"An open letter to the BTCC"

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Bryan
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http://www.simonpow.com/blog/opinions/an-open-letter-to-the-btcc/

Has anyone seen this? Seems to have annoyed a few people...

I agree with most of it, I think some photographers need to think again when they are on the grid for the 3rd time in an afternoon when they could be ready on the other side of the track to catch the action. A few seem to be abusing their privileges too.

In my opinion, the best coverage has been with the British GT championship, consistently great work from quite a few of the talented forum members.
 
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Oh my I'm sure that will ruffle a few feathers...as a photographer who has never shot Motorsport and only ever been to a single race I can imagine what it like :LOL: for some kind of context though who is this guy to Motorsport photography, I have no idea who the big names are because it's not an area I pay that much attention to even though I love looking at decent photos (y)
 
I completely agree, every season the photographers should have to present work, either what they did last season, or from other events if they didn't attend last year. If it's boring, they don't get in, if it's the same as someone else's but worse, they don't get in. Evolve or die.
 
Sadly, it reads like the guy who wrote it is a bit of a fool. While he may. or may not have a point writing like this will never change anything
 
Oh my.... He gas a point though
 
I completely agree, every season the photographers should have to present work, either what they did last season, or from other events if they didn't attend last year. If it's boring, they don't get in, if it's the same as someone else's but worse, they don't get in. Evolve or die.

Photographers who have a season accreditation have to submit their published work after each meeting in order to retain their accreditation

Photographers who go on a race by race basis need to submit several examples of their recent published work prior to the meeting in order to obtain accreditation.

To be totally honest, they're not looking for brilliant photography but coverage and as much of it as possible, so if your an average photographer but can guarantee column inches you'll get a media pass, but if your a brilliant photographer but you haven't got the contacts to get stuff published you're not going to get in.
 
I keep saying it, the key to being "media" is to have an outlet for publication that the series are interested in having their races appear in.

That is all.

There isn't an entrance exam, no test of your photographic skills or a review of your gear.

Can you establish a relationship with the publication and get your stuff in there each time, not missing deadlines or missing events you've agreed to cover just because it's raining or you have something else to do.

Is this easy? No its not.

Are there people who could shoot better? Maybe... We've all looked at photos in publications and gone "meh"

The other life skill is also to not moan and whinge about others, do your thing and go home.

If you are truly talented your work will be recognised, if not you will just carry on as you are.

It's business, not a game.

A hundred people taking pictures is a hundred places with btcc coverage, that is what the series want, they play the numbers game. Other series don't do this.

Accept it, move on.
 
Anybody noticed the irony that when you click on his portfolio page to check out his work that 4 of the 5 cover photos are of attractive females with only 1 action shot of a car?
 
Having had a bit of a vent at poor photography you would have thought he would have a better picture ( presumably ) his at the top of the page. :cool:
 
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Anybody noticed the irony that when you click on his portfolio page to check out his work that 4 of the 5 cover photos are of attractive females with only 1 action shot of a car?

My thoughts to be honest.
 
I agree with what he says, but from a different point of view. As a marshal I find to many togs can/do get in the way.
 
I am sorry but I just (and with a passion) hate seeing photographers looking down on other photographers..

They got accreditation.. they ddnt sneak in..

He bangs on about his passion for photogrpahy and the sport.. Consider for a second that these guys might have the same passion for both.. He cant see it in there pics.. but it may still be there.

If he has got a valid point then the open letter will do nothing for him...bar making him look like the donkey not them..

IMHO and PS.... motor sport.. any sport.. its all the same..
 
Yep, totally agree with tony here. Kind of annoyed me this.
When i first started out i looked closely at peoples work and thought ' this isnt all that' 'why are they getting press pass and i cant' Then you wake up and realise that it takes time and hard work.
Photographers have certain briefs to fulfill. If they dont, they dont get paid.
Sure theres the odd few snappers who get the nod to photograph, but that happens with anything.
 
It's probably very hard work, whilst most are driving home or having their dinner, the pros are probably still in the media centre working away till the late evening.

I think if the guy writing this letter was accredited, and covering the BTCC the letter would have carried a bit more weight. As a casual observer you do see groups of togs huddled together in the same spots with only a few venturing around the track, but I guess if the brief is 'get a few panning shots, get the girls, try and catch some flames and a crash or two', you can see why these people play it safe.

I do often question why some people are on the grid, race after race, but I don't really know enough to pass comment or criticise. Maybe sacrificing the odd grid girl shot to catch the action elsewhere wouldn't be a bad idea, but again, I'm hardly qualified.
 
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i'll just paste what i wrote on facebook:

one point I will make is that accreditation has nothing to do with how talented the photographer is or what they take pics of. It's about whether that photographers work will bring more money to the series. Whether that be bums on seats, sponsors, more entries or more works teams. That's it in a nutshell really.
For example, a talented Motorsport photographer with an amazing photo of a car who works for a tiny fan site isn't going to bring more fans in than a photo of some Lycra clad tits in The Sun.
But that doesn't mean I don't agree with what you say, but to an extent it's irrelevant.
 
what amused me about the whole thing on facebook was that some of the people that he was blatantly talking about were siding with him LOL
Although I think the main person he had in mind when he wrote it did take it personally :)
 
I just don't understand the 'oh I'll stand next to all these other photographer' people, surely they know they become utterly replaceable by doing that?

Actually that's not true.

The photographer usually owns the relationship with his outlet and that is what is important.

Look at big press events, do you imagine there is any difference in the barrage of flash guns there from the world media? Nope, very little...

If you don't believe me, I'll give you the names of some of the publications I do work for, see if they will take your photos over mine.. And not because mine might be better either ;-)
 
Fact is the sort of creative, super-slow pan shots proudly displayed on this forum are very clever, but not the sort of images that the teams or series want. Look at Autosport for example, the majority of shots in there are probably 1/1000+ because they want a simple picture to illustrate a story, not some fancy work-of-art.

Personally I think there are far too many photographers at these sort of events and too many 'day trippers' (usually having gotten a pass from a team or driver rather than being season-accredited) who seem to think it acceptable to stand right in front of audience lines even when not actually taking shots, even when there are plenty of good photo ops. available from places where general public cannot get to which are far more valuable.
 
Two good points. If a BTCC car makes the media, I can't see a sponsor being happy that their sticker is represented as nothing but a smudge.
 
Actually that's not true.

The photographer usually owns the relationship with his outlet and that is what is important.

Look at big press events, do you imagine there is any difference in the barrage of flash guns there from the world media? Nope, very little...

If you don't believe me, I'll give you the names of some of the publications I do work for, see if they will take your photos over mine.. And not because mine might be better either ;-)

Risky! hope he doesn't call you out on that! What if he is a "I will do it for free and a credit"? see how long they take your work over a freemans.(y)
 
Seriously, they all get people mailing in every week... Just ask any sports editor. In most cases they stick with someone they knows delivers and not take any risks
 
I'd like to stress unless it's not perfectly clear I wasnt trying to be a cock with that comment earlier!
 
Gary, I agree with you on that one at BTCC meetings.
 
Tricky - there are points I agree with and some I don't. 'we' do work hard to keep our accreditation, I don't make a big song and dance about it because I honestly don't think that I'm that good - what I do have going in my favour is like a few others here I make the effort, I shoot for a club and one magazine mainly but also have work in about a dozen others on and off depending on the series.

I have never missed one of 'our' weekends, if I'm ill I dose myself up and get on with it, what ever the weather I go out and make sure I give it my all, take this for example:
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I was the only one still out - having the drivers laugh and wave broke the ice a little. I also try and cover as many areas as possible, it is annoying when you see other accredited photographers grab a shot or two near the start then jump in their car/van and drive to their favourite spot and park up, take a couple of shots and leave.

It's not just the BTCC it's right across the board, I won't even get started on the few that are arrogant / rude or my personal hate - tucking the vest into the belt loop. . . . . . . . 8,9,10 and breathe ;)

There are photographers here who although I may not like all their shots I admire and look up to greatly i.e. Gary / desantnik / Az / rodderstrotter / yamahatdm900 amongst other's I view their work and try and try to learn from it, I am a long way from getting to where I would like to be in fact I may never but I enjoy what I do and the guys n girls that I 'work' for seem to like it as well.

one final thing - yes, it can be hard work with very long days / few breaks / horrendous weather / little appreciation BUT I love it.

.DAVID.

PS: you can tell the season is coming to an end when all the bitching and moaning starts lol (sorry couldn't resist that bit)
 
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I've mentioned this before, but I do genuinely think there is an outlet for creative photography in terms of getting the series out there on social media etc. The 'media accreditation' thing is still heavily weighted in favour of print, when in reality there are undoubtably websites/social media pages that have many many more pairs of eyes looking at them than some of the publications that accredited photographers are working for.

The irony is it's actually not that easy to track down galleries from race events, particuarly 'professional' ones, this surely must frustrate sponsors, particuarly for teams lower down the field.

I say this with no axe to grind as I made a conscious decision years ago to avoid accreditation, but in terms of keeping with the times a lot of series/circuits etc are in the dark ages. Perhaps not so much with the BTCC that already has loads of exposure, but out of interest more than anything else I counted up the various views of my photos from a single Castle Combe (a circuit pretty active on the web) event earlier this year that I made no special effort to promote short of posting them in the usual places, spread across forums, Flickr, Facebook etc, the views were significantly higher the circulation of the local newspaper that presumably opens doors to accreditation without a seconds thought.
 
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There's two different types of promotion though... Promotion to existing fans and then trying to grow your audience with non fans.

That's why non motorsport publications are sought after, not of course forgetting that the sponsors want advertising outside of petrol heads too.
 
There's two different types of promotion though... Promotion to existing fans and then trying to grow your audience with non fans.

That's why non motorsport publications are sought after, not of course forgetting that the sponsors want advertising outside of petrol heads too.

I'm probably going OT here as I'm specifically thinking of the 99% of UK motorsport not already saturated by coverage. Away from the major events that you guys cover so well, there is a massive untapped pool of potential fans/followers/spectators that simply do not know about the staggering variety of motorsport in the UK. In my experience just seeing galleries from these events is enough to get people talking about them and subsequently attending, even more so when the photography is relatively 'creative'.

I remember posting a gallery from the Britcar 24hr on a car-specific forum years ago, hardly anyone on the forum knew a 24hr race existed in the UK at that point, they then organised a convoy for the next year...that was a few hundred in ticket sales from a single forum post.

Whilst clearly I'm not suggesting that everyone who posts on forums etc deserves to be trackside, I think it's a significant untapped area, there aren't too many businesses/organisations that have passionate followers that are promoting their 'product' without any remuneration. I've attended events this year without a single photographer trackside (which does amuse me considering how many people seemingly want to get trackside, I guess the 'glitz and glamour' of the big events is hard to ignore!) that I know would be more popular with a little promotion.
 
There is a fan section for BTCC photos on their own forums: http://www.btcc.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?29-BTCC-Fans-Pictures

However, they don't want anyone who has their own website (pro/semi-pro) to post links to their galleries (to cut down on free advertising) so it is no wonder that fans can find it frustrating looking for photos from each round.

In previous years I had posted a link to shots I had taken that were hosted on flickr (but were watermarked) and when I tried the same last year answering a specific request for photos, my post was deleted (along with many others) and I was put on moderated status so that any new posts have to be manually approved.

There have been no new photos posted by anyone for the 2013 season....
 
Tricky - there are points I agree with and some I don't. 'we' do work hard to keep our accreditation, I don't make a big song and dance about it because I honestly don't think that I'm that good - what I do have going in my favour is like a few others here I make the effort, I shoot for a club and one magazine mainly but also have work in about a dozen others on and off depending on the series.

To be honest, I think that's a great attitude to have. Like you, I don't think I'm one of the best out there, but I enjoy what I do and I'm trying to improve where I can. I think shooting club meets is great! You're appreciated more and I think it's a more enjoyable experience.
 
I read this open letter a while a go and was fairly indifferent... Largely as already mentioned it's the end publication that must dictate what kind of photos are required rather than the togs themselves. The majority of Motorsport fans are not photographers so have a completely different viewpoint on things, we (the non pros) sit in a limbo between the pros and the speccys with the freedom of creativity and the ability to jack it in when we can't be arsed :) it's easy to criticise from afar. Some publications are a little more creative with their photographs... First few pages of f1 racing are usually a bit marmite :D That said though maybe a few entrepreneurial types in here could start an art based Motorsport magazine (flippant disregard for ticket TOS aside), haha at least then there would be an outlet for some egos, if anyone buys it... On second thoughts maybe a blog would be the way to go ;-)
 
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To be honest, I stopped reading after I took offence at the word "offenSe" and the word "defenSe", that and the dull, panned shot of the car.
There are plenty of excellent shots of BTCC and BSB taken on here, by experienced photographers - perhaps he should drop in some time, and spend a while looking at them, instead of "ogling" the lycra clad girls.
 
The 'media accreditation' thing is still heavily weighted in favour of print, when in reality there are undoubtedly websites/social media pages that have many many more pairs of eyes looking at them than some of the publications that accredited photographers are working for.

its also ironic that some of the threads in TPF and other forums bring in more new fans for these series than a lot of other media do.

Whilst clearly I'm not suggesting that everyone who posts on forums etc deserves to be trackside, I think it's a significant untapped area, there aren't too many businesses/organisations that have passionate followers that are promoting their 'product' without any remuneration.

I'm digging this up from the archives but after attending this years' FoS (which I appreciate to some extent is a special case) it reminded me of making these comments and the discussion here way back when, which may have just been way ahead of time. Have things now changed?

FoS 2017 was awash with 'influencers' who appeared to have some pretty decent access. I would guess that they may have even been paid to be there. Some other events I'm aware of have been seemingly hand-picking popular IG users to cover the event for them, all as far as I'm aware with no specific media affiliation or traditional route into all of this.

Even I, who has an almost non-existent social media following, somehow managed to end up with over 10,000 unique views from my FoS blog write-up in the space of a few days. I'd be surprised if some of the traditional media managed that, and I'm a complete nobody shooting from public positions. If I'm doing that off the back of 22 IG followers I can't even imagine how many readers/viewers etc the popular guys are getting.
 
Holy thread revival batman . . . . . . . . . ..

Don't think too much has changed to be honest, although there does seem to be one online 'magazine' and I use the term lightly who seem to be amassing photographers of varying degrees of talent on mass at almost every and any event (have seen, phones / compacts and bridge cameras - even a go pro) with trackside access and they don't seem that excited to be there, they either follow you around or set up camp at one corner and that's it BUT it's okay because they work for ******* **

On a lighter note - I'm still shooting for the club, couple of magazines, getting soaked more often than sunburnt but still loving it and still rubbish lol.

.DAVID.
 
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