnt though..
look on my website.. most of what I do is listed..
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So you're basically a quitter whose photos weren't good enough to compete with those "very average photos" being pumped out by the so called weekend warriorrs.
pooley
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Nice troll Gary.
No I was shooting during the time when you needed the skill to manually focus the big lenses at top level sports and had 10 minutes to produce shots worthy of national and international publication and earning a nice living.
Then came along decent AF, photoshop and the whole digital scene and an influx of people whose timing was well out but could photoshop a ball into a photo.
3 people working the game (2 photographers 1 tech) suddenly replaced by on weekend warrior = dramatic drop in wages, so I now do a job that supports my family much better.
Back under your bridge please.
Kind regards
Mike
No I was shooting during the time when you needed the skill to manually focus the big lenses at top level sports and had 10 minutes to produce shots worthy of national and international publication and earning a nice living.
Then came along decent AF, photoshop and the whole digital scene and an influx of people whose timing was well out but could photoshop a ball into a photo.
3 people working the game (2 photographers 1 tech) suddenly replaced by on weekend warrior = dramatic drop in wages, so I now do a job that supports my family much better.
Back under your bridge please.
Kind regards
Mike
cornishboy
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If it helps, our local paper has just employed a photographer for £70 a day plus mileage. That's probably working 8-5 and bein on call throuout that time.
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Its called economics mate and affects every single industry going and not just photography, my 20 year old has just started another apprenticeship, first year apprentices get no minimum wage and he's earning £2.10p an hour, not good and probably an employer taking the mickey out of the system but at least he's not on the dole and out robbing old ladies.
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Hardly trolling, however......
Its the way of the world, things move on, technology moves on, some people dont, youve got a 20d so youve taken advantage of the technology so why shouldnt others, i 100% appreciate where youre coming from (honestly) ive been made redundant 4 times in the last 30 years because of modern technology but like yourself ive learned to adapt and move into a different field to help pay the bills, its just that ive moved into sports photography which rankles some who think it should be a closed shop, its not, and if a newspaper is willing to buy my work then why shouldn't i sell it to them.
Every single industry in the world relies on "part time" workers, i dont see anyone going into B&Q on a Sunday afternoon and having a go at the retired 70 year old guy who works 5 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday by calling him a weekend warrior, and no its no different.
Just to add a little edit: Video will probably kill off all stills sports photography and probably sooner rather than later
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pooley
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Not trolling, putting up a comment that had nothing to do with the thread but a personal insult to somebody you've never met?
Why am I a quitter when I moved on for sound business reasons, and which of my old sports photos are 'average'?
For the sake of the OP we'll move on from that and agree to differ.
The OP wants to know if sports photography is a viable career. I still stand by my opinion, which us based on personal experience and seeing how former colleagues still in the business have suffered financially due to digital.
I loved the life but had the foresight to get out at the right time for me. Money no object I'd probably still bs doing it now.
I do agree that soon enough video will take over and all that will happen is stills are taken from the video files. That will leave more pro's out looking fir a new career.
Mike
Why am I a quitter when I moved on for sound business reasons, and which of my old sports photos are 'average'?
For the sake of the OP we'll move on from that and agree to differ.
The OP wants to know if sports photography is a viable career. I still stand by my opinion, which us based on personal experience and seeing how former colleagues still in the business have suffered financially due to digital.
I loved the life but had the foresight to get out at the right time for me. Money no object I'd probably still bs doing it now.
I do agree that soon enough video will take over and all that will happen is stills are taken from the video files. That will leave more pro's out looking fir a new career.
Mike
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The industry has moved on, technology and techniques have also moved on, its called progression and happens across the board, we all pay the price for progression at some stage, some fall by the wayside and new blood comes in, some retire, some walk away and some continue and adapt their game and style to suit whats required, i started to shoot stadium interiors a while ago and its paid off for me with quite a few sold recently, this one http://gcsports.zenfolio.com/p747748752/h1759a921#h1759a921 just sold for a tidy sum to the manufacturers and installers of the floodlights with all rights retained by me and for limited usage.
BUT, no one has a god given right to say who should and who shouldn't be photographing and selling their images, with emphasis on the selling part, giving away images is killing it for photographers and not photographers competing with each other, thets purely what i touched on earlier, economics and what the market can stand.
Im not so sure numbers of photographers will decrease because of video as papers etc, etc will still need the imagery from different angles as they do now, i think its just that photographers will need to adapt to becoming videopraphers.
BUT, no one has a god given right to say who should and who shouldn't be photographing and selling their images, with emphasis on the selling part, giving away images is killing it for photographers and not photographers competing with each other, thets purely what i touched on earlier, economics and what the market can stand.
Im not so sure numbers of photographers will decrease because of video as papers etc, etc will still need the imagery from different angles as they do now, i think its just that photographers will need to adapt to becoming videopraphers.
