Working for Agencies - making my first step, advice please

[KTC]

Today I was asked to do an ex player of our rivals Testimonial Press Conference. Really looking forward to it even though my only previous experience is shouting abuse from the Terraces.

Resist the temptation when you're photographing them.

 

[wookie6262]

Resist the temptation when you're photographing them.

Resisted and to be fair he was a true gent and gave his time for photos without a grumble.

 

[wookie6262]

First time for a while I have made a few quid from Amateur football. The game was ex Hibs player Garry O'Connor's team playing Tranent Forrestors and Garry's team were well beaten on the day 7-2. Not only a few quid in the kitty but some much needed practice for next week where I shoot my local team and newly promoted to the professional leagues, Bonnyrigg Rose. Looking forward to the income and seeing them lift the Lowland League flag.

 

[wookie6262]

A really busy end to the month and having to turn down bookings as already have work. Got a call this morning to shoot Cricket Scotland take on New Zealand. There is a current big story with institutional racism being found at Cricket Scotland and the players and their lawyer who are at the heart of the story were going to the game. First job was to get some pics of them and then on to taking a few of the cricket. I have played cricket and watched a couple of games but not for decades and this was the first time I have shot it. Far harder than it looks but had a great day. Next up a hire from Scottish Athletics. I did a free gig for them recently as I wanted to try my hand and they are now willing to pay a pretty decent shift. Not the greatest event for multiple types of images as it is all middle and long distance running races but great to get the gig and hopefully it will lead to others.

 

[wookie6262]

Athletics went well and got images of both goals at the Bonnyrigg Rose game I covered yesterday. Quite proud of myself this month as I topped £1000 in earnings with a bit to spare and I can see my consistency improving along with my timing. Stupid things like asking supporters to pose or if I can take an image now just seem natural where before I was always wary of interrupting their day. A deserved week off from both jobs next week and back to Rugby next Saturday

 

[toohuge]

Thanks for the consistent updates and pleased it seems to be going well for you

 

[wookie6262]

Thanks for the consistent updates and pleased it seems to be going well for you

Cheers for the reply. I guess there may be others that want to make a move so it may be useful to someone.

 

[wookie6262]

My client for the Athletics shoot just gave really positive feedback and looks like that will be another revenue stream for the future. Such a good sport to shoot as you can move about and get different angles. No sending at the event either, although I fired a few up for their socials when I got the chance. Another booking for this month so already have more than 100 quid a week in the diary for August and need to do some work to try and do some sideways gigs like Dog Action shots etc to get the money continuing to come in.

 

[wookie6262]

Another job ticked off for SNS. Rugby seems to be the shifts I am given most often and that is fine by me, although I would love to shoot some more of the big football games. Long way to go as the other snappers are far more experienced than me and rarely miss a shot. I'm happy with my lot though so can't complain. Saturday went fine and a few clouds took a little heat haze away. I was instructed to follow both teams so chose an end and chose the wrong one with most action and tries 100 yards away. Only one hiccup was getting something in my eye in the last 15 minutes. Fortunately my left eye but I must have looked a picture taking the MOTM shots with eye bulged and streaming. I must have scratched my eyeball removing whatever it was as 3 days later it has just stopped watering. Back down to Melrose for Southern Knights on Friday and then a Youth Football Tournament on Sunday with only payment being what images I sell. That has been a bit hit and miss so far but it is a young age group so I am hopeful of lots of sales.

 

[wookie6262]

Another busy weekend. More Rugby for the Agency with a trip down to watch Southern Knights on Friday evening. First time for a long time floodlights have came into play On Sunday I shot a 7 a side festival for no fee and with any chance of earnings coming from image sales. £100 so far and a call from a coach which will hopefully lead to another £100. That would keep with my £20 an hour model and a chance of further sales.

 

[wookie6262]

Another weekend with a paid gig. This time it was Heriots v Watsonians. A couple of tries up my end with one making a decent snap

 

[admirable]

Pretty good effort I'd say, well done!

 

[wookie6262]

The youth football tournament I did a couple of weeks back ended up being a reasonable success with a total of £250 in sales. Given the cropping and publishing it would still make more than my £20 an hour model. I followed another lead today for school photography. Another Agency job and not sports, apologies, but could mean some during the week income and importantly contacts with schools that can be fostered to potentially offer sports day packages and coverage of school teams when they get to finals etc

 

[wookie6262]

A few more sales from the youth football tournament takes that to £350. I'll definitely look to do more of those as it was decent money for the work involved and meant lots of contacts quickly made.

Did the first of three dog photography sessions I got in the diary from a quick post of a Facebook Group I am a member off. £70 a session with a selection of digital files is a better deal for the owners than me but it is still more money coming in and I really enjoy it. First equipment mistake for a while as I charged everything up but must have left the trigger on last time I used it and it had ran out of batteries. I had planned a few flash shots as I want to keep developing my skills with flash but shot them without so no real issues.

Back to shooting volume yesterday with the Rob Roy Mighty Hike. 8 hours sat snapping walkers doing their bit for charity with much of that in rain and some in very wet conditions. It is still quite enjoyable though as the company I work for are really good and the competitors usually give you a smile, a bit of chat or create a photo by their actions. The Great North Run next week so same again with more costumes.

Only a rugby game booked in for the rest of September sports wise but I have 2 Dog Photography bookings and hope to start to grow that.

I also had a look at school photography. Really liked the guy that was running the company and it was brilliantly set up. I'm going to see him again next week and will have some thinking to do. Up until now I have been earning in my time. School photography means taking time off my main work and at that point I will have a decision to make. At the moment I am thinking partial retirement but I'd like to see some more bookings and revenue in before I burn 25% of my pension taking it early. Amazing after only 8 months that I have to think about though and it may be just a touch early for me to jump particularly with the way the country is going at the moment.

 

[wookie6262]

Tough week for those trying to earn a living from sport in already difficult times. Games and events called off right and centre and for my fledgling business a massive hole in my revenue for little apparent reason I can see. Hopefully get the games and events that are cancelled back at the rearranged times but no guarantees of that

 

[DemiLion]

Tough week for those trying to earn a living from sport in already difficult times. Games and events called off right and centre and for my fledgling business a massive hole in my revenue for little apparent reason I can see. Hopefully get the games and events that are cancelled back at the rearranged times but no guarantees of that

That's a severely crass comment.

 

[wookie6262]

That's a severely crass comment.

Feel free to think so. imo it is a matter of fact. Events are going ahead. Some sports like football there are games going on at different levels in the same country. Officially the advice is there is no reason to cancel anything. If the establishment says you don't have to cancel then there is literally no apparent reason to cancel.

Here is the wording from the .gov site
There is no obligation to cancel or postpone events and sporting fixtures, or close entertainment venues during the National Mourning period. This is at the discretion of individual organisations. As a mark of respect, organisations might wish to consider cancelling or postponing events or closing venues on the day of the State Funeral. They are under no obligation to do so and this is entirely at the discretion of individual organisations.

 

[DemiLion]

My comment stands.

 

[TimHughes]

What's your policy or the agency policy for cancellations? After being caught once, I now include a fee in the contract if cancellation happens within so many days of the scheduled date.

 

[wookie6262]

What's your policy or the agency policy for cancellations? After being caught once, I now include a fee in the contract if cancellation happens within so many days of the scheduled date.

No idea to be honest. I'll ask but I don't have anything written to refer to

 

[KIPAX]

What's your policy or the agency policy for cancellations? After being caught once, I now include a fee in the contract if cancellation happens within so many days of the scheduled date.

Take it on the chin approach I would suspect.. like me


BORED SO RAMBLE TIME
Unlike weddings where your not going to get repeat bookings form the same couple (much haha) My world is all about repeats and dealing with the same poeple or the same leagues.. If theres a cancelation I will lose out but it wont be anyones fault or on a whim.. there will be a good reason and they will wat me another time... word of mouth is everyhting when your workign in a X,Y catchment area and charging people for work not done wouldnt help

I dont do any advertising other than post on FB if I have a slot available.. and my diary is full enough and I have every sunday to fill with junior football and lots of stuff to add from returning customers who havent given me dates yet... my point being... keep them happy..if any of them cancel then i take it on the chin

My Diary so far all paid for jobs https://www.kipax.com/index.php?e=diary

 

[wookie6262]

Take it on the chin approach I would suspect.. like me


BORED SO RAMBLE TIME
Unlike weddings where your not going to get repeat bookings form the same couple (much haha) My world is all about repeats and dealing with the same poeple or the same leagues.. If theres a cancelation I will lose out but it wont be anyones fault or on a whim.. there will be a good reason and they will wat me another time... word of mouth is everyhting when your workign in a X,Y catchment area and charging people for work not done wouldnt help

I dont do any advertising other than post on FB if I have a slot available.. and my diary is full enough and I have every sunday to fill with junior football and lots of stuff to add from returning customers who havent given me dates yet... my point being... keep them happy..if any of them cancel then i take it on the chin

My Diary so far all paid for jobs https://www.kipax.com/index.php?e=diary

My view is the Agency has done right by me and the organisation that was hiring me through them had little choice but to cancel. It is one of those situations where nobody is really at fault so I wouldn't seek redress and probably wouldn't get it anyway. I think all the shut downs are crazy and I am a bit miffed about losing out but it is one of those things. At the moment the gig economy is only part of my livelihood so I can think myself lucky there

 

[wookie6262]

Great North run last weekend on behalf of Marathon Photo. Perhaps it was the period of mourning we are in but I was quite disappointed with the atmosphere. A long day and will have to think if I will do any more as the pay isn't great. This weekend was the perfect gig for me. A Saturday night game of rugby that let me watch Hibs in the afternoon and get up to Mini Murrayfield in time for the Edinburgh game. 7 Tries up my end and a nice shot of Darcy's second with him in full flight.

 

[KIPAX]

Great North run last weekend on behalf of Marathon Photo.

Rather you than me.. All my running jobs have been for local paper.. Start pics.. first 3 men/wome/kids through the line and thats it.... I hate the thought of staying on one spot shooting hundreds or thousands of runners.... i wouldn't do it

 

[wookie6262]

Rather you than me.. All my running jobs have been for local paper.. Start pics.. first 3 men/wome/kids through the line and thats it.... I hate the thought of staying on one spot shooting hundreds or thousands of runners.... i wouldn't do it

It was something I did to get some money coming in and committed to a few events. Not sure if I will keep them going as they are a very long day and not really very interesting photographically. One more in teh calendar and I'll see after that. Got a few Dog Photography jobs in teh calendar and they might be an easier way to earn a few quid.

 

[KIPAX]

It was something I did to get some money coming in and committed to a few events. Not sure if I will keep them going as they are a very long day and not really very interesting photographically. One more in teh calendar and I'll see after that. Got a few Dog Photography jobs in teh calendar and they might be an easier way to earn a few quid.

I am at the pick and choose point so I can get away with turning down boring jobs...like running.. and american football haha your still at the start so you need to pick them up I know

 

[TimHughes]

It was something I did to get some money coming in and committed to a few events. Not sure if I will keep them going as they are a very long day and not really very interesting photographically. One more in teh calendar and I'll see after that. Got a few Dog Photography jobs in teh calendar and they might be an easier way to earn a few quid.

it's a job for a robot, no? setup the camera, automatic trigger, send the pic to a server, read the runner numbers and send link to the participant to purchase...

 

[KIPAX]

it's a job for a robot, no? setup the camera, automatic trigger, send the pic to a server, read the runner numbers and send link to the participant to purchase...

I saw a guy doing cricket like that.. sat in a chair with a cuppa and a newspaper.. long lens on tripod and clicking remote everytime ball chucked... i watched in disbelief .. what sort of photogrpahy is that haha

 

[TimHughes]

I saw a guy doing cricket like that.. sat in a chair with a cuppa and a newspaper.. long lens on tripod and clicking remote everytime ball chucked... i watched in disbelief .. what sort of photogrpahy is that haha

haha, for some things it can work like finisher line photos, for cricket, I'm not so sure!

 

[wookie6262]

it's a job for a robot, no? setup the camera, automatic trigger, send the pic to a server, read the runner numbers and send link to the participant to purchase...

It is surprisingly difficult id you are looking to take a good image. They come through in large numbers and at different angles. You have to work out how you can get a look at as many runners as possible when they are overlapping each other. Not sure everyone bothers as much as I do but if you keep it a challenge the time goes pretty quickly. Very sore on the fingers and wrists though and when you take into account travel and having to get there early to avoid roads closing etc it is pretty rubbish money.

 

[TimHughes]

It is surprisingly difficult id you are looking to take a good image. They come through in large numbers and at different angles. You have to work out how you can get a look at as many runners as possible when they are overlapping each other. Not sure everyone bothers as much as I do but if you keep it a challenge the time goes pretty quickly. Very sore on the fingers and wrists though and when you take into account travel and having to get there early to avoid roads closing etc it is pretty rubbish money.

I was thinking of the finishing line which as far as I’m aware is very poorly rewarded. A colleague does ultra marathons and such like in the alps where he selects an epic landscape backdrop that the runners will pass through one by one, and takes care to get great shots for each of them. that’s a much better setup.

 

[wookie6262]

I was thinking of the finishing line which as far as I’m aware is very poorly rewarded. A colleague does ultra marathons and such like in the alps where he selects an epic landscape backdrop that the runners will pass through one by one, and takes care to get great shots for each of them. that’s a much better setup.

One of teh companies I work for has you out in decent locations. The other I have only shot at or near the finish line with no backdrop. The finishing line could work as a robot cam. As it is there is usually 6-8 snappers catching athletes as they come through. I always ask to stay clear of that gig as it is so noisy and no room to move

 

[TimHughes]

One of teh companies I work for has you out in decent locations. The other I have only shot at or near the finish line with no backdrop. The finishing line could work as a robot cam. As it is there is usually 6-8 snappers catching athletes as they come through. I always ask to stay clear of that gig as it is so noisy and no room to move

for the automation, many people have already done the hard work so for example with python and the tesseract library it's just a few lines of code to extract the recognizable numbers from all the pictures.

 

[wookie6262]

for the automation, many people have already done the hard work so for example with python and the tesseract library it's just a few lines of code to extract the recognizable numbers from all the pictures.

Both the companies I work for have similar tech for all the numbers and I think face recognition is also being employed too for when numbers are obscured. I can actually search galleries by face on my Zenfolio site but bizarrely it doesn't allow clients to do the same.

 

[wookie6262]

Another busy weekend with my first hire for football for a long while. Good game to photograph as The Jags beat Morton 5-1, thrills at Firhill indeed. Tomorrow I am shooting the Great Scottish Run which will be the last of these type of events on the books. Money is still trickling in for the youth football tournament I did a few months back and it is just shy of 400 quid for that event. More of those would be great

 

[orinoco]

I have never used ftp from photomechanic as i dont use ftp.. all my pics are sent by email ... email templates ...works for me

Sorry to hijack this thread - been asked to use email to send pics from matches into newsdesk, however they want the images sent 1 pic 1 email full resolution which is time consuming, do you have a template to work like this, my images were all blocked today as viewed as spam, any insight you can offer greatly appreciated

 

[wookie6262]

Sorry to hijack this thread - been asked to use email to send pics from matches into newsdesk, however they want the images sent 1 pic 1 email full resolution which is time consuming, do you have a template to work like this, my images were all blocked today as viewed as spam, any insight you can offer greatly appreciated

You can do that through Photomechanic. It will also allow you to make the file size a little smaller but keep the resolution and do a sharpen etc

 

[orinoco]

You can do that through Photomechanic. It will also allow you to make the file size a little smaller but keep the resolution and do a sharpen etc

Completely missed this functionality - thank you so much

 

[wookie6262]

A few more bookings over the last couple of weeks. Two press Conferences back to back and Rugby game for Agency and a kids party off my own contacts. Very different types of photography but enjoyed them all and sport is not enough to pay the bills for me so diversifying is a must if I want to move into this more and more. Working on my flash skills so I can move into some more fields

 

[KIPAX]

Sorry to hijack this thread - been asked to use email to send pics from matches into newsdesk, however they want the images sent 1 pic 1 email full resolution which is time consuming, do you have a template to work like this, my images were all blocked today as viewed as spam, any insight you can offer greatly appreciated

Sorry only just seen this... No .. i send half a dozen at a time and they always get through OK