Horse show photography - how does it work in the US/UK?

[Curly_Feather]

Hi! I’m in South Africa. A friend of mine is a photographer at horse shows, and she’s interested in restructuring her packages to something more appealing to buyers. Currently what happens at most shows here is that the photographer takes pictures of the class, and a few minutes later the images are available for browsing on PCs set up somewhere at the venue. The clients then pick the images they like, and buy either prints or digital copies. The main issue is that the prices charged for each photo is rather expensive, so sales are usually restricted to one or two pics per customer, even though there might be lots of nice ones.

Also, most people have cell phones or cameras of their own, and ask friends to video/photograph for them. It costs nothing, and while the pics might not be super professional quality, you will probably find a handful of nice ones among the dozens your friend can take.

My one suggestion (and something I would be willing to pay for) is to pay a certain (reasonable) price that will include ALL the pics taken of my class, or the top 20 images, for example. Is this something that is available in the USA or the UK? Can you guys give me some examples of packages that exist where you are that encourage photo sales? Or is there something you don’t have that you would love?

Thanks! Any ideas would be MUCH appreciated

[atlatl]

Terri Miller frequents the forums so perhaps she will respond.

What I’m used to seeing at dressage shows in So. Cal is that a rider signs up in advance and pays a fee. The photographer then makes sure to be at the right ring at the right time to photograph those riders that signed up. The photos are typically not immediately available as there is usually cropping and adjustments made so as to provide a true professionally created photograph. The proofs are made available via websites where they can be purchased in a variety of packages ranging from physical prints to photo books, to prints on canvas, and even the digital files.

[Curly_Feather]

Thanks for the reply! I’ll give this feedback to my friend Hopefully a few more people are willing to chime in with their experiences.

[toady123]

If your friend is making more money selling a couple photos at a higher price, then I am not sure what the incentive would be to sell more at a lower price (assuming of course the first model is working). It benefits the buyer of course, but not the seller. Or is the idea that more people will buy photos if they can get more at the lower price?

I have seen all kinds of things - a set-up like you describe where people can see photos on site, and others where the photos are available on a website after the event. Packages range and can consist of prints, or digital copies. You can often buy single photos, or packages of difference sizes.

I would suggest that your friend asks her local clients - what works in the in North America is not necessarily going to work locally for her. You have to know your own market.

I will also say that turnover for show photographers is often high as people start doing it and realize that there is no money in it. People have their own cameras, phones, tablets etc, and can steal things off the internet. The appreciation for good professional photography is often lacking unfortunately.

[Curly_Feather]

Thanks for the reply! The idea is for her to draw more sales, hopefully, by offering a variety of packages that could appeal to a wider market. Unfortunately, I do think it’s a business in decline, because as you say, people have their own cameras etc.

[Engage]

Curly_Feather, I seem to remember you are in JHB? I’m in CT, and most photographers work a little differently here. They will upload watermarked albums onto their websites after the show, once edited. Interested parties then ask for specific photos and these are mailed to them or Dropboxed to them after payment - without watermark and at a higher resolution.

Many of them ask a set fee for one picture and then another set fee for all the pics of your horse together. This would vary depending on the type of show.

Many of the photographers also offer one-on-one shoots with the rider and their horse - more “pretty” staged photographs.

[GotMyPony]

I’m friends with a well-known regional show photographer who unfortunately says that show photographers taking “still” photos are a dying breed because so many people have decent smartphone cameras, etc. So he has chosen to focus on videos instead - videos of a jumping round, dressage test, or a clinic session, for example. He then puts the videos on his youtube channel and gives the client a link so that she/he can see the video, share it, put it on their Facebook, etc.

He has the clients sign up in advance so that he doesn’t waste time taping every session with no way of knowing whether riders will buy (like the old still photo method). Having prior arrangements makes his day less tiring/stressful and gives him a chance to watch parts of the shows, visit with friends, etc. He’s liking it a lot.

[GoodTimes]

It’s not very often that a photographer gets more then one or two good pictures of a single horse/rider over the course of a show.

Reasons I wouldn’t buy a photo:
1.Too far away
2.Timing is off
3. The jump (poles/standards) is ugly
4. Everything covered in mud
5. Portapotties, vehicles, etc. in the background
6. Standard, etc is hiding too much of the horse or rider
7. Rider having unusally pour eq, horse pinning ears, etc

I usually just pick one picture to buy (I do like to support the photographers), but there are only so many places to put a framed picture in my house. The last photographer I bought from actually gave me a free 4x6 magnet of the picture so it’s on my fridge and the photo itself is tucked away safe.

[poltroon]

I have really valued being able to buy a cd of all images that were taken of me, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[JenEM]

@Curly_Feather;8784753

My one suggestion (and something I would be willing to pay for) is to pay a certain (reasonable) price that will include ALL the pics taken of my class, or the top 20 images, for example. Is this something that is available in the USA or the UK? Can you guys give me some examples of packages that exist where you are that encourage photo sales? Or is there something you don’t have that you would love?

There is an Eventing photographer around here who does something like that–not all the photos, but I have a few discs where I got to pick quite a few photos (maybe a dozen?) and got digital copies of all of them for something like $75. Not super high-res, but certainly nice enough for Facebook, etc. I really liked that.

One of the photographers I bought from this spring offered a free digital copy with purchase of an 8x10 print, and honestly, that got me to spend a little bit more on getting the 8x10 rather than a 5x7, just so I wouldn’t have to pay for a digital copy, too.

I do wish more photographers here would offer more digital packages, as I don’t have the room for dozens of prints to sit/hang around, but I do like supporting photographers. If I had the option of getting like, 5 of them for a set price, I’d probably do that quite frequently.

[Highflyer]

[QUOTE=JenEM;8813838]
There is an Eventing photographer around here who does something like that–not all the photos, but I have a few discs where I got to pick quite a few photos (maybe a dozen?) and got digital copies of all of them for something like $75. Not super high-res, but certainly nice enough for Facebook, etc. I really liked that.

One of the photographers I bought from this spring offered a free digital copy with purchase of an 8x10 print, and honestly, that got me to spend a little bit more on getting the 8x10 rather than a 5x7, just so I wouldn’t have to pay for a digital copy, too.

I do wish more photographers here would offer more digital packages, as I don’t have the room for dozens of prints to sit/hang around, but I do like supporting photographers. If I had the option of getting like, 5 of them for a set price, I’d probably do that quite frequently.[/QUOTE]

That’s probably GRC Photography. They have a 15 digital photos on a CD for $75 deal, which I love-- they shoot many of the events in this area so I’ll often wait and get 1-2 photos from each event throughout the season. Otherwise I think it’s $25 for one photo and $45 for 3.

The other main eventing photographer in my area is very, very talented but you have to pay either per competition or for the season to view her photos and then if you buy you get a partial credit from the viewing fee. I only do it if I’ve had a really good day, and then I can usually only afford one picture.

[Curly_Feather]

Thanks so much for the replies everyone

Engage - Yes, I’m in JHB. I go to quite a lot of both jumping and dressage shows around here, and haven’t run into too many package deals.