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sportsshooter membership
I am interested in joining. Its a very good sports photography site with a good reputation. However, to join one must have a sponsor that is already a member. I have the sports shots that would be needed to upload.
Randy
SmugMug: www.randyjacksonimages.com
Email: randyjacksonimages@cox.net
Photography Blog: http://randyonphotography.com
SmugMug: www.randyjacksonimages.com
Email: randyjacksonimages@cox.net
Photography Blog: http://randyonphotography.com
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The only sports pics on your smugmug site are of a tennis match and frankly they are not close to the quality of shots you'll need to get accepted.
It is considered poor taste to troll for an endorsement, members might drop a hint if they think you are ready.
Do you have links to other sports shots? There is a broken link on your site for the Photo Catalog....
Troy, MI
D700/200, SB800(4), 70-200, 300 2.8 and a few more
www.sportsshooter.com/tjk60
http://www.sportsshooter.com/news_story.html?id=1127
I personally would not sponsor someone asking for sponsorship on a forum. I am with tjk60, if I see someone with potential, the right attitude, solid skills I might consider contacting them. A member who sponsors someone is putting their reputation on the line as well.
Based on the few images in your gallery I believe you have some work ahead of you to meet some of the basic requirements to joining. I noticed from your equipment list you might want to consider shying away from indoor shooting if you are looking for portfolio type images. It will be very difficult to get quality images with your gear (indoors) that the folks at SS require for membership.
Don't get me wrong it is not an elite club by any stretch of the imagination, but it is definitely geared toward the working professional, students and interns and the highly capable part-time shooter.
Please spend some time looking at the link I posted, spend some time reading the various threads there and absorb some of the information that is posted. Learn some basic sports photography techniques and start building a portfolio. Participate in a few forums and learn to accept critique of your work. When the time is right you may find a member willing to help you achieve your desire to join. And yes I am a member and have been for a few years, just so you understand that my advice is not coming from left field. Good luck with your future shooting.
Canon Gear
The topic of sportsshooter membership has come up in a couple threads with a few different people inquiring about joining. So I thought it might be worthwhile to have a single brief thread where some of the sportsshooter members can provide some information about what sportsshooter membership provides a shooter and what a person needs to do to become a member. Let me start by saying I am simply a member. I don't represent the site so my statements here are purely my opinion alone.
What is sportsshooter?
The sportsshooter site is predominantly meant for sports photographers, photojournalists, journalists and photo editors or students studying those fields in college. I believe the basic intent is the site is geared towards people who are or wish to be professionals in those fields - not hobbyists. Having said that, there is no statement regarding professional credentials - entry is judged primarily on the quality of your photo work. So there are certainly members who are just hobbyists. The idea is that the site provides a place to exchange information within the sportsshooting community. There are articles published about the industry, there is a message board which only members can post to - to discuss topics related to the industry. There is a classified section where only members can post which includes equipment buy/sell and job postings/availability. There is a feature called "the guide" which provides venue-specific information - could be exposure settings, directions where to park, where media office is located. etc. Just a place for media to post useful facts for others who might be visiting a venue for a first time. Each member also has a member page where they can provide information about themselves and their availability and what they shoot and where. Up to 10 images can be displayed on that site. Those pages are searchable - so potential employers can search by area and find photogs and contact information.
What have I gotten out of sportsshooter membership?
I've made some contacts in the industry that have provided great advice about my business and about equipment decisions as well as business decisions. These people aren't hiding behind false names and I know before hand what their credentials are. I know who they are, what experience they have and for the individuals I deal with I know they're doing this for a living so I have a high level of confidence in the advice they're giving. I've had 2 job offers in the last couple years due to my membership page. One of those offers was from ESPN.
It's also fair to say that being a member lends you an air of credibility. At least on message boards and in contacting other members. People that are active in message boards about sportsshooting either are members or know of membership. And while the standards are not "everyone is Sports Illustrated quality" there is a baseline of profiency. The typical hobbyist will NOT get in.
Sportsshooter is NOT the best of the best. There are tons of exceptional photogs out there that aren't members. All it is, is a community of people who meet a certain standard - in my mind it's a standard of 'credible sports shooter'.
What won't you get?
Sportsshooter is not about image critique. And, for the most part is not about "how do I shoot sports". You need to be highly proficient at sports shooting BEFORE you get in. So, it isn't a place to learn how to shoot football or how to shoot gymnastics. That's what forums like this are for. I'll also say you're not going to magically get job offers - membership isn't the key to the kingdom of jobs. So don't expect it to be.
What qualifications do I need to get in:
Again, this is just my personal opinion. You must already be an accomplished sports photographer. Not a general hobyist where your friends and family like your photos. I'm talking photos at the same level as your local newspaper sports page. There are some members who get in on the strength of photos in a single sports and others who shoot multiple sports. My suggestion is - if you only shoot 1 or 2 sports you had better be GREAT at it. And, let me be perfectly clear on one aspect: THE LEVEL OF PLAY DOESN'T MATTER. Absolutely NO ONE at sportsshooter will be impressed that you have shots of NCAA or PRO games if the shots are bad. Your family may be impressed that you have shots from Div I NCAA events. But people at sportsshooter will not. There are members who are held in highest regard (like Paul Alesse) who shoot primarily youth sports not NCAA or pros. It's the QUALITY that counts. Quality pop warner football shots are much more highly thought of than poor NFL shots.
How do you know if you're good enough?
Post in forums with other sports photographers - here is a great place. When you have other accomplished sports photographers telling you your work is good, then you can start believing it. Seek out feedback from photographer's whose work you admire. But it isn't a single post. It's got to be a history of posts where you prove time in and time out you can do quality work. Do that and a member will find YOU.
You also need to be able to caption your photos and provide cut lines. Spelling and grammar count and mistakes on those captions can keep you out of membership.
How do you get in?
For the most part, you need a sponsor. You can apply for membership without a sponsor but that's a tough road - you better be exceptional to get in that way. The majority of applicants (either sponsored or unsponsored) do not get in. Do NOT publicly ask for sponsors. That's a sure sign you're not ready. Most likely if a member thinks your ready they will contact you. I have had a couple people privately ask me and I've been honest with them about where they stand and what sportsshooter is about.
What do I look for when I'm looking at your photos and seeing if they're good enough?
- Every photo in the post is sharp.
- Action fills the entire frame - I don't want to see basketball shots from 30 feet away with a 50mm lens and the player filling 1/2 the frame
- shots should be level - I don't want to see crooked shots.
- BACKGROUNDS - every sport is different, but backgrounds need to be as clean as possible. Here's where equipment makes a huge difference. Baseball shots with parents/cars/porta-potties in decent focus are not good sports shots. You can't move the field so you need fast glass to blur the backgrounds.
- Interesting photo - action or emotion. A kid standing in the batters box is boring 99% of the time. If its action is it peak? Is the ball/puck in the frame?
- good colors
- low noise.
One final note - personally when I consider sponsoring someone I look not only for photographic ability but for people who are serious about this being a professional endevor. If you're a parent giving away your photos or selling them for 99 cents sportsshooter isn't for you. As I said earlier the major benefits are in the business and professional capacity. So while there are some great pure hobbyist shooters out there - to me it's not a good fit if you're not seriously interested in doing it in a professional capacity.Hopefull other members can chime in. If you've read all this - God Bless you for being patient!
This last year, I still got to shoot with sideline and pressbox access, but I did so as a freelance photog. Tech got nothing from me. I was able to add the University of North Dakota to my list of clients when we played them here and I also got hired by the local paper and I sell them pics that they put on their website. So, the SS community got their point across to me and I no longer am one of the "Others." So, if any of you are thinking of or working towards becoming a member, take the lesson I learned the hard way to heart. The SS community is a bit of a good ol boy place. It's not all peaches and cream for the new guys especially if you aren't a full time pro. The Dgrin community here is a great place to hone your craft. There are many of us here that will shoot straight with you on your pics and will give good and bad critique. That simply doesn't happen over there. Nobody posts pics for people to see other than on their personal site. I'm pretty sure 99% of the folks in this forum aren't full time Pro photogs, so this is the best place for you.
As for me, I started as a hobbyist, then got a Pro SmugMug account, began selling pics of local MX races, became a contributing photographer to a MX magazine, started getting hired to be the series photographer for local racing series and track photographer for my local tracks, then started with football and now shoot freelance and sell those pics as well. So, I'm not a full time pro and never intend to be, but I am working on continuing to climb the ladder of success as a freelance photog and the SS community has helped me with that and for that, I am thankful that I am a member.
http://www.RussErbePhotography.com :thumb
http://www.sportsshooter.com/erbeman
D700, D300, Nikkor 35-70 F/2.8, Nikkor 50mm F/1.8, Nikkor 70-200 AF-S VR F/2.8, Nikkor AF-S 1.7 teleconverter II,(2) Profoto D1 500 Air,SB-900, SB-600, (2)MB-D10, MacBook Pro
I enjoy reading through sportsshooter.com, I have gotten some good info from that site. I hope they keep it open to us general photographers. As for membership the above posts covered it pretty well. It would not be good to let every one in and water down the content.
Steve
www.slipkid.com
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money". -- Margaret Thatcher
To try and make the point a different way:
I'm a pretty good golfer too, (a 2 hdcp then) and a few years ago was playing with my brother and my nephew. (They are not good.. ;-0).
I had one of those days that everything went it the hole and shot 68. The next week, while at a family party, my nephew tells everyone what I shot. The questions immediately started flying, "Why aren't you on the tour?" "Could you beat Tiger?"
My response was simple (and relates here)
I'm a two hdcp. That means there are 770,000 golfers in the world that are better than me.
Practice, practice, practice.....
Troy, MI
D700/200, SB800(4), 70-200, 300 2.8 and a few more
www.sportsshooter.com/tjk60
Sportshooter Member
***********************
D3, D700, 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 VR, 50 f1/8, 200-400 VR f/4, 300/2.8 VR, 400 f/2.8 VR, 85 f/1.8, TC-14E II, TC-17E II, Sigma 15/2.8 Fisheye, SB-900 (2), SD-9, SB-600, AB800 (2), misc. other stuff
thanks again,
curtis
Failure is not an option for me,
So i just keep pressing the shutter and trying again.
http://allensfoto.net
:gun2
Why?
You merged one one thread that was asking (not proper etiquette)for a sponsor to get into sportshooter with a very informative thread (Thanks John! It should/could be a sticky) with insightful information.
2 totally different threads IMO.
I'm a "Combat Sports Photographer" in the Minneapolis area, and I already know my market. I've been published in a few magazines for my MMA work, know the promoters and fighters in my state, have had customers from coast to coast, and regularly get contacted those from near and abroad. Getting exposure for myself and my work really isn't an issue.
I also don't feel like discussing what I do with "professionals". Particularly the part where I give away ideas to people that are making far more money than myself. I'm selfish like that.
But I suppose simply making this comment is how to be blackballed from the club.....
www.HoofClix.com / Personal Facebook / Facebook Page
and I do believe its true.. that there are roads left in both of our shoes..
As I mentioned earlier in the other Sportshooter thread, I am withdrawing my request for a sponsor. I didn't know the turmoil I was starting and apologize to anyone I offended.
SmugMug: www.randyjacksonimages.com
Email: randyjacksonimages@cox.net
Photography Blog: http://randyonphotography.com
No worries my friend. Being a member of SS is kinda sacred to whom have made it in. So, everyone tends to try to make it hard to let others in, otherwise it wouldn't mean anything to be a member.
http://www.RussErbePhotography.com :thumb
http://www.sportsshooter.com/erbeman
D700, D300, Nikkor 35-70 F/2.8, Nikkor 50mm F/1.8, Nikkor 70-200 AF-S VR F/2.8, Nikkor AF-S 1.7 teleconverter II,(2) Profoto D1 500 Air,SB-900, SB-600, (2)MB-D10, MacBook Pro
In the interests of keeping this dialog open and public I'm going to take a different tact than Russ. To me there isn't anything sacred about a membership in sportsshooter. Remember, as I said earlier I have no illusions about membership - this is NOT a community of the TOP 1% or whatever. Think of membership like a CPA credential. No need to think in awe of people that are members - I certainly wouldn't use the term 'sacred'. And it should be repeated - there are many, many sports shooters out there that never bother to gain membership. Many of them very successful and extremely talented. I like to think of membersip as akin to a Bachelor's degree. There are plenty of talented people in the world without bachelor's degrees. There are also plenty of people with bachelor's degrees who I wouldn't want working for my company. But just like a bachelor's degree takes work, so does sportsshooter membership. You have to put in the work - first then you get the degree / membership. The big difference here being - sportsshooter membership is hardly a requirement for jobs.
In the end - I am far more interested in the quality of work product and quality of advice (in the case of forums) rather than the sportsshooter membership. Sure I'm proud of the fact I'm in it. If I weren't it wouldn't be my avatar. But at the end of the day, the quality of work is what's important. Snaplocally is a very good example. He doesn't want to join - but his work is better than quite a few sportsshooter members.
Again, just my personal opinion.
SportsShooter.com is an online community and resource for sports photographers and other working photojournalists.
It serves as an informative and inspiring site for anyone who aspires to be on the sidelines capturing great moments at their favorite sporting venue.
______
A company looking to hire a photographer can type in their area (state, country, city) and find someone in their area. Members are required to put forth their full name, address, and phone numbers, and of course a user gallery as for their work to be seen.
Here's my take on your questions:
- Typically when people are new to sportsshooter and have a business question they'll post it in the forum over there - only members can post. There may or may not be public discussion. But very often much of the discussion is via email behind the scenes. But like any other community, whether or not people take the time out to respond to you depends on your relationship to them. If you're viewed as a positive contributor to the community you're more likely, IMO, to get help. I have a couple individuals I will trade emails with regarding questions about the industry or my business so I no longer post business specific questions.
- As to whether or not it will be helpful for you - it only costs $25 per year. So, if you've got images that meet the criteria it's not much of an investment - try it for a couple years and if it doesn't get you anything you'vee only wasted $50.
- As for the status - your interpretation is correct. Sports photographers, myself included, tend to be a very prideful lot. In conversations with other shooters in the real world working professionally, I've never had sportsshooter come up. It tends to come up on the message boards. I think many people on sports forums look at it as a badge of honer that they are more than a Guy With Camera (GWC). Having said that though - if you look at the huge list of members, most don't post on Sportsshooter or other message forums - those people are in it for a chance at networking. But, even looking at it as an unimportant status symbol - that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Not if it causes a person to critically look at their work product and challenge themselves to do better. Even if you're not making money if people can use it as a motivator to get better. But within the professional community I don't get any sense whatsoever that membership has anywhere near the same status as it does to message boards. But that doesn't mean the conacts you make and the advice you get can't be worth membership. Just like being a member of a local chamber of commerce. It's another avenue to network and learn.
Again, all this is my own personal opinion.So far I have only worked one sporting event as a professional.
I was working for a sports shooter member, who in my opinion was unprofessional. Including not keeping track of when i was there. no contact for months after the event. And finally when i got paid I was underpaid because they refused to believe I was there one of the days I was.
Another shooter there specifically asked if I was a sports shooter member. I also considered him much more professional than the person i was working for.
So my experience it has come up in conversation, and I agree that the quality of SS members vary widely even from my limited experience.
That will return a list of members in Australia; as long as they have identified themselves as such.
(I hope the search capability is available to non-members
And no, you do not pay dues until you are accepted as a member.
Kent
"Not everybody trusts paintings, but people believe photographs."- Ansel Adams
Web site
His thread has a ton of helpful info on how to shoot mx. Anyone looking to shoot football, baseball, etc could do worse than follow his lead.
imho
Shay.
This explains much vis the outcome of my own recent application to Sportsshooter:
Although I suppose I'm now a "hobbyist" (was a PJ stringer in the 1980s-1990s and currently a local events, stock, and wedding freelancer), I developed a passion for photographing sailing races for the past four years, and winning prizes for some of my images in juried photo competitions each of those years. So I decided to pursue competive sailing and other marine sports photography as a professional, but first wanted to develop my skills not only through more practice but also by learning from the work of and interacting with those who shoot sports for a living (even if they don't cover marine sports).
When a friend suggested checking out Sportsshooter.com, I thought it would have a place for folks like me; i.e., beginning sports photographers who wanted to go way beyond the beginner's level. Apparently that's not the case, as both my application rejection and johng's post seem to demonstrate.
Nevertheless, I'm glad I at least tried, and I'm grateful for the feedback and advice I got from Sportsshooter's Brad Mangin, who reviewed the sailiing shots I submitted with my application. He was both very courteous and very helpful.
Sportsshooter seems like a great social networking site (and, let's face it, that's primarily what it is), and while I may not be able to learn as much from it as I could've had I been allowed to join it as a beginner in order to use the forums, I'll try again down the road, after I've compiled the kinds if images Brad said I would need.
Cheers!
Great info in this thread!
Thanks everybody!