How Far Down The Leagues Do Pro Sports Togs Go

Gary Coyle said:
I would shoot my Gran having a kick about in the back garden if someone was paying
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exactly

thus my answer is as low as anyone will pay... I am going to indoor 7 aside football on sunday morning 9-10am you cant get much lower.. but I am being paid :)
 
If the client wants it, they get it, whether it's the Championship or Northern League (the lowest I've covered so far).
 
I'd much rather be the tog sat in a ground on a Sunday afternoon with only 300 speccies and getting guaranteed money from as many as 4 sources than the tog sat in Old Trafford with another 30 togs all fighting for the same photo and with no guarantee of any money at all.
 
I've started shooting Conference but only on commission. Only done one game so far, me, local rag & and club snapper.
 
If it's on commission, not really bothered what league it is... I quite enjoy non-league as it's a bit of a novelty when a tog turns up.

If it's not on commission, then there has to be a reason for it to be salable and not too much competition.
 
snapzz said:
I've started shooting Conference but only on commission. Only done one game so far, me, local rag & and club snapper.
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Its a bloody hard life Graham :D.

Think of poor me :(, don't get paid :shake:, only perk I get is press ticket so get in for nothing :).

Got Shaun Edwards coming to the club in January so should be a good night.

EDIT: But I bl00dy love it...:love:
 
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Best one I've done is Aston Villa one night and then 2 days later, Bromsgrove FC.
 
I've been sent to League Two so far...if a couple of non-leaguers get into R2 of the FA Cup I'll go down there.

Realistically L2 is as low as it goes!
 
jamesb84 said:
I've been sent to League Two so far...if a couple of non-leaguers get into R2 of the FA Cup I'll go down there.

Realistically L2 is as low as it goes!
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I went to barrow v darlington last month and a guy from getty images was there.. he said all conference games where being covered that weekend..
 
Gary Coyle said:
I'd much rather be the tog sat in a ground on a Sunday afternoon with only 300 speccies and getting guaranteed money from as many as 4 sources than the tog sat in Old Trafford with another 30 togs all fighting for the same photo and with no guarantee of any money at all.
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This is what interests me Gary.

How does it work with you guys (Gary, Tobers, James etc). Now I assumed you're with a big agency, so you get paid say £150 to go, then extra money based on sales.

Yes/no/sort of?
 
bigrob said:
This is what interests me Gary.

How does it work with you guys (Gary, Tobers, James etc). Now I assumed you're with a big agency, so you get paid say £150 to go, then extra money based on sales.

Yes/no/sort of?
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I dont know what the agency guys get but I will fall off my chair if its anywhere near that :) in fact i am guessing a travel expenses and maybe a small fee?
 
Ok but what then is a ball park figure for a shot in the nationals?
 
bigrob said:
Ok but what then is a ball park figure for a shot in the nationals?
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about 100-150
but they will only get say 70% of that IF published and nothign if not.. some will get a fee for going but "doubt" its anywhere near 150 quid..

The question is.. how viable is it.. if nothing published.. how much to do they make then?
 
Ok so you can't rely just on shots in the nationals.

I know some of the guys mention corporate clients.

Thanks for all the info Kipax. Just nice to get an idea on how it really works.
 
KIPAX said:
I dont know what the agency guys get but I will fall off my chair if its anywhere near that :) in fact i am guessing a travel expenses and maybe a small fee?
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Bump! :LOL::LOL::LOL:

Never worked for any of the
big four but not far off the mark. I think they also pay per mile for exes too. I guess no one in the know will confirm but not I think I'm not far off.
 
bigrob said:
This is what interests me Gary.

How does it work with you guys (Gary, Tobers, James etc). Now I assumed you're with a big agency, so you get paid say £150 to go, then extra money based on sales.

Yes/no/sort of?
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£150 would be nice but its more like a set fee of £50 plus extras, (the guys who get stuff in the Nationals on a regular basis will get more) if i travel out of my local area lets say a 50 mile return journey i get petrol money on top, as is usually the case with me im covering the same game for up to 4 different outlets so have the chance to get paid extra, if the agency i work for arranges the extra media outlet then i get half the extra fee, if i arrange it i get the full fee.

Most i ever got for 1 photo was over 2k and that was about 6 years ago when i captured a player breaking the world record for successful consecutive goal kicks, a record which still stands today, the photo was sold Local, Regional, National and worldwide to bucket loads of media sources.

Then of course theirs extras like print sales (not for Pro RL though) from the last 2 Leeds Carnegie games ive covered ive made a good profit in print sales from parents of the Juniors who play at half time and from sales of prints of the Cheerleaders.

Im only what some feeble minded sorts would call a Weekend Warrior and to be honest 1 game a week is plenty for me with 2 at a push as i make my "real" living elsewhere.

The guys like KIPAX have my upmost admiration, they are scraping and scratching all areas just to make an honest living and god knows how many hours they put in.
 
Thanks Gary - very informative.
 
Gary Coyle said:
The guys like KIPAX have my upmost admiration, they are scraping and scratching all areas just to make an honest living and god knows how many hours they put in.
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If you knew the truth you would take the P and call me mad ..

An agency guy can get big money from one picture but not every match.. I get paid for every job I do but its not a great lot and I have to always be looking for the work..If I stop looking then I stop working..

Some weeks i dont make enough to live on even after doing more than 40 hrs.. but other weeks I make more than enough and over the yr it evens out... I make more over summer with the ability to work during the week with tournaments and all weekend due to cricket. In winter theres so much called off... even had an ice hockey match called off last winter.. the car park was unusable..

All in all as I have said before I probably earn less than the till lady at asda and I do more hrs.. But I love it as well :)

Some weeks better than others.. End of this month I have 4 youth teams over from queensland I will be following around the north of england playing games against schools and colleges .. lots of midweek work on a flat rate pay but guaranteed print sales on top... includes 4 full 90 minute matches one after the other at toryglen, glasgow on a sunday... But the extra money has to be put away because sports photography deffo dips in winter with so many P-P
 
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bigrob said:
This is what interests me Gary.

How does it work with you guys (Gary, Tobers, James etc). Now I assumed you're with a big agency, so you get paid say £150 to go, then extra money based on sales.

Yes/no/sort of?
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No...I get a shift fee plus mileage, plus expenses, plus VAT charged to them.

No extra for sales etc.
 
I'm with a small but perfectly formed agency and get paid for pics published but not for just turning up. There's a frequent situation where I'll get nothing at all (about 50% of games). On the other hand I can get pics in 3 or 4 papers and get paid for each, so it evens out with those getting paid to attend but not for each pic published.

I really don't mind the risk, as my hit rate is decent at the moment.
 
When I first started working for agencies I got 60/40 split on usage only. I was grateful for the opertunity as many just didnt bother replying to my emails. Eventually I started working for another agency which offered 75/25 again only on usage and it seems like I was getting more used.

Eventually the original agency came back to me offering games. Told them I would only work on set commission plus fuel which they agreed. Had a bit of a debate as they only wanted London clubs covered mainly Arsenal, Chelsea & Spurs.

After a while we struggled with usage so we agreed a lower match fee plus travel and a 50/50 on anything and decided on a broader scope of games. This worked really well and I got better usage too. Unfortunately they lost their licence so I started to work for the other agency again.

This season I have built up my event work so much I am just not available every weekend. I'm also working more for another guy who seems to get quite a few commissions from the Sundays and offers me what he and his son cannot cover. This with my conference licence means I have better options and hardly any games now on spec.

Having just return home late Tuesday from two days in Kent covering an event i got a phone call to go down to London with my printer to meet up with another photographer who was covering a promo for a new show coming to the west end. Paul O'Grady was there and the star of the new show Leslie Jordan who (apparently) is very famous in the US.

From London I go straight to Oxford for another event on Friday and then Scunthorpe game on Saturday (I'm in big trouble here as told not to book anything).

Next week I have a black tie ball on Friday, Wedding on Saturday and a law society ball in the evening. Following week I'm in Sheffield all week covering the British Figure Skating Championships. So no football for two weeks but I know I'll miss it!
 
Just reading that Graham and I feel exhausted. I know a lot of people think that being a sports togger is a glam job, but after reading some of the places you guys are sent and weather conditions I think I am glad just to be toggin my local Rugby Club.

It is also why I have a lot of admiration and respect for you pro sports toggers.
 
I'm with you there Martin.
 
Forgot to add that I'm still in deep mire as my wife text me to get a signed photo of Paul O'Grady but he'd gone by the time I'd got them printed! :help:
 
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I was boked for proper low league footy today.. but waterlogged pitch so a rare free sat :)
 
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