race photos (Read 1793 times)

    Bonkin' $1 - $2 Is insulting. Obviously you do not care about quality. Quantity is your selling factor. Paypal and gas money would erase any very meager profit.

     

    I do care about quality, where I care about it. If I'm paying a photographer for a portrait or a wedding, I care a lot about quality and am willing to pay. Race photos, not so much.

     

    And I wasn't intending to insult anyone, I was just making the observation, that someone would probably sell a lot more photos at a lower price point than at a much higher one. I only picked two price extremes from this thread, wasn't trying to say that was what the price should be.

    When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

    kcam


      Heh.

       

      "Brightroom?  They sit down in the middle of the road! They should call them Dumbroom."

       

      Dumbroom is laughing all the way to the bank, my wife sometimes photos for them (usually at races that I'm already going to be running) and they make a lot of sales from her photos.  The people on this forum are not the market for race photos.  It's the first-time marathoners, Tough Mudders, Warrior Dash, costume-wearer types who buy the hell out of those photos.   Serious runners generally don't  buy..  I've bought two race photos in my 15 or so years of running.  My first ever 1/2 marathon (don't know what happened to that photo) and a great finish line shot with the clock showing a huge PR.  No one else in the photo.  It's hanging on the wall of my home office and I think I paid about $15 for the 5X7.  Well worth it.

      zoom-zoom


      rectumdamnnearkilledem

        I bought the full digital rights to this one...because it cracked me up and was my first marathon:

         

        I think I was yelling "shit!"

        Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

        remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

             ~ Sarah Kay


        sincerely silly

          Haha love it. Smile I would be more likely to buy digital rights than a print, btw.  I'm never sure what kind of paper I like best!

           

          I bought the full digital rights to this one...because it cracked me up and was my first marathon:

           

          I think I was yelling "shit!"

          shin splints are my nemesis


          sincerely silly

            Bonkin' $1 - $2 Is insulting. Obviously you do not care about quality. Quantity is your selling factor. Paypal and gas money would erase any very meager profit.

             

            Haha, sorry, I didn't connect right away that "Bonkin" was in reference to a poster and not some new sugarcoated term I'd never heard.  Like "it's the [bonkin'] 'weekend baby I'm gonna have me some fun..."

             

            No offense, Bonkin. I was just confused. Smile

            shin splints are my nemesis

            Elly.


              Dumbroom is laughing all the way to the bank, my wife sometimes photos for them (usually at races that I'm already going to be running) and they make a lot of sales from her photos.  The people on this forum are not the market for race photos.  It's the first-time marathoners, Tough Mudders, Warrior Dash, costume-wearer types who buy the hell out of those photos.   Serious runners generally don't  buy..  I've bought two race photos in my 15 or so years of running.  My first ever 1/2 marathon (don't know what happened to that photo) and a great finish line shot with the clock showing a huge PR.  No one else in the photo.  It's hanging on the wall of my home office and I think I paid about $15 for the 5X7.  Well worth it.

               

              I don't care for Brightroom or MarathonFoto either.  I WISH they would get a decent picture of me; I might buy it.  But I'll bet your wife makes about $10 an hour using her own equipment, and she never sees another dime. She also doesn't have steady work. 

               

              Yes, pictures should be reasonably priced.  But to reiterate, it is not OK to steal photos of yourself for internet purposes even though you probably cannot print.  Even if you give credit to the photographer (folks do that all the time Disapprove) if your didn't pay for it, you have no right to do it. 

               

              I have folks who like my work and order prints or digitals.  I'm thankful to them.  I work hard to elicit a smile and a rapport with runners.  If you have one of those local people who show up regularly to make pictures, you should thank them in a meaningful way. 

              http://www.ellyfosterphotography.com/


              Marathon Maniac #3309

                 I'd love to pay, say $30-40 for all the images from a given race, digital only.  To this day, that is still an uncommon option.

                To me, this is the only way I would buy race photos. I would probably always buy pictures that could be downloaded to me from the photographer, then save them to my computer for what ever reasons (I would pay a decent price) Personally, I can't think of why I would ever want a still photograph...

                 

                I know a lot of friends who race...not one purchases race photos because of how expensive they are. Of course, my friends usually look like ignoramuses - LOL

                 

                Now I feel kinda bad snatching this one recently Blush. The photographer said I could only buy pictures and have them mailed to me...I didn't want that

                 

                 

                - du finish 1 pic

                Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way - Run often and run long, but never outrun your Joy of running!


                Why is it sideways?

                  The question of intellectual property is difficult. I am not so sure where I come down on this. There are costs to everything in life: some things can be monetized, some can't. As technology and distribution changes, the way of monetizing must also change. Part of what causes this issue is that photographers and customers are trying to treat an item that is really different (a digital photo) in the same way that the old paper photo was treated. They try to make an item that can be infinitely reproduced into an item that is scarce and required expertise to reproduce in order to mimic the old technology. To consumers who know that the print can in principle be reproduced infinitely, this seems like a false way to control things. I think this is part of what creates the ethical confusion.

                   

                  A race photo is a strange thing because it only has value to a very small number of individuals. Its public value is very small, but its private value is high. 

                   

                  Writing and publishing, of course, continues to face this problem (Should blogs charge for their content? I provided entertainment for lots of folks this month and earned nothing in $$ for my efforts... but should I earn money? I enjoy writing and would write it anyways.)

                  AmoresPerros


                  Options,Account, Forums

                    I have the impression that copyright in film and publishing is widely used to keep the creators rather economically subjugated to the big publishing and distribution companies -- and the same in the music industry. So some people dislike it because it seems to have gone astray from the original purported purpose of encouraging creativity.

                     

                    Patents are even more inflammatory, although not having to do with publishing or distribution chains, but with the whole syndrome of "patent trolling" arguably stifling productivity.

                     

                    But photography may be different from those.

                    It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

                    LedLincoln


                    not bad for mile 25

                      I appreciate an artistic photo and the artistry of its creator, but I'm not looking for artistry in a race photo of myself.  I just don't particularly care.


                      Slow-smooth-fast

                        Alt + prtscrn works for me. Watermarks sometimes cause little problems too what with my photoshop wizardry

                        "I've been following Eddy's improvement over the last two years on this site, and it's been pretty dang solid. Sure the weekly mileage has been up and down, but over the long haul he's getting out the door and has turned himself into quite a runner. He's only now just figuring out his potential. Consistency in running is measured in years, not weeks. And over the last couple of years, Eddy's made great strides" Jeff 14 Jan 2009


                        You'll ruin your knees!

                          I tend to agree with the Zoominator and Elly1 on this topic.  That said, I have purchased prints, digital images AND copied images from the trenternet! 

                           

                          I have been fortunate enough to get myself some pretty decent camera equipment and occasionally like to shoot photos at races.  I don't make a special effort to travel to a race just to shoot, just races at which I happen to be volunteering.  My photos go on a web-based album (with the RD's permission to allow for consideration of those who are actually trying to make a buck shooting the race) and are free to any who like them.  I have no idea how much the pics get viewed or downloaded.  I did shoot a lot of pictures at a trail race with several world class runners recently and have seen those pictures quite a few times over in blogs, race websites, etc.  A few have even given credit!   I actually had a  photo selected for the cover shot of the 25th Anniversary edition of UltraRunning magazine a while back!  That was cool! 

                           

                          One of the major peeves I have with most race photographers is their tendency to get somewhere comfortable for them an mass shoot runners/bikers with little regard to composition of a photo.  I really appreciate those who go to the effort of capturing the moment (I have seen evidence of this in Elly1's work), including a charachteristic of the event that is distinguished.  I have seen far too many race photographers who shoot tons of photos of runners in an ultra event as they cross a road and/or happen to be on the 100 foot paved walk of a 50 mile trail run...

                           

                          The intellectual property consideration is a tough one, and our conversation here is not likely to change minds. 

                          ""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)

                            I must be old-fashioned because I have bought two race photos, about $10 each, which I thought was reasonable.  One I am charging to the end of a PR race, the other, it was just a race I was fond of.  Digital copies would be nice, but I like something "rare" and precious on the mantle.  My computer might blow up at any time.

                             

                            Besides, I don't think I will ever beat that PR so....adds to its value to me.

                            "During a marathon, I run about two-thirds of the time. That's plenty." - Margaret Davis, 85 Ed Whitlock regarding his 2:54:48 marathon at age 73, "That was a good day. It was never a struggle."

                            Elly.


                              I must be old-fashioned because I have bought two race photos, about $10 each, which I thought was reasonable.  One I am charging to the end of a PR race, the other, it was just a race I was fond of.  Digital copies would be nice, but I like something "rare" and precious on the mantle.  My computer might blow up at any time.

                               

                              Besides, I don't think I will ever beat that PR so....adds to its value to me.

                               

                              I think that's just about right!  If you buy a print, you get the photographer's expertise in sharpening, color correction, elimination of cones, elbows and all the wonderful things CS5 can do.  If you get a digital...you're pretty much on your own, unless you're a friend photographer.  Wink

                              http://www.ellyfosterphotography.com/


                              Why is it sideways?

                                I should just say that I have happily paid Elly for race photos before. I didn't mean to imply that they should be free!

                                 

                                To me, it makes more sense to pay an excellent photographer a flat fee for photos as part of the racing experience. I certainly enjoy the pics more than the T-shirt.