Marc Fortier

All good points. I just think there's a missed opportunity here : if I want
to spend money on pix, and photographers want to sell more of their product,
there should be a way to grease the wheels to make this happen. Maybe I'm
an exception, but here's a business model that would work for me :

Event photographers offer medium resolution shots for cheap - say $5 a pop
for digital downloads. At this price I probably buy a few pix every race I
enter - no doubt others will do the same. I think of these as 'loss
leaders' that open the door to higher priced specialty items. I may print
out a few of these, post some to a website, etc. Now and then I see an
exceptional shot, and then I spring for the higher priced product from the
photographer, such as larger poster prints, framed prints, t-shirts,
silkscreened items, etc.

On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 4:55 PM, Luciano bailey wrote:

> I think the potential use reuse is the issue if your looking for a
> cheaper model have a friend post up and shoot some shots of you. I myself
> prefer to sell a disc usually at $100 includes multiple pics kind of a racer
> catalog. Winning races also will get you better pics. 2 cents
>
> > Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 13:28:13 -0800
> > From: shane@wickedar.com
> > To: frark4ta@gmail.com
> > CC: obra@list.obra.org
> > Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Why are event photos so expensive ?
> >
> >
> > Marc,
> >
> > It's sort of a "chicken and egg" problem. Event photographers often
> > don't get paid for their work. Sometimes the event producer will pay a
> > small amount - to be able to use (some of) the photographers work.
> > Other times, the agreement is just to allow the photographer access to
> > take shots. Then, the photographer can sell them for how ever much they
> > want.
> >
> > The problem is - very few participants are willing to pay for images
> > from the photographer - so the photographer often feels they have to
> > charge a reasonably higher rate to be able to make a return on their
> > time and equipment investment.
> >
> > The chicken and egg problem ... if they don't charge much - they don't
> > make much money. But by not charging much; will they get more volume in
> > sales? The answer has typically been a resounding "NO". So they charge
> > more. But by charging more; are they limiting volume of sales?
> > Probably. Where's the line they draw in the sales price of the digital
> > image?
> >
> > One last issue they face - digital photographs are easily used/reused in
> > lots of places and various instances that borders on commercial use -
> > shouldn't they be paid fairly for their work if it's used in a
> > commercial related capacity? For example - a lot of online blogs and
> > ezines that publish race reports and include shots from athlete provided
> > phots (which originally might have come from the professional
> > photographer)...
> >
> > At least ... this has been my experience as an event producer, working
> > with event photographers.
> >
> > v/r
> > Shane
> >
> >
> > Marc Fortier wrote:
> > > OK I will start by saying I'm ignorant of the whole event photography
> > > business model, but from a consumer standpoint, I don't see why a
> > > digital photo costs so much. For example, to get a full resolution
> > > digital copy of the photo of myself from the Echo race will set me
> > > back $40 (for a photo that's not even exposed very well - although I
> > > will mention that many of the photos from the race look spectacular).
> > > Now if these cost me say $5 apiece, I probably would have spent
> > > hundreds of dollars in the last few years, but as it is I've spent
> > > about zero dollars. Couldn't there be a cheaper purchase option for
> > > downloading hi-res digital photos 'for personal use only' (no
> > > reselling, etc) ?
> > >
> > > I always feel bad I'm not funneling $$ towards these photographers who
> > > spend their time running around the course taking cool shots of
> > > everybody, but I really can't justify the expense at the current rates.
>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Wicked Race Director
> > Wicked Adventure Racing, LLC
> > http://www.WickedAR.com/
> >
> >
> > "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature,
> > nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding
> > danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life
> > is either a daring adventure or nothing." ** Helen Keller **
> >
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