Selling Motocross Photos

[Tim Mayo]

I managed to spend a few hours at my local motocross last week. First time I've managed to get there this season although they have only held a couple of practice sessions so far due to the wet weather.

It was a fairly quiet session with around 20 riders and I sold photos to 5 of them.

Most motocross photographers around here seem to sell one photo for £5 or all photos of a rider for £10. So I price mine the same and normally try to make sure that I have at least 5 shots of each rider to persuade them to purchase all photos. This works well as the 5 riders I sold photos to each opted to pay £10 for all of their images.

Although it's just fun for me and not how I make a living, I do enjoy challenging myself to increase the number of photos I sell which also helps a little to justify the time it takes to sort through and post the images afterwards.

I know I need to experiment with some different positions and angles and maybe try to get some wide-angle shots too, although I only have the 24mm F1.4, a 24-70 might be more useful.

I'm also thinking about experimenting with an 3 stop ND filter next time I go to try and keep the aperture down for the slower shutter speed shots to help smooth out the background a little more, at least on the sunny days.

I try to get around the riders to introduce myself and let them know how to purchase as well, but don't always get the chance to talk to everyone.

If anyone has any hot tips on how to increase the number of photos sold I'm all ears! Or should I be content with selling to 25 percent of the riders?

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/9
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• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
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• ILCE-1
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• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/4
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• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 153.0 mm
• ƒ/3.5
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• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/5
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/250 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 160

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/250 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/4.5
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/4.5
• 1/250 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/5
• 1/125 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/125 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/4.5
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/9
• 1/125 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/3.2
• 1/250 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/3.2
• 1/250 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/3.5
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 135.0 mm
• ƒ/13
• 1/100 sec
• ISO 100

 

[evacguy]

I managed to spend a few hours at my local motocross last week. First time I've managed to get there this season although they have only held a couple of practice sessions so far due to the wet weather.

It was a fairly quiet session with around 20 riders and I sold photos to 5 of them.

Most motocross photographers around here seem to sell one photo for £5 or all photos of a rider for £10. So I price mine the same and normally try to make sure that I have at least 5 shots of each rider to persuade them to purchase all photos. This works well as the 5 riders I sold photos to each opted to pay £10 for all of their images.

Although it's just fun for me and not how I make a living, I do enjoy challenging myself to increase the number of photos I sell which also helps a little to justify the time it takes to sort through and post the images afterwards.

I know I need to experiment with some different positions and angles and maybe try to get some wide-angle shots too, although I only have the 24mm F1.4, a 24-70 might be more useful.

I'm also thinking about experimenting with an 3 stop ND filter next time I go to try and keep the aperture down for the slower shutter speed shots to help smooth out the background a little more, at least on the sunny days.

I try to get around the riders to introduce myself and let them know how to purchase as well, but don't always get the chance to talk to everyone.

If anyone has any hot tips on how to increase the number of photos sold I'm all ears! Or should I be content with selling to 25 percent of the riders?

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Great shots Tim. I think a ND filter may be a good idea, but I'm still learning about how to use them. Did you manage to sell to all the riders you approached? If so, that would appear to be a great success. If not, what proportion of the riders that you approached ended up buying the shots? Even selling to 25% of the riders (assuming you approached them all) would be doing very well. What do you do when you approach the riders, do you show them the incamera images pre-post processing and make the sale there and then, or do you given them a web address where they can view the edited photographs or both?

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Lovely shots!

I am not complaining, because it is my policy that the musicians that I photograph are free to use the pics any way that they wish. But it is nice to get paid. So far, on just one occasion, a magazine called and said, "we're using your pic, please tell us how to pay you." INR300 --- about three GB pounds.

Well, for the most part, the concerts are free: I wouldn't want to charge. Although a friend does both pure-amateur and commissioned.

From what you say, it seems to be a norm in the motocross environment to charge.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Great shots Tim. I think a ND filter may be a good idea, but I'm still learning about how to use them. Did you manage to sell to all the riders you approached? If so, that would appear to be a great success. If not, what proportion of the riders that you approached ended up buying the shots? Even selling to 25% of the riders (assuming you approached them all) would be doing very well. What do you do when you approach the riders, do you show them the incamera images pre-post processing and make the sale there and then, or do you given them a web address where they can view the edited photographs or both?

Cheers Ed! I didn't sell to all of the riders I talked to. I probably only spoke to half of the riders that day as it does eat into shooting time and I was only there for a couple of hours. Sometimes they will approach me as well. I normally start by talking about their bikes since I'm into MX but haven't ridden in years. I don't normally show them shots on the camera as it would take forever to find the rider from all of the shots I take. I'll give them a card with my contacts details if they are interested in purchasing any shots. I then post them on a Facebook Page categorised by bike model and ask them to message me to purchase. I try to do this no later than the following day so that they don't lose interest. I did put them on a website as well last year but it wasn't worth the extra effort to upload to and maintain for the amount of shots I sell.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Lovely shots!

I am not complaining, because it is my policy that the musicians that I photograph are free to use the pics any way that they wish. But it is nice to get paid. So far, on just one occasion, a magazine called and said, "we're using your pic, please tell us how to pay you." INR300 --- about three GB pounds.

Well, for the most part, the concerts are free: I wouldn't want to charge. Although a friend does both pure-amateur and commissioned.

From what you say, it seems to be a norm in the motocross environment to charge.

Thanks Thad! I did consider giving away the images for free when I first started shooting there but that's a bit of a slap in the face for photographers who do make a living from it. So I just decided to charge what other local photographers are charging. That said, I've yet to see another photographer at my local track on a practice day. They do run a couple of larger events over the season which I know other photographers shoot at, but these always fall on the weekend so would eat into my family time. Plus if I was shooting for a full day I'd probably end up with 10,000 images even with my A1 at 10 fps. I couldn't bare the thought of going through them all afterwards!

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I did consider giving away the images for free when I first started shooting there but that's a bit of a slap in the face for photographers who do make a living from it

This is often quoted as a justification for not giving away pics for free. Also, my friend who sometimes works for payment has strong feelings about respect for the art, which tends to diminish when it doesn't cost anything.

I wouldn't like to feel that I was taking money from working professionals: it wouldn't be fair. If there is a pro at any event I attend, I am not competing. The organisers have paid him to do a job, and anything I do is over and above. This usually happens if there is some function attached. I like photographing the music, not the functions. I don't particularly have that knack and I don't really like using flash.

Never had any interest in sport! It's a pity, because it certainly offers a wealth of photographic challenges and opportunities. Your pics are amazing!

 

[Ralph]

Well done on all of the shots but I will say the rider on bike 505 is the shot that stood out for me.
I use to ride a bike out bush with a few people that were out there and started to race each other like they are doing in your shots.
But what we were doing was just for fun and these shot bought back those memories.
So I really do like them all.

 

[DaveC Oz]

Thanks Thad! I did consider giving away the images for free when I first started shooting there but that's a bit of a slap in the face for photographers who do make a living from it. So I just decided to charge what other local photographers are charging. That said, I've yet to see another photographer at my local track on a practice day. They do run a couple of larger events over the season which I know other photographers shoot at, but these always fall on the weekend so would eat into my family time. Plus if I was shooting for a full day I'd probably end up with 10,000 images even with my A1 at 10 fps. I couldn't bare the thought of going through them all afterwards!

Some great shots there Tim. I have a similar dilemma at horse events that my wife competes in. I started out just photographing my wife, then the regular event photographer decided she could make better money at other venues, so I was asked to photograph the shows. Even limiting myself to a couple of shots per competitor per event, I regularly end up with 4-500 shots per show. I was asked how much I wanted for the photo's by the organising club. Since I was going to be there photographing my wife and her horse, I decided that a voluntary gold coin donation to the club would be appropriate for unedited jpg's. If a higher quality download or print is requested then I negotiate on the basis of what's requested, and who is requesting.
As for taking money from working professionals, unless you are shooting from the same place/perspective then I don't see much issue. We all buy based on our personal taste, and if your shot is preferred over another, then you deserve the sale. As you have pointed out though the shot's your taking aren't really in conflict with event photographers anyhow.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Some great shots there Tim. I have a similar dilemma at horse events that my wife competes in. I started out just photographing my wife, then the regular event photographer decided she could make better money at other venues, so I was asked to photograph the shows. Even limiting myself to a couple of shots per competitor per event, I regularly end up with 4-500 shots per show. I was asked how much I wanted for the photo's by the organising club. Since I was going to be there photographing my wife and her horse, I decided that a voluntary gold coin donation to the club would be appropriate for unedited jpg's. If a higher quality download or print is requested then I negotiate on the basis of what's requested, and who is requesting.
As for taking money from working professionals, unless you are shooting from the same place/perspective then I don't see much issue. We all buy based on our personal taste, and if your shot is preferred over another, then you deserve the sale. As you have pointed out though the shot's your taking aren't really in conflict with event photographers anyhow.

Cheers Dave. I always find it surprising how many shots I end up with even at only 10 fps and being pretty careful about when I press the shutter and how long for. With the slower shutter speeds there are always a lot more misses which again takes more time to cull afterwards. It sounds like you have a nice gig there and you are not really going out of your way if you are shooting your wife anyway. Do you know if they were paying the previous photographer? I've been to a couple of other tracks in the UK where they have had working photographers. Often they will allow you to shoot but not sell the images or say that the copyright belongs to the track owners or event organisers, so in this instance the only option is to give the shots away or simply not share them.

 

[Tim Mayo]

This is often quoted as a justification for not giving away pics for free. Also, my friend who sometimes works for payment has strong feelings about respect for the art, which tends to diminish when it doesn't cost anything.

I wouldn't like to feel that I was taking money from working professionals: it wouldn't be fair. If there is a pro at any event I attend, I am not competing. The organisers have paid him to do a job, and anything I do is over and above. This usually happens if there is some function attached. I like photographing the music, not the functions. I don't particularly have that knack and I don't really like using flash.

Never had any interest in sport! It's a pity, because it certainly offers a wealth of photographic challenges and opportunities. Your pics are amazing!

This is true Thad and I'm not completely against giving away images for free especially if there's not a working photographer there. I guess it depends how the photographer is being paid by the event organisers. If they are on a daily rate they probably don't care so much about who's taking photos and whether or not they are selling them. But if they are earning a living by each shot they sell and someone else is shooting with a half decent setup then giving away the images for free and can understand this would be frustrating. Although with everyone now shooting with mobile phones I'm guessing the pickings are a little slimmer these days for event photographers unless you are employed through a larger agency.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Well done on all of the shots but I will say the rider on bike 505 is the shot that stood out for me.
I use to ride a bike out bush with a few people that were out there and started to race each other like they are doing in your shots.
But what we were doing was just for fun and these shot bought back those memories.
So I really do like them all.

Thank you Ralf! It must of been fun riding out in the bush. I used to ride on our farm when I was younger until someone stole my bike whilst I was away at uni. I've been tempted to buy a bike again just for fun but I don't really have the time right now to ride. Perhaps if our boys get into riding that will give me an excuse

 

[iain clyne]

As for taking money from working professionals, unless you are shooting from the same place/perspective then I don't see much issue. We all buy based on our personal taste, and if your shot is preferred over another, then you deserve the sale. As you have pointed out though the shot's your taking aren't really in conflict with event photographers anyhow.

As a ex pro sports photographer it was people giving away pics for free that made me retire early. A lot of papers etc would take the free pics instead of paying a pro to take them so the amount pros were being paid dropped.
I was asked by a paper to do a 100 mile round trip to cover a rugby game. it was 6 hours or so of work plus travel, fuel costs and the payment offered was £50.
If they couldn't get pics for free then they had to pay a pro. This is why some togs don't like pics being given away free.

 

[iain clyne]

I think that 25% hit rate for sales is quite good Tim. It hopefully will increase as people get to know you.

 

[DaveC Oz]

.... Do you know if they were paying the previous photographer? I've been to a couple of other tracks in the UK where they have had working photographers. Often they will allow you to shoot but not sell the images or say that the copyright belongs to the track owners or event organisers, so in this instance the only option is to give the shots away or simply not share them.

The previous photographer still attends some of the events as she is a friend of one of the club officials. She was not getting paid to shoot the events, but was selling photo's to those that wanted them. Both of us attend the events because our partner/friend/a family member is competing, the difference is mainly that she has a photography business, and I have a photography hobby.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

she has a photography business, and I have a photography hobby

Tangentally, I decided to call myself a professional! With whether or not I charge having nothing to do with it. Whether or not others do, I don't care: it's to do with what I do, and how I think about it. And the fact that I do have some achievement in my niche.

Hmmm... I'd better start with getting more discipline! Take fewer shots, get processing done in timely fashion...