Rex Photography
How can I start a sports photography business?
I want to take the children's team photos for baseball, football etc. around the community. How can I get started doing this? What are some good digital photo programs or websites that would allow me to turn out professional looking cards, gifts, and photos? I am looking for images, backgrounds, logos, things like that. I think my question was misunderstood. I take great photos, everyone thinks so and my work is frequently complimented. I am basically looking for a program that adds the details on the photos, like the team name, logos, and graphics, different designs of my choosing. I am also looking for a great place to get the supplies or ideas for gifts such as photo tote bags, bag tags, cards, etc. that I can add my images to and re-sale. I have the edge of this business in my community, due to my persistence and the quality of my work, but want to "keep them coming" with innovative ideas and creativity, and am looking for some terrific programs to work with, or places to get some inspiration and supplies. Thanks!
Public Comments
- Get trained!!! -Learn more than the basic of your camera, lighting, and digital manipulation. -If you had already done those things you wouldn't be asking this question Look, I'm not trying to be rude. Its true you don't have to be a "professional" photographer for that kind of business, I'm not suggesting four years of art school. But you do need more training than you can get from a book. You might want to look at courses offered at your local community college. The programs to use are PhotoShop and Lightbox, but they both require knowledge to use well. (edit) Okay, so you know how to use your camera a bit. I'm not trying to be rude but according to what you have said you still sound like an amature. Most team photos are taken by large companies like Lifetime. You could try to contact your local childrens's sports leauge to find out who they use. If they are using a large company, your best bet is to apply for a part time freelance position with them. If not, it may be viable to compete with other small studios. Your local proffesional photo lab will likely be able to help you with some of those other things. You can make money doing this despite what Vienna20 said and my own snarky attitude. However, you won't make much unless you are doing a lot of it. Which is difficult as the large companies do it for cheaper than you will be able to. If your interested in doing photo work with children, my advice is to start a portraight buisness. Don't bother will a studio. Studio space is horrendously expensive and totally unnessicary. Take the photos at your clients homes or outside. Spend your money on a good SLR kit and some good lights. I suggest Whitelightening kits as they are small yet verrsitile. If that didn't make much sense to you, you still need to take classes.
- If I can be blunt, that's not a viable business plan. People will pay for two kinds of family photography: 1) wedding and 2) studio portrait. That's about it. By all means go ahead if it turns you on, but don't expect to make $1.59 from it. If you want to make money shooting kids, go to work for the portrait studio at a department store or one of the Xmas photo booths in the local mall. Hope this helps, if only by saving you time and aggravation.
