Soccer League Photos

[GadgetRick]

So I was just asked to be the photog for a local soccer league (10ish teams). No problem as I know technically, I can get the shots they want/need and I'll make a few bucks. I do, however, have a few questions to ask of those of you who have done/do these types of shots:

-Can you provide a sample contract I can use? I don't like doing these things without a contract.
-What packages do you offer and which packages do you find to be more likely to sell?
-I plan to have my lowest package to be $20 which will include a team photo (8x10) and 2 5x7s. Does this sound reasonable for an inexpensive package? My margins will be fine on this.
-Are there any tools you'd suggest I get to use which may help make this more manageable? Talking during as well as pp.

Thanks so much for your help.

[newbad]

I am the responsible person for organizing photos for our local soccer league. So I haven't actually taken the photos (photography is just my hobby) but have worked closely with the company that takes them. We have about 20 teams and line them up in 15 min slots on two evenings. They have 2 or 3 photographers working for them. They do the single shots of each kid first. They take one shot with the big white envelope with the kid's info on it, then the photo. After their photo is taken they then line up in another section for the team photo (someone else takes it). They give each team a letter, then each person a number that is written on the envelope for later. For equipment they have a nice unused soccer ball to pose the kids with and a white canopy to put the kid's under for their pictures. The packages vary but the lowest price is usually about $11 for a team photo and a 5X7. I believe the highest I've seen is around $30. We have the option of mix and matching packages. They also offer a "buddy package", where siblings or friends can get their photos taken together. From the parent side of it, I can tell you that most people will buy only the lowest cost package. (Three kids and some sort of sport every season gets expensive.) I would ask who took the photos the previous season and if anyone has a price list around. Or since it is baseball/softball season maybe find a price list from someone there. We also add on $2 to each package as a fundraiser for the league and they then mail us the check for that. Another hurdle for you might be that most people write down their debit/credit card info and pay for it that way. (I'm assuming you will only be taking cash/checks.)

If you are the only photographer, I would still do 2 evenings for the 10 teams. Ask the soccer league to organize the times and days. (this is what I am in charge of and it is a HUGE pain in the butt). Also have them organize the location. (make sure the soccer field is available)

Now for quality of pictures... as a parent you are expecting them to be similar to most sport/school pictures. Focused, well-exposed, no shadows... however you aren't expecting anything grand. As long as you have those things right, you shouldn't have any complaints. Also schedule a re-take day for kiddos who blinked, have funny looks on their faces, ect.

One of the biggest errors that was made regarding photos was scheduling them in the fall without thinking about when the sun would start to go down. We had to re-take the whole team photos of 4-5 of the teams because of the poor lighting.

I hope this was helpful in some way... I am not envious of you. LOL

oops forgot to add... have the league be responsible for distributing them (you don't want to pay P&H on all of those photos). I was also in charge of that. What they did was shipped the boxes of photos to my house, I then sorted them and gave them to the coaches. You might be able to arrange to drop them off at someones house and save a few bucks there.

[GadgetRick]

Thanks for the great info! Very helpful.

I will have another photog helping me. He's better than me so I'm not concerned about that.

Had planned on doing it over 2 evenings. Doing it in about 2 weeks so it won't be dark since we'll be doing it around 5:00. Doing it at the field where they play their games. Gotta check out the sun over there at that time. Raining today so can't check it out today.

Was planning on keeping it fairly simple but am considering some non-standard poses if I can easily work them in. I agree parents are asked to buy photos all of the time. I want to make these worth it. I also want to use it to help get my name out even more.

I can handle credit/debit cards. Will be a bit if a pain but I can do it.

I will be having all packages shipped to me then will give them to the league to distribute. I don't want to get involved in that.

I'm figuring most people will buy the least expensive packaged. I'm ok with that as long as I get a decent buy rate.

This is the league's first season, which is how I got the deal, so they don't have any price list.

Thanks again!

[newbad]

Sounds like you have things lined up pretty good. I would make sure they schedule the teams so that you don't have all of them showing up at the best time (thursday at 5pm). Definitely invest in a nice simple white soccer ball. One year they had us bring our own and the balls looked horrible.

I guess your main goal is to keep the parents happy, cause if there are no complaints they will call you every season. And they will recommend you for other sports that their children are in. One of the simple things the company we work with now does is gives a photo button free with every order. The parents all absolutely love this. Maybe you can offer this with the second up from the lowest priced package? Try to get people to buy up. The "buddy package" is also a great buy-up to offer to. Also mention the fundraising aspect to the league, it might help soldify a relationship with them.

I looked for "the contract" we did last spring, and couldn't find it. It was simple and basically it was a confirmation of dates, with how many teams, and the fundraising option on it. She wouldn't schedule anything until it was signed.

[GadgetRick]

Yes, going to keep it simple.

Was just looking around to find things to help upsell. Looking at various products I can include. I print through Bay Photo and they have all of the stuff everyone else does from what I can tell.

Thinking I may even keep the lighting simpler than I had originally planned. Think I'll use on-camera flash for fill and utilize the sun as main light. Since we're talking July in the evening, there will be plenty of light (maybe too much actually). I have a canopy I'll bring as well.

Looking forward to doing this. A little intimidating right now since I've not done it before but I think it'll be fun (if not tedious) once I get going.

The league mother will help arrange times for the teams and help me get them together. Between her, and my friend, I think we can handle it. I'm more worried about the team shots. Lighting will be an issue but, more importantly, logistically, it'll be a nightmare. Getting 13+ kids to all settle down enough to take a photo AND have all of their eyes open while looking in the right direction...hmm...

[SuperDan]

Nice little thread going here and VERY informative!

I was actually thinking of actively seeking out to do some of this work...

Thanks for the post guys

[newbad]

LOL The team photo. One of my kids are usually the ones looking away, blinking or making a funny face. One year they did a serious photo and then a silly photo. (always serious first with promise of silly later) Seemed to work good and they threw in the silly photo free with the package. It was fun and something different.

You should run out to the field with your kids (if you have them) during that time and try some different lighting techniques. You'll feel more confident on the big day. And you can see what you like best. You'll get a better feeling for where to set everything up also.

Good Luck!

[newbad]

I guess I have more to say... haha

Logistically what I have always seen in the past: First they line the kids up by size tallest first, then they shoot the individual photos of a team (using the envelope system mentioned above). After each child's photo is taken they are sent to the team photo staging area to stand with the coach in which they stand in line again by size. They stick the coaches on the outside of the group in the back row usually or sometimes front center depending on the age group (younger kids front center, older taller kids back row). Second photographer does the team photo. It usually runs really smooth. I think the second photographer then does the buddy photos after the team photo.

Hope this helps alleviate some anxiety.

[Jim Bryant]

If you use exposuremanager.com or some other like it, you upload the images onto a gallery, parents choose and pay by credit card and the pictures are sent to them. Once your account is established all you have to do is upload your selects for each game, and wait for the monthly check to come rollin in

[newbad]

I think having them order from a website is a good option for if the want additional photos, however I think going the standard practice for sports photos in which you distribute the photos to the league is a better idea. I'm just basing this on my knowledge as a consumer of the product for multiple times a year for many years. First, we as parents are busy, all I want to do is show up and get the photo taken. I will look at the envelope right before we are headed out the door and write the check on my way there. Also being on the soccer board I know that a large amount of our players are there on scholarships, meaning that their family qualifies for reduced lunch, so they get reduced fees or to play the sport free. Therefore they are from a lower economical class in which they don't have debit cards/credit cards or access to the computer. However, they will save $20 from their budget to buy sport photos. I would say this fits about 30% of our players, lately more. So out of 100 players, you would have 30 less orders this way. Also the price of the photos would be more expensive for me because I would be paying S&H.

I guess a lot of that depends on the socio-economical class you are serving.