I Want to Become a Professional Sports Photographer

[ginoo]

Hello All,



Anyways, I've been watching the Olympics for the past few days (since it's the only thing on at 4am) and couldn't help noticing all of the photographers covering the events. I know, the Olympics is one of the biggest media events every 2 years, but it pretty much inspired me to want to become a sports photographer... You get to travel the world, you're always shooting something new, you meet new people, etc. It's everything I want.

I'm not 100% sure how to get my foot in the door and I don't even know if it's possible to make a comfortable career ($100k/yr+) out of sports photography.

Oh, and a little about myself: I'm 17, born and raised in the silicon valley, California. Been shooting for around 7 years. Started off with skate photography, got hired to shoot for a team and landed some photos in a mag. Got bored of that scene since I was going nowhere and got into live music photography. Worked with bands and artists such as Blink 182, Avicii, Yellowcard, Antiflag, etc. It's good money for now but would like to pursue something that'll allow me to travel the world (photography related).

Please let me know what my options are and if you know anything about the world of sports photography.

 

[jamesbjenkins]

Welcome to the forum!

You're still very young, so you're in a position to get started off right. My best advice would be to find yourself a great BFA (bachelor's of fine arts) in photography program and get accepted. Do your best to get connected with the Public Affairs office and/or the athletic dept at your school, specifically whoever is in charge of shooting the sports for your school. Get with them, learn, volunteer, intern, whatever you can do to get exposure / training. Your BFA classes will provide you the technical foundation that 90% of supposedly pro photogs don't spend enough time working on.

Network like a champ your first semester and a half, and work on scoring an internship your first college summer. Be humble and teachable, and show people you're willing to work your butt off. If you have a natural eye for sports shooting, you shouldn't have a problem getting at least an opportunity with somebody.

Hate to break it to you, but I don't know of ANYONE who makes $100k+ in sports shooting. Almost everybody at the big events are employed by media outlets (Getty, AP, etc.) or publications (print, web, magazine, etc.) and they're almost always salaried. The real money in photography is in teaching, writing, getting people to read your blog (a la Scott Kelby)

Photography is not a glamorous industry. Especially sports shooting. It's week after week of working terrible hours and dealing with art directors and editors who don't care about anything but deadlines.

Hopefully, this helps. Forums like this are a great place to learn and share.

 

[o hey tyler]

Love to see a 17y/o's interpretation of a photograph with Blink 182. Care to share?

 

[MK3Brent]

Post up your magazine photos, complete with title of publication and dates.

 

[jamesbjenkins]

Post up your magazine photos, complete with title of publication and dates.

Trap. Set.

 

[ginoo]

No problem...

Feel free to check out my website Gino Troian Photography

I don't have any skate photos on my website but I do have the original ads used in the mag:

 

[ginoo]

Blehh I'm not sure I know it's Skidmark Skatemag and it was published around November 2009.

 

[jamesbjenkins]

Nice shot. Motel Photography?

How'd you light that? There's a perfectly placed spot on his face...

 

[ginoo]

Yes sir... Motel was my skate photo name...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamotel

EDIT: Had two strobes going off behind me... I believe it was 3/4pwr 3 feet photgs left and 1/8pwr right above me faced towards the sun.

 

[ginoo]

Anyways, thank you James for giving me information about the job... I will be attending an art school next year, as I am taking a year off to ski in Switzerland. I actually planned on getting an MFA in photography, preferably commercial photography. What I do know for sure is that I will make photography a career.

 

[KmH]

Visit and try to join by submitting photos at SportsShooter.com: Educate Yourself / Photojournalism

 

[o hey tyler]

Oh, okay. So you worked with Blink 182, and Yellowcard like I worked with Barack Obama.

Gotcha.

 

[ginoo]

I work directly with management, not the artists themselves, sorry. I should have made it more clear.

I get hired by the artists management and send them photos with all rights reserved. I do not work with any media outlets or publications.

I don't believe you are getting paid to take photos of Obama.......

Edit: Here's an example of a show I shot and got paid.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150644402326563.449458.12169791562&type=3

 

[ginoo]

Okay I'm tired of having to prove my credentials to everyone.

KmH I have no idea how that website you posted works :/ I'll try figuring it out later haha.

Do you have any input or opinions on sports photography as a career?

 

[o hey tyler]

I work directly with management, not the artists themselves, sorry. I should have made it more clear.

I get hired by the artists management and send them photos with all rights reserved. I do not work with any media outlets or publications.

I don't believe you are getting paid to take photos of Obama.......

Edit: Here's an example of a show I shot and got paid.

San Francisco, CA (2/3/2012) | Facebook

Yes, I actually got paid to take photos of Obama. I work(ed) for a newspaper at the time, and was on the clock.

I did the same thing you did, take photos from a crowd of people (except I was in the press section). I "worked" with Obamas security team as well, if being frisked and searched by them constitutes "working."