# Sporting event photography ( 5k, marathon, bike races)



## thuchton (Oct 2, 2012)

Does anyone here shoot weekend sporting events such as 5k, triathlons, or mountain bike races? I am looking to start expanding my skill set and looking to expand the ever elusive bottom dollar. 

My questions are: 
How much money could be typically made doing an event like this.
How many photogs would be needed to fully document an event? ( I know this will change upon location, type of event, venue, etc) Just a basic idea.
How do you build this line of work?
At the end of the day is it worth the amount of leg work you must do to get payout?
I am very hard working and willing to work and learn just trying to prioritize my time. 

Thanks in advance!

Tim


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## rexbobcat (Oct 2, 2012)

Well first thing first, you produce high quality sports work, yes? 

I would think that would be step one. Lol


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## Sw1tchFX (Oct 2, 2012)

I used to shoot these alot....

*How much money could be typically made doing an event like this?*
This depends on your delivery system..nobody hires a photog to just document random stuff that's going on. You've got to have online checkout somehow.. Don't expect much north of $1000 unless it's just a massive event and everyone knows where to find the pictures of themselves.

*How many photogs would be needed to fully document an event? ( I know this will change upon location, type of event, venue, etc) Just a basic idea. *
1-3 @ $150-$200 a piece

*How do you build this line of work?*
You network with the people participating and running the event and have them direct people to your online cart..

*At the end of the day is it worth the amount of leg work you must do to get payout?*
There's a reason why I said _i used to do this....._ 

*I am very hard working and willing to work and learn just trying to prioritize my time.*
You say that out of naivety.



So this is how a typical day would go...

-Wake up at the butt crack of whatever
-Often drive 60+ miles (one way) to the location
-Coordinate the plan for you and your other shooter(s) (if applicable)
-Hike 1-4 miles to find a few decent locations on the trail to shoot from
-shoot for 3-6 hours (depending on size of event)
-pay your second shooters
-rush home so you can start culling through 5000-25,000 images from you and your spare photogs
-weed out the out of focus/poorly composed/poorly exposed/generally lousy picutres
-tag the remaining x000 pictures so people can find themselves easy
-upload images to your website/cart so that the people can buy them the next day
-hope that someone buys a picture or two...


If you want to find something where you work your a$$ off and get no money...shooting triathlons is the way to go! Especially since lenses such as 70-200 f/2.8's are a requirement.. f/4 or 5.6 doesn't cut it under the canopy.

*BEST PART*: the friends/family that tag along also have cameras and don't even bother to purchase anything because mom took a picture that is "good enough".

I would say wedding photography is easier..pays a helluva lot better too.


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## thuchton (Oct 2, 2012)

Thanks to both of you! It seems as if everyone is saying much of the same thing.


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## jamesbjenkins (Oct 2, 2012)

Sw1tchFX said:


> *BEST PART*: the friends/family that tag along also have cameras  and don't even bother to purchase anything because mom took a picture  that is "good enough".



This has also been my experience. I've done quite a few of these types of events for local organizations (Chamber of Commerce, similar) where I'm doing a kind of quid pro quo. They cover my time and give me free ad space in their publications, in exchange for me covering their event and providing a place for the participants/families to buy prints and downloads.

I realized pretty quickly that nobody is ever going to buy a single print from me when Mom brings a P&S to the finish line. C'est la vie.


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## gsgary (Oct 3, 2012)

The only way to make big money is by getting a dye sub and printing and mounting on site


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## thuchton (Oct 3, 2012)

Thanks for the info!


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## mkfotos (Jul 30, 2014)

Sw1tchFX said:


> I used to shoot these alot....
> 
> *How much money could be typically made doing an event like this?*
> This depends on your delivery system..nobody hires a photog to just document random stuff that's going on. You've got to have online checkout somehow.. Don't expect much north of $1000 unless it's just a massive event and everyone knows where to find the pictures of themselves.
> ...



Ya that seems about right.  Although for some reason I still do it.  But I've just started out myself


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## imagemaker46 (Jul 30, 2014)

I worked for briefly for a group that shot big hockey events, they printed everything on site. We worked on four rinks, that's three shooters, and three people working the booth.  I shot at a level higher than the other three photographers, we weren't suppose to shoot more than 65-70 pictures per game, they wanted all action, and wanted pictures of the 40 players.  We were also only permitted to shoot for 20-30 minutes per game as the games overlapped, and we had to keep running between rinks.    I didn't last long shooting this way, it didn't suit my style of wanting to produce quality images, they didn't care, they just wanted a shot of each kid, apparently they thought more crap would out sell, fewer high quality shots.  These guys were the best in our area, and in spite of being told they make a lot of money, I watched how many sales were going through,  in a five hour shift, they may have made $100 selling 8X10's in frames for $10 each.

It was a lot of work and time, for very little money, and I was the highest paid shooter at $12.50 an hour.  I thought it would be an easy way to make a few bucks when I wasn't shooting anything.  It really wasn't worth it for me.


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