Does anyone shoot school sports professionally?

[Ryan L]

Today I received our teams Little League photos...a little soft perhaps...no more like vaseline on the lens soft, and I don't mean around the outside...I mean the entire thing! I wish I could see exif data on these. I dont know if it was motion blur, or just plain they forgot to focus. Either way, they were more than bad and although I may be a tad pickier than the average consumer, I heard it from some of my players before I even looked at them.

So to my original subject, is there anyone who shoots school sports? Just curious how you got into it? Did you have to bid for the contract? IS a portion of the proceeds going back tot he athletic program? I am thinking they are contracted though larger companies, but I was asking around about the contract and was told to go to the board meeting with some prices and examples of my work. I have really started making an impression around the school, and think I could pull it off if I can stay competitive.

 

[gsgary]

From what i have seen of the politics in US schools after watching Jamie Oliver Calling Delaware and Vermont: We need you! | Jamie Oliver (US) i wouldn't want to shoot in any US school even though i do kids sports in the UK

 

[Ryan L]

I see that in bigger cities. Schools in my town are a lot smaller, less political, more "good ol' boy system". I have been trying to rub elbows with the right people.

 

[Ryan L]

Do you just shoot privately for individuals or you do photography for the entire programs? I remember some of your wrestling shots, your tips helped me out a lot when I started shooting indoor sports.

 

[gsgary]

We shoot football and ruby tournaments and print on site with a dye sub printer anyone can buy sometimes pay 10% back

 

[CCericola]

In my experience, the company that has the contract for school/yearbook pictures may or may not have a contract for the sports because they make less money. Sounds like the photo is just plain out of focus. Most school photography companies do not require any photography experience when hiring because they want to teach you the way they want it done. So it is possible the employee messed up and didn't know it. Come up with a proposal, pricing and examples and go for it. You can have the parents prepay or proof either in paper form or online. It is entirely up to you. Companies including myself offer a percentage of sales to the school or club as pictures are often a fund raiser for the season. I have found that offering a percentage of the sales encourages the coaches and committees to really get involved in the sales and is more cost effective than paying a sales rep. A good thing to have is a police background check on you and any assistants to show the commitee. You will also need insurance to cover injury or equipment problems. It also helps if you are PSPA certified if you are up against the big guys like Lifetouch. I use Millers labs for events. They offer all the mugs, keychains etc that parents want. You can also offer custom products and sell them on the millers sight. And from experience, also have backgrounds and lights for an indoor shoot in case it rains. Often sports leagues cannot reschedule pictures and the have to be done indoors.

 

[Ryan L]

In my experience, the company that has the contract for school/yearbook pictures may or may not have a contract for the sports because they make less money. Sounds like the photo is just plain out of focus. Most school photography companies do not require any photography experience when hiring because they want to teach you the way they want it done. So it is possible the employee messed up and didn't know it. Come up with a proposal, pricing and examples and go for it. You can have the parents prepay or proof either in paper form or online. It is entirely up to you. Companies including myself offer a percentage of sales to the school or club as pictures are often a fund raiser for the season. I have found that offering a percentage of the sales encourages the coaches and committees to really get involved in the sales and is more cost effective than paying a sales rep. A good thing to have is a police background check on you and any assistants to show the commitee. You will also need insurance to cover injury or equipment problems. It also helps if you are PSPA certified if you are up against the big guys like Lifetouch. I use Millers labs for events. They offer all the mugs, keychains etc that parents want. You can also offer custom products and sell them on the millers sight. And from experience, also have backgrounds and lights for an indoor shoot in case it rains. Often sports leagues cannot reschedule pictures and the have to be done indoors.

Our school portrait/yearbook are different then sports. As a matter of fact all the sports have different companies photograph as well. I have coached for a few years so I know most everyone in the league, and that requires a background check so I am good there.

I will look into PSPA, and I have been getting quotes for 1Mil liability ins.

My local professional lab has many templates and have everything sports you could ask for.

Plenty of backgroung/lighting...even school colors.

So down to the the percentage kick back. 10-15% of the PROFIT seems pretty fair to me. What do yout think?

 

[CCericola]

Percentage is based off of sales not profit.

 

[Ryan L]

You mean you base your percentage off sales? I am saying profit, or after expenses. This means more for me...which is what I like.

 

[Ryan L]

Hmm I think I am going to piece together some sample images and bring them into the next board meeting. Too late for this years season, but next year I am on it. Football does start in the fall, but I am guessing it's already lined up. Since Little League inparticular is a non profit, would donating a portion back be a charitable donation? Is there a difference between saying I am donating a portion of the proceeds, or giving them a kick back. I think these may be questions for an accountant, and a small business attorney, but thought I would ask around first anyway so I go in with some questions.

 

[CCericola]

It's not based on your profit it is based on the actual sales. If you base it on your profit it is impossible for the client to verify sales unless you disclose everything including printing costs and how much you are marking the products up. The % to the school should be calculated into the price before hand so your profit margin stays consistent.

 

[CCericola]

Example: Package A sells for $50.00 - $15 printing cost - 10% to School ( $5 ) - 7% Sales tax for NJ ($3.50) = $26.50 or a 53% margin. My margins range from 30-40% to stay competitive. Even though my margins are lower I make up for it in volume of sales.

*disclosure, I do have a business manager that does this for me so I apologize ahead of time if I calculated something wrong