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Author Topic: Sports Photography Career help needed  (Read 7805 times)

JBooysen

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« on: March 01, 2008, 04:51:00 pm »

I have been coming to LL for quite some time but this is my first post.

I have always had an interest in photography but the past week I discovered sports photography and I am absolutely in love with it.  The thrill of getting only one chance to get that shot is fantastic.

I am now making an effort to get to as many games as possible(Field Hockey at the moment, Canada's Womans team is touring in South Africa) to get some experience.  So far I think it's going well but now I have a few important questions and I hope you guys can help me out.

I want to try and get into doing sports photography professionally but I have no clue how to do that.  

1.  Where do I need to go to get started out?  
2.  Anything in particular I need to be aware of?
3.  Can I simply try and get a press pass for events and work as a freelancer, or do you need to already work for a publication to be able to get a press pass?

Another thing I need help on is the gear.  Right now I'm shooting with the following.

Canon EOS 20D With vertical grip.
Canon 70-200 F2.8L  with a 1.4x converter since the Hockey Fields are pretty big.  Even with the converter reach is a problem.

What I want to try and get in this year.

Canon EOS 1D Mark III
Canon 400mm F2.8L
Canon 16-35 F2.8L
Canon 24-70 F2.8L
2x extender (to turn the 400mm into an 800mm F5.6 when needed)
Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS (To replace the 70-200 F2.8)

When I get the new gear I plan to use the 1D as the primary body and the 20D as a backup/short range body with maybe the 24-70 F2.8 on.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and the more detailed the better since I have zero exprience with this sort of thing  

Thanks in advance

Johan

PS.  I'm going to process all the RAW files tomorrow so I'll post a few to get some feedback on them.
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DarkPenguin

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2008, 05:13:37 pm »

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Morgan_Moore

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2008, 07:29:16 pm »

Getting 'work experience' with a local paper is a good start - be prepared to cover the games that the staffers dont want to - the little ones

Dont be conned into giving pictures away in exchange for access - you will make everyone hate you and doors will close


S
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Sam Morgan Moore Bristol UK

JBooysen

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2008, 02:32:18 am »

Darkpenguin -  Thanks, I can't believe I didn't fint that site on my own    

Sam - Thanks for the tips   I checked out your site and you really have some amazing pictures on there.  Had no idea sports photography could produce such amazing shots.  Guess I need to start thinking out of the box a bit more.  

Edit - By "work experience" do you mean try and get an assistants job with one of the staff photographers?
« Last Edit: March 03, 2008, 02:34:35 am by JBooysen »
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Morgan_Moore

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2008, 02:41:02 am »

Quote
Darkpenguin -  Thanks, I can't believe I didn't fint that site on my own   

Sam - Thanks for the tips   I checked out your site and you really have some amazing pictures on there.  Had no idea sports photography could produce such amazing shots.  Guess I need to start thinking out of the box a bit more.   

Edit - By "work experience" do you mean try and get an assistants job with one of the staff photographers?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178790\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I dont know what country you are in

'shadowing' , 'work experience' - its where you just follow some one round while they are doing thier job and maybe make them tea, unpaid, for a couple of weeks


Can be a bit emabarrasing if you are much over 25

S
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Sam Morgan Moore Bristol UK

JBooysen

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2008, 03:23:00 am »

   Well age is not that big a problem, I'm only 23.  Studied Graphic design but got fed up with it, maybe because I was mainly doing boring corporate design.  So I'm trying to make a career change.

I live in South Africa at the moment but I would love to move to either Canada or the USA.

Thanks again for the help  
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JBooysen

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2008, 06:39:05 am »

Ignore
« Last Edit: March 03, 2008, 06:55:47 am by JBooysen »
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Provokot

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2008, 01:18:50 pm »

Quote
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My advice: Shoot and shoot and shoot. Any sporting event be it a school event or an international match. Then show your pics to editors, submit them to stock libraries etc. Initially you'll have little or no success, but the sheer volume of shooting and post processing will sharpen your skills and your game will be raised.  I know of several youngsters whose persistence and dedication shooting small rock music gigs has earned them major paid shoots for big publishers. There's no reason you shouldn't enjoy the same success. Just make sure you're paid for the pics and that you retain the copyright.
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JBooysen

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2008, 03:35:41 pm »

Quote
My advice: Shoot and shoot and shoot. Any sporting event be it a school event or an international match. Then show your pics to editors, submit them to stock libraries etc. Initially you'll have little or no success, but the sheer volume of shooting and post processing will sharpen your skills and your game will be raised.  I know of several youngsters whose persistence and dedication shooting small rock music gigs has earned them major paid shoots for big publishers. There's no reason you shouldn't enjoy the same success. Just make sure you're paid for the pics and that you retain the copyright.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=181456\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Awesome thanks for the advice

I'm going to see the local university sport clubs this week to get their schedules so I can get started
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mahleu

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Sports Photography Career help needed
« Reply #9 on: March 18, 2008, 04:00:17 pm »

Quote
   Well age is not that big a problem, I'm only 23.  Studied Graphic design but got fed up with it, maybe because I was mainly doing boring corporate design.  So I'm trying to make a career change.

I live in South Africa at the moment but I would love to move to either Canada or the USA.

Thanks again for the help 
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178798\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Where are you in SA? I might be able to help you with some contacts.

Also try going to schools/universities/local sports clubs. You can gain a lot of practice and you don't have the pressure of working for someone. You can also sell photos to individuals, people like pics of themselves playing rugby etc.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2008, 08:25:40 am by mahleu »
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