Master Guide for Team Sports Photography by Williams James

Author:Williams, James [Williams, Jame]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-60895-182-6
Publisher: Amherst Media, Inc.
Published: 2008-03-11T04:00:00+00:00

YOU’RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST JOB

Great past work might get you a job, but how you do the job you were just hired for will determine whether or not you will be doing additional assignments for the school. Be sure to deliver consistent work, frame after frame. This type of work is extremely competitive, so you must make sure you never give a school any excuse not to hire you again next year.

5. LEAGUE SPORTS

HOW TO GET HIRED BY A LEAGUE

Getting hired by a sports league first and foremost involves politics. Also important are having a likeable personality and a little bit of luck. Did you notice I didn’t even mention creating great photographs?

Who Decides. Most sports leagues are run by a board of volunteer parents. The board can consist of as few as three or as many as fifteen (or even more) volunteers. Common sense tells you everyone is not going to agree on all issues, but without their help and support, the leagues would not exist.

These boards have lots of decisions to make-game times and schedules, concession-stand products and workers, hiring umpires, buying uniforms, and dealing with parents who want to know why their child is not playing more or in a different position, just to name a few. What photographer is going to be hired is just another in a huge number of decisions on their agenda.

Leagues will generally have someone hired about six months before the assignment, so be sure to contact them well in advance of the start of the season. If you’re not sure what leagues are operating in your area, check the Internet. If you’re lucky, you may find that the league sites give you all the personnel and contact information you need.

Educate the Client. Sadly, I can assure you that few (if any) of the board members will know what is involved in photographing a large league. In general, they think the pictures and services provided by photographers are all the same; therefore, they will make their decision based on price.

Here’s a good example. Some time ago, a large baseball league invited me (and several other photographers) to one of their board meetings to put on a presentation about our products and prices. About a week prior to the meeting, I prepared very professional-looking information packets to give to each board member the night of the meeting. In the packets were sample photographs and products (such as baseball trading cards, picture magnets, picture key chains, etc.). Also included were several letters of recommendation from other league presidents, high-school yearbook advisors, and athletic directors for whom we were currently doing work. I thought they would undoubtedly want to contact some of these individuals for references before they hired anyone to photograph a large league, but I was wrong. All that mattered was who offered the most sports trinkets and the lowest price. The people making the decision assumed that the services and picture quality would all be the same, so they made their decision based on price alone.

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