This is a new one (Park Cameras offering B&HA training and accred)

Woah thats alot of money for one match!

Not really - unless you are a licence holder yourself, work for an accredited agency, or are a relevant club photographer then this is realistically the only way that you can "experience" what it is like to be a working pro sports photographer at a relatively high level of the sport. You simply can't rock up and shoot Championship football from the sidelines. £250 is therefore a bargain. Not only that but you get some tuition and loaners for the match of some high-end pro kit, as well I assume as some insurance cover for you to be on the sidelines.

It is the ultimate hand-shandy for the wannabe sports photographer (albeit at Brighton & Hove Albion).

I'm not saying I agree with it - in fact if I was trying to work that evening and 5+ students turned up and had any kind of priority, or blocked me working then I'd be pretty mad.

It is in line cost-wise with some of the pro experience courses that are beginning to show up at Thruxton etc to feed the desire of those who aspire to or would like to play for a day at, being a pro sports photographer. I'm surprised B&HA have agreed to it, and have squared it away with the football league, I suspect some of it will be to do with Canon sponsoring the bibs and Park Cameras being a pretty local, Canon Professional, shop.

And it's only aimed at Canon users!!

Well aimed at yes - but I suspect they would take your money if you had a Nikon and your own kit, but they just won't dig a D4 or a Nikkor 400mm out and let you use it on the night. IIRC this has run before and it either didn't sell out or only did so close to the date.
 
Well it was all looking a bit sad as I read through it... they cant even spell l? during a Championshop league match against ...

But then I got to the very bottom and course duration is 10.30am to 6pm So it's a full day.. Given course fees down south.. yeagh bit up there but then again not what I first thought... Again the bumf is missleading as it says "for shooting the evening game from pitchside." then in the times it says 3pm match? I know you southerners have funny times.. you have your dinner at tea time and stuff.. but still?

All in all looking at other fees (even courses on TP) .. bit pricey but not the rip off I first thought ..
 
I think that is a pretty damn good price.

Birthday/Xmas Presents etc. I can see it going down really well.
 
Nice little earner for PC, £250 x 10 .£2500... Perhaps you should do some of those Tony :)
 
haha I'm still learning :)


although o be fair i have taken people on stanley to photo.. from TP and from local colleges..
 
although o be fair i have taken people on stanley to photo.. from TP and from local colleges..

Tony, would you take me to Stanley’s match??? I’ve been thinking about getting in touch with a pro and going to a match together, so I could watch and learn.
 
Gregory.. I used to be the club photographer but havent been for a few years now so even though I still cover all home matches its for the newspaper not the club I am afraid so different kettle of fish..sorry :(
 
Tony, would you take me to Stanley’s match??? I’ve been thinking about getting in touch with a pro and going to a match together, so I could watch and learn.

Could always buy a ticket and sit behind him lol

Oh, Tony, did you see your pic on the Mail Online yesterday? tried to PM you the link but you must have them switched off
 
Could always buy a ticket and sit behind him lol

Oh, Tony, did you see your pic on the Mail Online yesterday? tried to PM you the link but you must have them switched off


yeagh thanks but only because someone else alerted me.. there was two of mine.. one of james beattie and an old goal celebration..., 2 in one day out the blue.. thats 80 quid in the coffers :)
 
Gregory.. I used to be the club photographer but havent been for a few years now so even though I still cover all home matches its for the newspaper not the club I am afraid so different kettle of fish..sorry :(
No worries Tony. If you change your mind and if you’d like to do a sunday league match with me maybe and show me how you work, let me know then.

I take good enough photos, but can’t manage to edit them quickly during a match. It takes me way too long, so I really need to improve my workflow. I’ve found a lot of tips on this forum, but still can’t get it done as quickly as I wish.

Could always buy a ticket and sit behind him lol
What if he’d change a side? I would only watch him for 45 mins which probably isn’t enough for me, lol

But seriously, might need to start a thread to find a pro wanting to give me some pro tips. Might not be easy.
 
You dont need to be at a match to be shown how to improve pitchside workflow.. just need someone sat next to you for ten minutes and show you how..
 
You dont need to be at a match to be shown how to improve pitchside workflow.. just need someone sat next to you for ten minutes and show you how..
Are you offering your help? Will you have spare 10 minutes next week maybe? I’m desperate to travel a bit to be shown how to sort out photos. Could take my laptop and cards with photos from last match with me. Even after reading some tips I’m way behind with my pitchside workflow
 
I blogged a while back on how I worked live
I’ve seen those blog posts some time ago. After that I starting using 3 cards instead of 4 and that was an improvement. I don’t use Photomechanic, maybe it’s time to start then... Do you have spare 10 minut and would you be willing to show me a bit more of your workflow?
 
Are you offering your help? Will you have spare 10 minutes next week maybe? I’m desperate to travel a bit to be shown how to sort out photos. Could take my laptop and cards with photos from last match with me. Even after reading some tips I’m way behind with my pitchside workflow


certainly i have no problem with that.. but you wont learn anything unless your using the same software..

first.. you absoloutly must be able to do code replacement to speed up..

OK ..

I use photomechanic to download locked files..
I use faststone image viewer to cull the locked ones (has some fast options for checking pics)
I use photoshop to edit
I use photomechanic to then capytion
I use agent email to then send..

At half time I can do aroun 10-12 pictures..this isnt the fastest in the land..and my way possibly isnt the best way... all i can say is.. it works for me..

If I was only using one camera I would tether and save even more time..

If thats any help then yeagh :)

Where are you based? wheres your galleries of exisiting pics?
 
I use photomechanic and photoshop
I only import locked pics as Tony does and then edit and send the ones I think are best.
Edit in Photoshop
caption in photomechanic
then FTP via photomechanic to

I usually do manager shots (where I have access) and an action shot or two in the first 10-15 mins unless there is a goal then goals or celes only until HT

at HT I thien edit any more action then send those

usually repeat the latter process int he second half

Happy to go through some thing with you if needed,its easier to sit down in person I would say and show you first hand than trying to explain / confuse things

I was never to convinced by Photomechanic whilst using the demo, then I bought it and haven't used lightroom since....

Its a fantastic tool for photographers on the move
 
mines quite an old verision of photomechanic. v4.5.3 . was waiting for them to add crop rotate before i spent money on latest.. have they added that yet?
 
you can rotate, dont think you can crop. I use PS to do that part of things. thats V5


if it had rotate and crop then i could do away with the photoshop part..shame :(
 
Right, my workflow in short is:

* Lock images in camera + add voice memo with numbers ( at non league they can change numbers every game )
* Import locked photos using Nikon Transfer with keywords and second sentence of caption added automatically
* Open them in Nikon View and select for editing (click and hold mouse button for quick 100% zoom + star rating) + add caption either by hand or have a lot of phrases ready in a Word document
* One click opens photos in Photoshop. Edit and a saved action resizes and saves in a “send” folder
* Then usually it’s really late so go home and upload to my flickr from there, lol

I’ve got PhotoMechanic, but haven’t used it yet... Code replacement will speed up, that’s for sure and with a lot of phrases already in a text document it should only be a matter of learning them. So I’d be happy to replace Nikon Transfer and View with PhotoMechanic.

As you can see the whole workflow is a bit similar, but certainly something slows me down and need to get it sorted...
 
i only use code replace for player names and type the rest.. i dont think theres anyhting i could show you that your not already doing.. just a case of practice now..
 
You lot faff about with Photomechanic and ive no idea why

View images in XNView
Import required images into Photoshop Elements
Crop/straighten (single tool/single click)
Import XMP file with all IPTC data etc and type small caption
Save and FTP or email

20 images at half time easy
 
It's putting it into practice. No use getting advice off others as everyone's different. Took me ages to get a good rythem going. My advice is to practice doing sets of 5 and try and beat your time. You"ll find shortcuts eventually.
 
How long is it taking you to get photos out live?
I think the best I've managed was 8 photos started at half time and finished about 5 minutes into second half, so that's 8 photos in 20 minutes... and that was only once, I've never done it anywhere as quick.
 
Last edited:
So we all do quite similar things really, sometimes it may vary which program we use and other little differences.

But somehow there is something not right in the way I do it, maybe decision making skills, eg. which photos to lock, which choose to edit, how to crop and do the rest of the edit, etc. That’s why I initially wanted to go to a match together and see it in practice with somebody maybe giving me some tips on the workflow during a match.

Question then, do you send missed chances, eg. player kicking a ball, but no goal cause keeper saved?
 
It's putting it into practice. No use getting advice off others as everyone's different. Took me ages to get a good rythem going. My advice is to practice doing sets of 5 and try and beat your time. You"ll find shortcuts eventually.

Oh yeah, I’ll eventually get to a reasonable good level. It sounds like a good idea to challenge myself with a set of 5 photos as example.
 
Oh yeah, I’ll eventually get to a reasonable good level. It sounds like a good idea to challenge myself with a set of 5 photos as example.

Exactly , and you will look back and laugh.
Personally i only wire live cele's/goals during the match,
cause thats mainly all that is needed, unless something big happens ( sending off etc)
And if you have a busy first half ( 3 goals ) be picky with what you send in.
Dont go sending 10 photos of the same thing as it wastes time.
Ill just download the card, select the shots i want to wire first and move the others to another folder.
The pop the card back into the camera and delete, or put another card in.
Put them all through photoshop, quick levels and sharpen.
Then into Photomechanic, select all and add the xmp, quick caption then onto the xmp.
I can get 8 on the FTP in about 10 mins.
To me this is the most idiot proof way of doing it, and with practice you can get them out fast!
 
I use both code replacement and autocomplete in photomechanic so with litte typing (once you get used to it) you can type something quickly

typing say `h9` cel + hit enter with dropdown is quicker than typing Pap*** Cisse of Newcastle United celebrates scoring the opening goal

Can click save + upload and onto the next. I'm with Gary at around 20 images at HT. never counted though
 
I use both code replacement and autocomplete in photomechanic so with litte typing (once you get used to it) you can type something quickly

typing say `h9` cel + hit enter with dropdown is quicker than typing Patinkle Cisse of Newcastle United celebrates scoring the opening goal

Can click save + upload and onto the next. I'm with Gary at around 20 images at HT. never counted though



I could easy speed up to same if i used code replace proper and not just player names :)
 
Oh yeah, I’ll eventually get to a reasonable good level. It sounds like a good idea to challenge myself with a set of 5 photos as example.


couple of minutes before half time.. swap yer memory cards...download yer locked files and have all your applications open ready to go..as soon as half time whistle goes then yer away... your doing 8 pics in 20 mins is poor thats 2 and a half mins a pic?
 
I could easy speed up to same if i used code replace proper and not just player names :)

Possibly, it takes alittle getting used to though, as you say earlier in this topic, you do whats best for working for you

I know I would find it hard changing my routine to yours and you would mine. we all work differently to effectively get the same end product (wired images) just do the process in different ways
 
Back
Top