Agency work

Liam1901

Liam1901

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Name
Liam
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Morning all!

Looking to fire off emails later today to get into an agency for next season (probably football league)
Just after some tips from the experts!

I was gonna send them about 8 images with the email... does anyone know if they prefer all action or some action some celebration? I imagine it's all action?
I've started building my website so should I also link that in the email?

Any other tips are appreciated :)

Thanks all!
 
Depends how good the agency is.. A top class agency will want a proper portfolio that can show a range (they dont only do football) of pics and especialy show you can think out of the box.. A bottom of the pile agency will want to know if you have a 70-200 and a stool to get on there books..

TIP.. Showing you can quickly caption and send files is important for any agency... I wouldnt send pics without being asked.. send a link to your online portfolio.. maybe get a few in here to check it over first ?
 
Liam just link them to your website as the shots on the front page are enough to show you can produce quality images. Generally a mixture of action and celebration is preferred as both will sell.

In your email you will want to detail exactly what equipment you have access to. The bigger agencies will be looking for 2x high end camera bodies plus a 70-200mm and either a 300mm f/2.8 or 400mm f/2.8. Knowledge of Photo Mechanic (or alternative captioning tool) will be required as well. It's not too difficult to pick up but it is something you'll need to go out and try a few times until you build a workflow that allows you to both shoot and edit/caption/upload images. Agencies may ask to see a full gallery of photos from a match at some point so it may be worth having one online just in case.
 
Hate to say it but portfolio on the website not good enough for a big agency that pays commissions but yes to an agency that sends out on spec
 
fhoneill said:
Liam just link them to your website as the shots on the front page are enough to show you can produce quality images. Generally a mixture of action and celebration is preferred as both will sell.

In your email you will want to detail exactly what equipment you have access to. The bigger agencies will be looking for 2x high end camera bodies plus a 70-200mm and either a 300mm f/2.8 or 400mm f/2.8. Knowledge of Photo Mechanic (or alternative captioning tool) will be required as well. It's not too difficult to pick up but it is something you'll need to go out and try a few times until you build a workflow that allows you to both shoot and edit/caption/upload images. Agencies may ask to see a full gallery of photos from a match at some point so it may be worth having one online just in case.
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Thanks! :)
Okay so list my equipment then link my portfolio and that I side photomechanic? I need to upload some different images to my site first... they were just ones I've put up whilst building the site.
 
Liam1901 said:
No problem that's what I'm after at this stage :)
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they are not bad just not agency portfolio..a glaring example is the three guys in burgundy with the cup.. apart from not straight.. An agency will want the guy they are looking at not the guy at the side..
 
I think there is more chance of a getting a game for a EFL level team these days than a paid commission spot with one of the bigger agencies. The quality of work looks good enough though that someone will let you pitchside on spec which isn't the worst place to gain some experience.

Personally I wouldn't give up your National League or whatever else if you are making money from it though. I do a lot of local league amateur, kids football etc simply because I'm the only photographer and they are willing to straight up pay for my time. Less glamour but it's ten minutes from the house and I don't need to wire as I shoot. Pretty sure @KIPAX does similar and much more regularly than I do?
 
KIPAX said:
they are not bad just not agency portfolio..a glaring example is the three guys in burgundy with the cup.. apart from not straight.. An agency will want the guy they are looking at not the guy at the side..
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Oh ones like that arnt ones that are staying on... I'm building my website at the moment they're just there for the time being I imagine they'll be gone by tomorrow (before I send out emails)
 
fhoneill said:
I think there is more chance of a getting a game for a EFL level team these days than a paid commission spot with one of the bigger agencies. The quality of work looks good enough though that someone will let you pitchside on spec which isn't the worst place to gain some experience.

Personally I wouldn't give up your National League or whatever else if you are making money from it though. I do a lot of local league amateur, kids football etc simply because I'm the only photographer and they are willing to straight up pay for my time. Less glamour but it's ten minutes from the house and I don't need to wire as I shoot. Pretty sure @KIPAX does similar and much more regularly than I do?
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I'll defiantly keep my national league and do local games (I tend to only find people willing to pay at cup final times :( ). Just want to do this to gain more experience.
 
fhoneill said:
Personally I wouldn't give up your National League or whatever else if you are making money from it though. I do a lot of local league amateur, kids football etc simply because I'm the only photographer and they are willing to straight up pay for my time. Less glamour but it's ten minutes from the house and I don't need to wire as I shoot. Pretty sure @KIPAX does similar and much more regularly than I do?
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For me its all about making money and yes your right.. I do a lot of local junior and amatuer stuff and make more money than someone on spec sat pitchside 50 miles from here own house..
 
KIPAX said:
For me its all about making money and yes your right.. I do a lot of local junior and amatuer stuff and make more money than someone on spec sat pitchside 50 miles from here own house..
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I'm happy doing the amateur football...when it pays :)
I haven't come across a lot of teams with the funds to pay outside of cup finals yet though!
 
I've spoken to a few agencies in the last couple of days.

I'm also looking for some work but trying to suss out the best rates paid by each agency.

Just waiting to hear back, one's really positive but he is really busy so just waiting for a reply :)
 
Yeah I'm hoping to get some sent off tomorrow or the following day and will do the same with the rates... just some money on the side for something I love doing and hopefully a big step in the right direction to doing it more!
 
Don't forget that most (not all) agency's that may take you on operate on a no sale no fee and then if you get a sale they will take approx 30% of that
Just depends if you want to tell your mate's your a sports photographer. Like kippax says he will make more from doing a national league game than one in the championship.
 
blue marlin said:
Don't forget that most (not all) agency's that may take you on operate on a no sale no fee and then if you get a sale they will take approx 30% of that
Just depends if you want to tell your mate's your a sports photographer. Like kippax says he will make more from doing a national league game than one in the championship.
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It's not about telling my mates I'm a sports photographer it's more about getting to the bigger games and progressing. I'm happy doing national league games and local football but would also like to attend league 1/2 and championship games.
 
If I may ask some questions in this thread, rather than start a new thread, as they're probably all relevant to Liam's original queries?

1. Do you sign up exclusively with one agency that uses your photos? Or, as a freelancer, can you fire them off to multiple agencies?

2. What do you guys recommend for a good reliable 3g/4g dongle?

Many thanks,
Wez
 
wezza13 said:
1. Do you sign up exclusively with one agency that uses your photos? Or, as a freelancer, can you fire them off to multiple agencies?
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In any decent agency, that'll get you thrown out of the door straight away.

Edit: You'd also be breaking DataCo regs and be guilty of copyright infringement (if you are using the agency's licence rather than your own).
 
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I may be wrong there is nothing stopping you working for more than one agency but if you cover a game for one agency you can't send out to an other agency as you are st the game (I am assuming we're are taking EFL footy) for said agency on their licence.
It's also worth pointing out that if you cover a game for an agency you can't do a thing with the pics as they were taken whilst working for said agency.
That's one reason why as a licence holder I only have trusted individuals working for me as I want to know where the images have gone.
Re your question about mifi I use EE and it works for me but better still use the stadium wifi
 
DemiLion said:
In any decent agency, that'll get you thrown out of the door straight away.

Edit: You'd also be breaking DataCo regs and be guilty of copyright infringement (if you are using the agency's licence rather than your own).
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Bang on
 
My advice is to put your best foot forward.

Don't even contemplate sending links to your website, or even think about drafting that initial email until you're ready to respond. Be it with a link to your work, or actually doing a job for them. Once you send that email the bridge is burned. If they like what they see they'll come back to you.. If not, they're gone forever.

If I was you I'd do some further work on your website, to me it looks a little dated and the layout on the front page isn't great. There's also no photo of you and no information about you and the paragraph you have reads like "this is what I really dream of doing" rather than "this is me, this is what I do, and this is what I can do for you".

The worst thing I did when I was starting out was botch a website together and throw on some OK/fairly competent images and send them out to as many people as I could. Had I spent an extra few weeks building a better site and putting more thought into it I know for a fact it would have had a better response. But once that emails gone... You can't credibly send another one a month later to someone who didn't reply to your initial email.
 
DemiLion said:
In any decent agency, that'll get you thrown out of the door straight away.

Edit: You'd also be breaking DataCo regs and be guilty of copyright infringement (if you are using the agency's licence rather than your own).
Click to expand...


Much as I thought then, which is why I asked. Thanks for clarifying (y)


blue marlin said:
I may be wrong there is nothing stopping you working for more than one agency but if you cover a game for one agency you can't send out to an other agency as you are st the game (I am assuming we're are taking EFL footy) for said agency on their licence.
It's also worth pointing out that if you cover a game for an agency you can't do a thing with the pics as they were taken whilst working for said agency.
That's one reason why as a licence holder I only have trusted individuals working for me as I want to know where the images have gone.
Re your question about mifi I use EE and it works for me but better still use the stadium wifi
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply. Wasn't planning on using multiple agencies, just wanting to know the basics of how it all works, so excuse what might seem noobie questions (which they are!) (y)

Out of interest, you say you're the licence holder, so I presume that you put the various photographers on to your licence. Is there a limit to the amount of photographers that you can have on your licence? Or are you able to use as many as you can get to work for you?

I would've thought that the stadium wifi around the country would be up to scratch, but I've seen lots of information that says the stadium wifi can be next to useless? Particularly in the "The TP "Official" guide to sports stadiums" that is stickied at the top of the Talk Sports section. Some of that section is really outdated though. Has the general standard of stadium wifi improved then?

Thanks,

Wez
 
UaeExile said:
My advice is to put your best foot forward.

Don't even contemplate sending links to your website, or even think about drafting that initial email until you're ready to respond. Be it with a link to your work, or actually doing a job for them. Once you send that email the bridge is burned. If they like what they see they'll come back to you.. If not, they're gone forever.

If I was you I'd do some further work on your website, to me it looks a little dated and the layout on the front page isn't great. There's also no photo of you and no information about you and the paragraph you have reads like "this is what I really dream of doing" rather than "this is me, this is what I do, and this is what I can do for you".

The worst thing I did when I was starting out was botch a website together and throw on some OK/fairly competent images and send them out to as many people as I could. Had I spent an extra few weeks building a better site and putting more thought into it I know for a fact it would have had a better response. But once that emails gone... You can't credibly send another one a month later to someone who didn't reply to your initial email.
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Some good advice there (y)
 
4g phone.. perfect for sending pitchsisde.. its faster than my sky broadband at home and only one phone bill instead of phone and dongle bills.. I pay 15 quid a month.. get 4gb of data all of which can be used to tether the laptop.. never use anywhere near 4gig ..sending pics is 1 to 2 mb each.. thats like two to three thousand pics a month :)
 
wezza13 said:
Much as I thought then, which is why I asked. Thanks for clarifying (y)




Thank you for the reply. Wasn't planning on using multiple agencies, just wanting to know the basics of how it all works, so excuse what might seem noobie questions (which they are!) (y)

Out of interest, you say you're the licence holder, so I presume that you put the various photographers on to your licence. Is there a limit to the amount of photographers that you can have on your licence? Or are you able to use as many as you can get to work for you?

I would've thought that the stadium wifi around the country would be up to scratch, but I've seen lots of information that says the stadium wifi can be next to useless? Particularly in the "The TP "Official" guide to sports stadiums" that is stickied at the top of the Talk Sports section. Some of that section is really outdated though. Has the general standard of stadium wifi improved then?

Thanks,

Wez
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As I said before I have a small number of trusted guys I use, as most of my stuff is ordered
 
i have never put anyone on my licence...not everyone does but everyone with a licence can.. i prefer not to go down the route..
 
KIPAX said:
4g phone.. perfect for sending pitchsisde.. its faster than my sky broadband at home and only one phone bill instead of phone and dongle bills.. I pay 15 quid a month.. get 4gb of data all of which can be used to tether the laptop.. never use anywhere near 4gig ..sending pics is 1 to 2 mb each.. thats like two to three thousand pics a month :)
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That's a really good price.

My iPhone has 4G capability and it's on pay as u go. I pay a tenner a month which includes 1gb of data. It's on the network "3". I'll have to look into it but I'm pretty sure that it doesn't support tethering on pay as u go!
 
@GooGaBu and @Tobers Sorry for tagging you in this thread, I hope you don't mind?

Quick question, whilst we're on the subject of agency work and what noobies need to know. I just thought of a question.

When you both do/did your work that was abroad, did you have to foot the expenses bill such as flights, accommodation, etc? Or did the agency/client pay that for you?

Just wondering really how you go about overseas jobs?

Many thanks,
Wez
 
KIPAX said:
4g phone.. perfect for sending pitchsisde.. its faster than my sky broadband at home and only one phone bill instead of phone and dongle bills.. I pay 15 quid a month.. get 4gb of data all of which can be used to tether the laptop.. never use anywhere near 4gig ..sending pics is 1 to 2 mb each.. thats like two to three thousand pics a month :)
Click to expand...

I've just tried out the tethering on my phone, by connecting my laptop to it. Works fine and on my last add-on that I bought for the phone, I got 12gb data with it.

I imagine that will more than suffice then?

One thing though, whilst watching Arsenal at the Emirates, I can never get a 3g or 4g signal for some reason. I find that very strange seeing as it's London, you'd think you'd have internet (3g) access everywhere? So when I'm there, I can never use the internet to check other games etc.

Would this be a problem?
 
I am on three network... they only allow 4gb tethering even if you have unlimited internet... any big ground at half time or during game the signal will be low because so many people on mobiles.. but bigger grounds have ther own internet you can use and works better... its rare you can't send anything.. and if you cant then neither can anyone else :)
 
wezza13 said:
When you both do/did your work that was abroad, did you have to foot the expenses bill such as flights, accommodation, etc? Or did the agency/client pay that for you?

Just wondering really how you go about overseas jobs?
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Depends on the gig really. For the World Cup we agreed to split costs 50/50 and revenues 50/50. I ended up breaking even which is not bad for the World Cup as the big agencies have it locked down. Also considering it was nearly 6 weeks with multiple flights and accommodations it worked out very nicely. Other jobs may be travel & accom paid if the agency has a paying client, or you might be on spec covering your own costs.
 
Tobers said:
Depends on the gig really. For the World Cup we agreed to split costs 50/50 and revenues 50/50. I ended up breaking even which is not bad for the World Cup as the big agencies have it locked down. Also considering it was nearly 6 weeks with multiple flights and accommodations it worked out very nicely. Other jobs may be travel & accom paid if the agency has a paying client, or you might be on spec covering your own costs.
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Not a bad deal to go out there and shoot the World Cup!
 
Tobers said:
Depends on the gig really. For the World Cup we agreed to split costs 50/50 and revenues 50/50. I ended up breaking even which is not bad for the World Cup as the big agencies have it locked down. Also considering it was nearly 6 weeks with multiple flights and accommodations it worked out very nicely. Other jobs may be travel & accom paid if the agency has a paying client, or you might be on spec covering your own costs.
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Thanks for the info, very interesting :)

Did I see in a thread that you've stopped the sports photography now?
 
Yep. Loved it, but it took up too much time for too little money and I realised there were a lot of other things I could do with myself (including watching footie on the telly with a beer). TBH I figured out that, to be properly good, I'd have to do it full time and I cant afford to do that. I set myself high standards and always want to hit or exceed them.
 
Tobers said:
Yep. Loved it, but it took up too much time for too little money and I realised there were a lot of other things I could do with myself (including watching footie on the telly with a beer). TBH I figured out that, to be properly good, I'd have to do it full time and I cant afford to do that. I set myself high standards and always want to hit or exceed them.
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So just to double check.. you wernt making a proper living out of it ?
 
From sport photography alone - correct. I was making very nice money from other photography work (£30k a year total) alongside holding down a full time job doing weird technology stuff.
 
wezza13 said:
@GooGaBu and @Tobers Sorry for tagging you in this thread, I hope you don't mind?

Quick question, whilst we're on the subject of agency work and what noobies need to know. I just thought of a question.

When you both do/did your work that was abroad, did you have to foot the expenses bill such as flights, accommodation, etc? Or did the agency/client pay that for you?

Just wondering really how you go about overseas jobs?

Many thanks,
Wez
Click to expand...

Just noticed the tag for me in the post....

For me all my work abroad was self sourced...and still is.
I find the events, and the clients for it.

What I have noticed is that clients like to know the exact amount the need to pay in advance - so the way I work it is that I tell the client that the job will cost them £xxxx .. and that is then all inclusive. And I sort my own flights, hotels, meals.
This way I know in advance how much I will get paid, and know that it covers my expenses and gives me a profit. And also the client doesn't need to worry about how much I will spend during my assignment.

I do have some clients who organise everything 'door-to-door' for me.. so it's picking-up from home, flights, hotels, rental car, meals...
But from my personal experience... the profit from these is less, but then the travel is in Business Class and fancier hotels.

This is just the way I find it works the best for me, others will tell you that having a client pay for all is better... so I don't think there is a right or wrong way to do it... just what ever works for you.

I could write a long post about overseas work and how to go about finding it...(but not on the iPad ...)
So if there is interest in that... might try to find some time to write a post...
 
I have never been on a plane so working abroad is a no-no for me and I have turned down work abroad :(
 
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