Selling photos from road race

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Could anyone help me out with a quandary,

I went to a recent 10km road race (running) to take some photos of my wife and her parents who were competing. The race was in a small village and surrounding roads. The roads had been closed for the race.

I set up post at a mid point (and later at finish line) and i started to get the runners waving and posing at me as I was getting the settings sorted... I took quite a few photos of the runners.

The race had their own photog (who I didn’t see) but he has just put them on google photos to share for free and are of questionable quality (OOF / no crop etc)

Questions...

  1. If the roads are closed to traffic, there is still nothing stopping me as a member of public taking photos of the race... correct or not?
  2. Is there anything that would stop me putting the photos up a selling them for a small fee to the runners, as I do not want to just give photos away?

I know this may annoy the organiser and I am also planning on contacting them before next years race to see if I can do it officially.

Thanking you all in advance
J
 
Question 1, i have never been asked by the pro togs or stewards at races not to take photos despite usually being there with a d750 and 24-70 lens which aren't the most inconspicuous of combinations, couldn't tell you if that is anything to do with official policies or that they just don't really care/can't police it etc but having been to a lot of races in the last few years that has been my experience.

Question 2, I can't help but think that if the photos provided by the official tog are included in the entry fee for the race (they aren't free really they are just paid for in advance) then for you to sell yours as a spectator would be pretty cheeky and could well rub people up the wrong way. I attend running races regularly to see my OH cross the line and always take my camera along too, i don't as a rule take photos of other people now simply because it takes an age to process the shots and there really is no upside to it but i do take some of the mrs as she crosses and normally with her medal afterwards. I would say just put them on the race's facebook page and let people have them as you aren't really losing out by doing so.
 
Why do you think your photos are worth money and the official, presumably pro's, aren't?
 
As I understand it, it's not a private venue so anyone can take photos. If you think they may earn you something for your efforts then why not sell them. It's your call and if you upset someone then so be it, you'll please others that want the image.
 
I know this may annoy the organiser and I am also planning on contacting them before next years race to see if I can do it officially.

You need to take a long hard look at the above ..You wrote it.... You say you know our may annoy the organisors..... then beggering belief your going to ask them if you can be the official photogrpaher next year haha good luck with that...

Oh and lets hope the official photogrpaher is on here reading that your planning to take his job :)
 
So technically it was rhetorical question as a bit of time has gone and I have only just seen the ‘official’ photos.

Thanks for your reply,

You need to take a long hard look at the above ..You wrote it.... You say you know our may annoy the organisors..... then beggering belief your going to ask them if you can be the official photogrpaher next year haha good luck with that...

Take your point!

Oh and lets hope the official photogrpaher is on here reading that your planning to take his job :)

So competition is a bad thing? Granted the way I phrased the original post comes across sly, but why not compete for a job?
 
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Question 1, i have never been asked by the pro togs or stewards at races not to take photos despite usually being there with a d750 and 24-70 lens which aren't the most inconspicuous of combinations, couldn't tell you if that is anything to do with official policies or that they just don't really care/can't police it etc but having been to a lot of races in the last few years that has been my experience.

Question 2, I can't help but think that if the photos provided by the official tog are included in the entry fee for the race (they aren't free really they are just paid for in advance) then for you to sell yours as a spectator would be pretty cheeky and could well rub people up the wrong way. I attend running races regularly to see my OH cross the line and always take my camera along too, i don't as a rule take photos of other people now simply because it takes an age to process the shots and there really is no upside to it but i do take some of the mrs as she crosses and normally with her medal afterwards. I would say just put them on the race's facebook page and let people have them as you aren't really losing out by doing so.

Thanks for your reply... I’m inclined to agree with number 1. It’s a traffic management plan so still public area.

Re 2. I haven’t actually processed all the photos only the ones of relatives... but was thinking out loud on here... but agree the time to process them all etc and they can get them free... maybe stick to just friends and family! And charge them a fee ha ha
 
As I understand it, it's not a private venue so anyone can take photos. If you think they may earn you something for your efforts then why not sell them. It's your call and if you upset someone then so be it, you'll please others that want the image.

Thanks for your reply, that was my thinking after reading some comments about the photos but I think I have left it too late as only just seen the ‘official’ photos... it was more a rhetorical question tbh
 
90% of my images are of runners - some are from road races but most of them are off road, fell runs and trail.
I don't charge for the photos but I do ask them to donate to the charity I'm raising money for. (malarianomore initially and now, the local mountain rescue team)

A few random thoughts.

People have commented on the fact that I don't sell them and I SHOULD do. Too much hassle dealing with emails and orders.
How many people actually sell a decent number of images from such events? I've seen prices from £4 a digital download to over £30 for a set of images that I wouldn't be too happy with.
If you are working for a company, I would imagine that you are given a spot to shoot from and have to snap as many runners as you possibly can. Creativity MIGHT go out of the window to fulfil the brief they've been given.
It can be very time consuming at a large event. Covered a race last year and came home with 4,000 images. I try to put reasonable photos out there and I found it hard to cope with the sheer number of photos.
Quite a few runners will put their image on FB page with the copyright all over it. Unless it's a special event for them, a friend's phone capture is usually enough.
A number of wedding photographers I know, take photos at races and put them out there for free. They use the event as a bit of advertising for their business.
If there is a pro who is charging at an event, I always wait until their images have been on line for a while. Just the way I am.

(These comments are my own thoughts and may be totally naff and incorrect. I understand that and do not need reminding of this)
 
@mossienet ...

Thanks for your reply, your thoughts make a lot of sense... I was using this as a sound board (and most probably worded it all wrong) but appreciate your reply... think I may offer them up via Flickr for anyone who wants them (it’s been way over a month now since the race) and maybe focus on the football.

Thanks again
 
The commercial rights usually belong to the event organiser/promoter.

I know quite a few people who attend races who go along, snap runners and then offer them for sale. Wonder how "big" the event has to be before anyone would make waves about this. Thanks for the info.
 
Couple of random thoughts.....

1. I run a bit. I've never bought a photo of myself running (though I've been given some nice ones). Lots of runners complain at prices of less than a fiver. (To be clear I think that's too cheap but personally don't buy pictures of myself because I don't want to.)

2. A few years ago I was paid to shoot quite a lot of bike events. I reckon I was pretty good at it and lots of the riders liked the pictures (probably largely because they got them for free). At one race at the end of the season I noticed at least 4 wannabes standing right next to me. I didn't mind because competition is healthy - I reckon my shots that day were some of the best I took. A year or so later I lost the contract. I pointed out to the client that the new guy's pictures were awful. "Yeah, but he's cheap....."

So yeah, you may sell the pictures (public event and all that). Whether you can or not is a different matter - even at a low price. And if you do, be prepared for somebody to undercut you no matter how cheap you are.
 
I have done some triathlons and bought pictures afterwards. The successful vendors (I.e. ones I have bought from) have strong web platforms, with clear robust processes to tag images with running numbers so you can search on them easily.

The ones I haven’t spend money with are ones that don’t make it easy, e.g. here is a folder with 800 images taken between 0845 and 0945, search through them all thumbnail size to find the 3 with you in....
 
I know this may annoy the organiser and I am also planning on contacting them before next years race to see if I can do it officially.

Thanking you all in advance
J

And of course if you do have premeditated (although not the only criteria) intent of making income theoretically you should set yourself up with HMRC.
 
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