In your experience/area, how long after an event are proofs posted? How long until pre-orders are fulfilled?
It varies a lot. Anything from unedited proofs posted within 48 hours and fulfilled within another 24 (I only buy digital these days) to lightly edited posted within 10-14 days and fufilled within another week or so. Some photographers require you to pre-pay to see your photos and then credit all or part of the fee toward a purchase, and they typically post the pre-paid photos first but it’s usually only first by a few hours up to a day or so. I haven’t ever straight up pre-paid for competition photos but I would expect that to be within a week or two as well unless the event was truly massive and they are editing everything before posting/sending.
Granted I’ve only experienced a handful of show photographers, but here’s my experience:
- proofs posted within 2-3 days. Must purchase proof unlock to view proofs. Printed and edited purchased usually received/shipped in a week or two.
- proofs posted same day. No editing/proof unlock. Printed images within a week, digital images instantly
- proofs took almost 2 months. No proof unlock purchase required. Digital images purchased were instant. I think there was a fair amount of editing done before proofs were posted but not all competitors had images. Photographer later said if you wish to have images captured at future events, you could buy coverage for something crazy ($300 maybe? Don’t remember) and that didn’t include digital or print images; just coverage
- AECs photographer- super awesome! Pictures posted throughout the event and the package for all photos was reasonable imo. All images posted within a week after the event
Like others have said, depends on the photographers work flow. I name all images with the riders last name / event date / file number (easier to find years down the road), cull and lightly edit. I try to have proofs posted by Wed after an event. All ordered images (digitals and prints) are fully edited. This does take time and if proofs are posted Wed and Im back on the road to my next event Friday, that leaves me one day to edit orders not even considering non-biz things like laundry, banking etc. It can take as long as 3 or 4 wks to get ordered images during the season - which actually is a good thing. You WANT your official photograhers overflowing with orders so they dont consider a new profession. LOL
Joan From Flatlands
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IME, the photographer at The Ntl Drive has proofs available for same day viewing in his trailer.
Posted online after the event, but you can order images onsite & have them available as soon as the end of the week. Not sure about prints, but digital on a CD or USB drive are ready that quickly.
when we take a horse to a Show, the shows we attend the show photographer will have proofs post to their web site after each session organized by ring and class numbers. The photographer who usually takes the main ring will have an employee of equal caliber taking shots in each ring
Two of my kids are profession photographers, neither would be a horse show photographer as if they were you would end up with some sort artistry interruption of what they would want the horse to be. My son who went to college for photography once had several of his classmates here, they were taking shots of the horses… most were really nice photos of an eye focused on the eyelashes
Depends widely. If it’s Erin Gilmore or SDH they try to be up within 24-48 hours of the class and they are edited. I find others are a week to two.
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Thanks. I think I’m spoiled, with these as my “regular” competition photographers!
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Hi, Erin Gilmore here. Great comments here on photographer expectations. I’m a rider myself, and I designed my business to make very high quality images available quickly because I truly feel the frustration of being excited about your ride at a horse show - and then having to wait for photos. I always thought there had to be a better way - so I created one. No system is perfect but I work hard to make mine close to it.
Eventing by nature requires many photographers to fully cover a rider’s competition day, and the work that goes into that is no small task. However we truly enjoy it and in my first two horse trials of 2024, we’ve had fully edited photos available same day or by 8am the next day. So, you can adjust your expectations to same day 
Why? Because as a rider it would literally make me crazy to wait weeks or cringe months for photos.
After learning the business and working for others, I became motivated to change the narrative on positive leadership and what being a successful photographer means. I’ve built a team of very strong and talented photographers by providing positive mentoring, a culture of business transparency, and technical skill building. A portion of sales from my photos go directly back to my team - by investing in them, my business is stronger for it, and they are motivated to be the best they can be. The result is a successful business model! SDH was the first person I hired, seven years ago, and she is now running her own shows at the same high standard, which is fantastic to see.
Keep talking, I love to see it!
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