first one
This is what I do. (I hope it works)
http://swingman.smugmug.com/Aidans-Angels/Golf-Outing-Sept-19-2009/Angels/9730644_gbDWt#658590881_J6UvD-A-LB
http://swingman.smugmug.com/Aidans-Angels/Golf-Outing-Sept-19-2009/Angels/9730644_gbDWt#658590881_J6UvD-A-LB
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Comments
It is possible to move the play button?
http://swingman.smugmug.com/Ramblers/1-9-2010/10897854_iw4YB#761820368_zVZxe-A-LB
This forum is for talking about video in general, not for smugmug support, for that, you need to go here.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
I guess this site is a little overwhelming somtimes.
What do you think about the video's? I personally think I am doing a pretty good job with them. I am fiinding it very hard to make money taking pictures. I know there a lot of pro's around making money but I cannot figure it out!
To be honest, I don't quite understand the purpose of them, so it's hard to judge them. Where are they shown and who is the intended audience?
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
I'm with David. I didn't get what the video was for or exactly what you were after as far as feedback?
Some more explanation would help.
Wayne in Oregon
http://swingman.smugmug.com/
What I do it I take the action shots of golfers. I try to get someone having an outing to hire me to take the pictures. Usually the outings are between 100-150 people. I take each foresome as they come the the tee that I am on. I take the foursome shot, the mug shot and then the swing shot. As you can see I then put these together in a video which I upload online. The golfers can then go to the site and watch their swing or download to their computer or even their cell phone. Maybe I should not say what I charge for this service but believe me it is not enough. My next step is to take the golf pictures and put them into a contact like sheet and turn them into a jpeg so that the golfers can then print their own pictures from smugmug and maybe I can make so money like this. -you can see this on the Rambler Stills.
So far I do this by myself. I am thinking of few more ways to improve this. One would be for me to print the "contact sheets' at the outing and hand them out during or before dinner. I may also -with help- be able to make the video's and create a slide show using a projector and have everyone's swings on display. In order to do this I would need a helper that is pretty efficient. I am not exactly trying to make a living doing this but I really think that I have a product that is valuable and that I do a very good job in the presentation.
I do not want to bore you guys but I will give you my history in a nut shell. My Father gave me a Lomo 4 shot camera. For those that do not know what this is it is the camera that takes one shot at a time and puts each one in succession on one 4" x 6" print. This interested me for golf so I started taking action shots. I found this was not enough so I found an eight shot camera that lined the shots in a row. After that I discovered the Kalimar 16 shot. This was better because it printed 8 shots in two rows across two 4" x 6" prints. It also allowed to take the first shot in the upper corner by itself. This allowed me to take the mug shot of the person so that I could actually tell who I was taking a picture of. I did this for a few tournaments and tried to market myself to the local golf pro's. The first thing I found was that they all had their hands out and wanted to make a profit. I guess because my Pro who is a friend of mine helped me with this it came as a surprise that they were more concerned about themselves than trying to come up with something new and exciting to give out to their members. I tried to tell them which would you rather give out another hat or towel (I already have too many) or an action shot of the golf with the name of the Tournament and even the advetisers names. I originally put in in a 8" x 14" matt that I had printed with all the information and then I just put a sticker on the back. But I reasoned that they would not throw this away!
After that did not work my next improvement was to go the Casio EX-F1 that takes 60 frames a second. I am really getting a kick out of this camera. So I figured out I could put these in a video. I think the video is cool but I am starting to realize that most people don't know very much about computers even if they do get on the internet.
I am really lost as to where to go from here. Of couse where I want to go is to where it will lead to making some money. It seems to me that to keep improving I have to start and spend some real money, not that buying the camera was not real money buy I know if I were to do this professionally -if I can call it that- I need to spend some money.
Here is my latest thinking as wrong or as warped as it may sound -I am really glad to have some where to write where someone may be able to help me because I have been doing this all on my own and I just do not know what I am really doing.
First I think that I need to get a print into each golfers hands at the end of the day. I did not explain myself above that I do this for the whole group and get paid by the person running the tournament. I am not interested in soliciting indivual golfer taking their pictures and hoping that they will buy. This will work in some area like resorts, which will probably happen when someone sees me doing it, I am not interesed in doing it like that. So I stand on the first tee and take each foursome as a group, each person's mug shot and then the swing shot. Say 130 golfers takes about 5.5 to 6 hours -for you non-golfers. Then they all go in for dinner and refreshments. I can transfer the pictures to my computer between groups. I might be able to make a contact sheet or video. It takes about 10-15 minutes between goups. Another problem is if is sunny then the computer monitor is hard to see and do all this. If I can find a suitable assistant, they could be doing this inside while I am taking pictures. Of couse this adds to my expenses. Ok. So in a perfect world, the golfers come in and on a table I have each of their swings shots on a table on a 8.5 x 11 sheet. They take this to their table -they usually love them too- and discuss with their tablemates what they think of each other's swings. Then as a real bonus there is a projector showing not only their swing to everyone in the room but everyone's swing and maybe even a few still that I picked up from the people helping out. -i know am out of control here but this is the way I think- Then I give them all a DVD to take home and show their loved ones and everyone back at the office!
Like I said I am a little out of control but I have not found a forum -or soap box- that I could get out of control. If you are still reading this and are partially following along you are either a pro or as crazy as I am.
So my cross roads is I need buy a very good printer for this job. It needs to be fairly light since it will be traveling and the ink has to be reasonable since each one sucks up a lot of ink. The other thing I need to buy is a projector. They seem to run anywhere from $400 t0 $800. Of course, trying to be a professiona, sort of, I will need to have a back up system.
I am not against spending the money if I can make a profit from it but so far I have been spinning my wheels. I am not a photographer, I do not do photography as a hobby, I know nothing about taking pictures, no F stops or nothing, I am a golfer that takes swing shots. How do I make money doing this? That is the question I have been asking myself for about 5 years now. I do feel a sense of relief now that I actually got this out! Maybe it will be the first step of my cure!
Thanks for taking the time if you made it this far. Feel free to email me too at rayguim@fast.net
That's very interesting...and funny. You made me laugh describing yourself as 'out of control'...
I'm not a pro, maybe a little crazy. Either way, I did make it to the end of your write-up. I looked at some of the swing shots in your gallery. As a hacker myself, I think that's something I would be interested in at the end of a tourny, depending on the price. It sounds like you give out quite a good package (DVDs too!).
I do think you have some room to improve. I noticed that the pictures break down quite a bit (low resolution). Have you thought about just shooting a short video, and taking some pics to package together. I'm sure the video would increase the file sizes you work with quite a bit and that may be part of your concern. Some of the new DSLR's will also capture video and overall, your files would be relatively small/short. You could easily switch from video mode to picture mode. I currently have a Canon 7D (more than what you need) and I do both quite a bit. I would also not be afraid to do it with my Canon S90 which shoots 720p video instead of full high def.
As for the business side, and some suggested improvements...I'm probably not much help there. I would suggest you tighten up your site a bit. I noticed a spelling error in your bio at the top. If your customers visit your site, you need to make it as professional as possible.
Otherwise, maybe some of the pro's on the site will be able to offer more. I will say, after reading this site for quite some time, that being a professional photographer seems very challenging at best. The good news is that you have found a way to mix what you love doing with the business venture. I did like reading that you are continually 'tweaking' your system and are always trying to improve. If your passion can carry you through, you may get to a well oiled system that really makes money.
I wish you the best of luck and will be interested to hear how it goes for you.
Wayne in Oregon
Thanks Wayne,
If passion could carry me then i would have no problem! I will tighten my site up a bit. It is something I mean to get around to but never do. As for the taking movies This is something I could do now. I will have to think about that some, maybe another tweak. I don't have to make a lot of money just enough to make it worth doing.
Take care.
ray