No appreciation for what I feel are decent photos

[ac12]

As with others, if you get one or two thanks, that is plenty.
It is the old 80-20 rule; only 20% will thank you, the other 80% just expect it.

Many people today expect things, and don't think about the effort to do it. In fact it works in reverse. Put out a set of pix of only a few players, and you will start to hear complaints from the parents whose kids are not in the pix. "Where's the pictures of my kid!" The expectation attitude of some people, sometimes makes you want to quit. Because the next level of complaint is, "The picture of my kid isn't as good at the pictures of XYZ kid!" and "Why does kid XYZ have more pictures than my kid!" And how do you get a game pix of a kid, who the coach doesn't let play in a real game? I've seen players never come off the bench.

My take is that parents want pix of THEIR KID, they don't care about the other kids.
So sometimes a TIGHT shot of their kid is more relevant to them, than an over all action shot that a sports photog might go for.
I've shot high school volleyball and basketball games, in the gym, and there are parents with a 70-200 lens For reference, I am shooting with a 35 (normal lens on a DX camera). So they are going for the TIGHT shot of THEIR KID.

The pix that I'm doing now for the AD and coaches, reflects some of that; a shot is cropped 2 ways, #1 a wide overall shot so you can see the action/play (what I used to do), #2 a tight shot of the player (where it makes sense) to get the action up close for that one player/student. Where I used to do a full body crop, now I'm doing tighter half body crops. With the tight crops, the facial expression becomes more visible, and the shot has more impact, for the parent.

For some of the teams, I sort the pix files. This helps me to balance the number of shots per player, so one player does not get toooo many pix, which is very easy to do.

• By their jersey number; so the file name would be 07-XXXXX.jpg. 07 being the jersey number.
  
• For tennis, it is by match position. S1-XXX.jpg for 1st singles, D2-XXX.jpg for 2nd doubles.

Yeah the sorting and renaming takes time and effort, but I think the resulting balancing of number of pix is worth it.
Someone that did not get many shots in one game, I will try to get more shots on the next game.

Again, you have to do it for YOUR OWN self satisfaction

 

[Designer]

It sure does make a massive difference, and then 7pm turns into 11pm in moments.

Instead of burning yourself out over the gratis photography work, just start being really no, REALLY selective, and pick out only a few of your very best shots to post up.

One; you'll spend less time editing,

and Two; maybe someone will appreciate a photo or two once in a while.

As for me; ALL of my photography is "for free". Mostly family, so I wouldn't presume to charge them, and they actually do appreciate the photos I give them.

One year I printed up a bunch of 8x10s and framed them and gave them as Christmas gifts. Everybody got at least one, and some got two, depending on who all was in the shot.

I am not nearly as generous as you are, so there is little chance that I would volunteer to take a bunch of photos of the local sports teams or children's groups and post them up for all to have. That's not going to happen.

 

[ac12]

The other thing is the parents want the pictures, for free, and not even offer to give you a donation to help cover your expenses and cost of gear.
And when you get into low light indoor and night sport photography, we all know that gear gets expensive. They think it is a $500 Costco kit, not a$4,000+, FF camera + f/2.8 lens.

As @Designer said, maybe cut down the production, and only put up a FEW selected shots. Quality over quantity. Then see if anyone appreciates your pictures enough to talk to you and thank you.
But be ready for the "where is the picture of MY kid!!!"

 

[MetroRuss]

I have decided that I will only post photos of people who have acknowledged the efforts and time I put into the craft.

I have found that just putting up one photo at a time is usually the best option for receiving a response on a group forum. Sure it is nice to have a record of action from the game, but posting all the images is like having your aunt start showing you every image from her last trip.

Designer did a couple nice edits and any single image similar to those that you edit and post from your kids game would have people looking forward to your image from the next game.

A few thoughts...
People don't have time to look at a bunch of images, much less comment on them.
Eliminate as much distraction from around the subject as possible to grab the viewer.
Good composition to keep the viewers attention.

 

[MetroRuss]

Sad but true

When it comes to free photos, people are generally ungrateful.

 

[MetroRuss]

Thanks for the support Sharon

Derrel nailed it. I take a ton of photos of our rec softball league and of my daughter's high school field hockey team. All are shared on social media (Facebook for the parents, Instagram for the kids). If I were doing it for thanks or appreciation I would have stopped a long time ago. As for sharing on the team app - that could be part of the lack of response. Maybe save up the best ones for a slide show during the end of the season banquet if there is one...

Do it because you enjoy it and/or because it helps you improve your skills and to have your scrap book that your family will cherish.

 

[ac12]

Entitled Expectation was the words that I was looking for.
The people/parents feel that they are entitled to the pictures as part of their kid being in a sports program.
They don't recognize that someone who is not paid, had to do all the work.

The HS tennis team that I shoot, only the coaches and ONE parent has thanked me for the pix that I shot last year.
None of the other parents have sent thanks via the coaches.
For me, that the coaches thanked me, was sufficient to get me to shoot this next year, and next year.

 

[Designer]

For me, that the coaches thanked me, was sufficient to get me to shoot this next year, and next year.

You guys are WAY more generous than I.

 

[jeffW]

Allow me to play devil's advocate. How do you know the kids really want you taking pictures and posting? I played a lot of sports in school, was never going to make an Olympic team but had a lot of fun. In today's world I don't think I would of wanted the self conscience pressure that some dad might have captured me tripping over the ball, missing a save, etc.. that can be so easily published. "Hey Steve does your dad have a picture of Jeff flipping over the boards? I want to show it to Stephanie"

Working as a PJ I photographed a lot of high school and college sports honesty there's not a lot of grace out there and you could see how published images changed the team's inner dynamics. (who the star was/n't) Had to sit through a couple of meetings why wasn't my kid on the front page!

In college there was a class V river we'd kayak down that sat next to a road. A lot of motorist would stop and get out the camera. Even in the middle of a class V rapid we are self conscience that someone is taking our picture.

Again just playing devil's advocate maybe not everyone has the same enthusiasm for being recorded photographically.

 

[The_Traveler]

I have decided that I will only post photos of people who have acknowledged the efforts and time I put into the craft.

IME, people don't give a rat's behind about an effort that they aren't aware of and th time that you are choosing to put into it.
If you're not doing it for yourself but for the praise you can wring from others, your efforts won't be very rewarding.
Besides the very occasional event, i've never shot for money or praise. I don't compete and don't enter shows, consequently i shoot what I want and still love photography because it is meaningful to me.

 

[SquarePeg]

Allow me to play devil's advocate. How do you know the kids really want you taking pictures and posting? I played a lot of sports in school, was never going to make an Olympic team but had a lot of fun. In today's world I don't think I would of wanted the self conscience pressure that some dad might have captured me tripping over the ball, missing a save, etc.. that can be so easily published. "Hey Steve does your dad have a picture of Jeff flipping over the boards? I want to show it to Stephanie"

Working as a PJ I photographed a lot of high school and college sports honesty there's not a lot of grace out there and you could see how published images changed the team's inner dynamics. (who the star was/n't) Had to sit through a couple of meetings why wasn't my kid on the front page!

In college there was a class V river we'd kayak down that sat next to a road. A lot of motorist would stop and get out the camera. Even in the middle of a class V rapid we are self conscience that someone is taking our picture.

Again just playing devil's advocate maybe not everyone has the same enthusiasm for being recorded photographically.

Some really valid points here. You do need to be careful if you’re sharing the photos that you’re not embarrassing someone.

Because my daughter is a teenager (15) and it’s such a tough age already, I make it a point not to share any photos of her teammates that are really unflattering or that show anyone slacking, lacking or hacking. This eliminates a lot of photos in field hockey because the goggles and the mouthpiece are particularly unflattering. Softball season is so much easier! But even then, I don’t share photos of strike outs or dropped balls.

I’ve found that most of the girls like seeing the photos and many will repost on their Instagram if it’s a photo of them scoring a goal or sliding into home or celebrating with a team mate after a good play.

The parents who can’t make it to the games (they are midweek 4pm start and many are still at work) do occasionally acknowledge the photos and are thankful to get a look at the games.

At the request of the coach and boosters I took photos on the field at Senior night last week of the seniors and their families and published them on the boosters Facebook page. It was misty raining and there were the usual issues with the lights. I had to work hard to get good images and was cursing myself for agreeing to do it when I had to edit every photo. The end results were well received and the families of the seniors were very appreciative which, in the end, made my efforts worthwhile.

 

[ronlane]

Lots of good opinions and thoughts on here. Some I would agree with, some, maybe not so much.

I would agree with the ideas of cropping. Here is a crop of the first image that I quickly did. I did not care for the stick in the foreground and the crowd is a little too much in focus for me as well. (I'd suggest shooting as wide open as you can, example f/2.8)

Sports is not as easy as some will think, even photogs can think it is easy to "spray and pray". But average people do not realize that it is work to get good images.

 

[ac12]

+1 to @SquarePeg
I also edit out the BAD/unflattering shots. That is just part of my edit routine.
I only pass pictures that I would want to see if it were me or my kid.

I found catching the scoring play difficult. In many sports, the action (hit, kick, toss, etc.) occurs a second or so before the goal, and it is VERY difficult to get both in the same shot.

The example I usually give is in basketball, the player jumps up to shoot the ball to the basket, but by the time the ball is in the basket, the player is either back on the ground or headed down in a not so flattering pose.​

Also lining up the player, the ball in flight, and the goal, is a matter of luck, of being in exactly the right spot to line up the three. But when you do get that lined up shot, it is soo cool.

What I find sad is that at MANY of the sports, there is very low attendance, by both students and parents. In the case of parents, I understand that parents work, so can't make games during their work day. The pictures are a way for them to see their kid in action.

 

[SquarePeg]

What I find sad is that at MANY of the sports, there is very low attendance, by both students and parents. In the case of parents, I understand that parents work, so can't make games during their work day. The pictures are a way for them to see their kid in action.

Football and hockey seem to be the most highly attended. I think because most of the games are at night! Other than a few scattered parents, the field hockey games are very underattended. Softball and baseball do much better. I don't know about soccer... but yes, the parents work and many of these games start at 4pm in another town. Impossible for most.

 

[ac12]

Our field games start at 4 or 430 then about 6-730 for the 2nd game. Start time of the 2nd game depends on the sport.
Football and lacrosse JV is the 1st game, and varsity the 2nd game.
Soccer is the reverse, varsity is the 1st game, and JV the 2nd game.
Baseball and softball start at 4 with no 2nd game. Because there are no lights on those fields, they have to finish while the sun is still up.

For viewing, tennis is an odd one. Of all the sports, there is very little/no place for the parents to view the kids playing. This seems to be common to several of the high schools in the area.

As for football, it is attended when it is a home game.
Friday was a road/away game where if we won (and we did) we would have cinched the league championship for the first time in 28 years.
Yet there were few in attendance
So importance and history did not make a difference in road/away attendance.