Eventing competitors and Event Photography

S

spidge

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 October 2009
Messages
225
Visit site
Eventers, I am looking for your thoughts and feedback please and it would be great to get a wide range of opinions, not specifically in relation to what we offer as a company but generally as offered by the event photographers that cover eventing.

When viewing or reviewing your images either onsite or online what encourages you to visit the stand or web site, conversely what discourages you? It can be pricing, presentation, staffing, reputation, ease with which you can locate your images or conversely difficulties which prevent a sale.

Bit of background to my thinking process here- we love to innovate and enhance our standards but any changes we implement have to have a valid commercial logic to it.

Thanks in advance.
 
Usually we try to visit the stand at the event, not always possible, we are more likely to purchase there and then if the images are good, often once home you look at the website but never actually get round to ordering any.
Some sites are definitely better than others, one photographer we see regularly will list competitors by horse name, they keep a note of it's number and use the entry list for reference, so it is very easy to find your photos, others require you to scroll through numerous pages of brown horses jumping brown fences losing the will to live as you struggle to find your own photos, not so bad if you have a grey!!
 
im a picture hoarder so always visit to see if there is anything decent, althgouh i like to take my picture home, not printing on the day doesn't put me off but if my pictures arent up by the time i want to go home or they arent viewing on the day i get a bit upset!

if they are only for viewing on teh website i like to view them the same day or the next day, the longer it takes them to get put up the more likely i am not to buy! but generally if there is a picture i like on the day i buy it!

i hate scrolling through hundreds of photos to find my own so having them saved by name or number is better.
 
I will always look at the photos ideally on the day, or if not then on the website afterwards. Although I regularly have someone with me to help, it's my mum and she absolutely refuses to take photos / video anything.

Some photo stands I have been to make me feel quite uncomfortable for going and having a look but not buying. I would love to have a photo from every phase / every class etc etc but it's just not affordable and I'd run out of space at home. Sometimes I'll not like the horses technique over a particular fence or the dressage photo he had his mouth open but sometimes the 'tog seems to be a bit affronted that we've not purchased.

I like printing onsite and I like discounts for multiple photos. Perhaps something where you could get a low res image (for FB or blog use) emailed if you buy a print, or for a small additional fee....I'd often like both but it's price dependant.

I also think having the event name on there somewhere is quite nice. Not necessarily on the print, but I've seen them type face on the bottom of prints. Might not suit everyone but I'd be tempted with it as an option.

Sorry - I seem to have rambled a bit!
 
We love a nice photo and love coming home from an event with one, even if it hasn't been a great day a good photo will always cheer your journey home!

I hate those little contact prints where you have to search through dozens of pictures, poorly printed on great sheets of paper, I inevitably don't have my glasses with me (yes showing my age) so find them very hard to view, if you then, having found your picture, have to wait in a great long queue for one person to bring it up on screen for you to see, I start to loose the will!

What really works for me is if they are organised into number order, but I realise that is hard/impossible at an event, but at least into times and displayed on a decent sized screen and there is access to plenty of screens where there is room for more than one person to view! Shade from the sun is useful and printing on site. Big queues are a cramped viewing area are a big put off as well.

If there is a reduced price offer for multiple prints we inevitable buy more! If there is no discount we normally only buy one, if there is deal for 3 or more, as long as they are good quality pics, we will buy three.

Reputation does have some impact as well, there is one photographer we come across that every time we see them we know we will be disappointed, and last time we came across them they lived up (or down) to our expectations, not even shooting the showjumping and the XC fences they had picked were interesting, shooting into the sun for one of them! We bought one (overpriced) picture that was overexposed, purely as it was their first novice, but left a bad taste.
 
I like to see images before I buy, along with the facility to see them enhanced (crop, re-align, straighten, etc).
Once I buy, I like to be able to scan them in and post them online and not get harrassed by the photographer to whom I have paid £45+ for the photos, regardless of copyright law - I wouldn't dream of posting anything I hadn't paid for.
Oh - and to receive the correct photos is usually a bonus - if not printing on the day.
 
We are far more likely to buy on the day - just fact of life, things move on when we get home so likely to only buy if exceptionally nice...

Conversely I am put off by long queues and/or waits at the stand, so enough screens to view quickly and comfortably are a must. I would be happy to view and order on the day and have prints sent out later, if service were efficient and not too slow.

I have to say probably biggest factor in purchasing choice for us is usually choice of fence(s) you do get some photographers who are either dense or lazy or both, who take photos at the most innocous fences, rather than taking the time to find something which will make a good, specatcular photo: big spreads/drops/ditches all good; there are far too many water shots around and unless there is a big drop into water the fences in and out are always small and innocuous in the context of the course - I don't want a photo over them! Ditto a combination, just because one photographer can take several photos over different elements doesn't mean I am likely to buy several photos (unless it is a brilliant sequence) I am likely to buy none as the individual photos will not be as exciting as one over the big table or ditch pallisade... A big bugbear of mine, photographers please note!!!
 
I always think its great when there are computers there and you can look at the photos yourself, it seems less of a faff. It's also great when they're up pretty quickly, so when i've finished with the horse i can come and have a look at them whilst waiting for sores to go up.

If I don't buy them on site, its always good when the company has a card that I can take - saves having to memorise the company name, and probably forgetting it!

ETA: Totally agree with TD about which fence you photograph - nothing worse than not being able to show off how big the course was because the photographer was at one of the boring/smaller fences!!
 
Love going to your stand when I've finished at an event. Always better to buy them on the day and take them home as a reminder of a good day or as someone previously said, something to cheer you up if the day's been pants!

Better to visit the stand for haggling purposes too- often you'll get a good deal if you're buying a lot ;)
 
I always like to look at my photos, mostly for training purposes, look at my position/horses technique.
Recently at an event, the photographer said they were not going to post online, I was in the last section of the day, had already bought a picture on site of earlier horse, and so did not get to see my pictures. I messaged them to ask if it would be possible to see some proofs of my later horse as I hadn't had the chance to look. They said I could with a £5 deposit, payable by paypal only. I don't have paypal and as a result couldn't be bothered with the hassle, they lost a sale, and out of principal will loose my custom in future.
They aren't they the only company I won't use from previous experience, if a company gives me a bad experience I won't bother to go back again, many people out there make it easy and deserve my custom.

A local photographer makes it very very easy, his website makes it easy to share specific photographs to my Facebook/twitter, this means people can see, and he gets traffic to his website. His digital downloads are also £4 for an instant download, it makes my life easy so more likely to buy.

I was also looking into the ability to report images on social networks, Instagram make it very difficult to report copyright infringements and say best to just contact the person. I think for some younger people the copyright can be a little confusing, as some photographers are putting a watermark on their images but are happy for you to share, yet you see so many on Facebook/twitter/instagram that have DO NOT COPY etc over the top but they are actually both copyrighted.

I think the ability to easily share on social networks with a short non aggressive explanation of copyright may help explain the situation to younger riders.
 
Thank you all for your feedback, what we do already has been sharpened and adapted with hundreds of competitor's thoughts/guidance/praise and criticism over the years. We currently sort images by time slots of an hour so you'll get the option on our screens to view Showjumping and/or Cross country then by Camera 1/2/3 etc and then by hourly time slot. Even this level of granularity can still occasionally prove time consuming locating your images onsite and I guess potentially more so online. In terms of staffing we would require an extra 2 members of staff on the sales stand to implement a system where we file images by rider number. This does of course mean time spent by you at the screens will be reduced. Totally understand the comments about boring fences- it is something we take seriously. It is of course demoralising for us as photographers to arrive at a course for this years event to find the same fences in the same locations and with nothing but rolltop after rolltop to choose from- it happens! Copyright is a continuous cycle of education and communication- sadly there are some out there who simply choose to disregard the notice. Still searching for the magic bullet to solve the copyright dilemma! One or two other interesting suggestions that I will see if we can respond to and integrate into our workflow.
 
A couple of other points that have come to mind.

I totally understand the watermarking of pictures but sometimes they can make it so hard to see the actual picture underneath. Another reason why it's nice to see them at an event rather than online later. I recently did an indoor event and there are a couple of pics online that I might have bought but the watermarking is so intense I can't properly see what his legs are doing so I'm not taking the chance.

And also taking the background into account. I am always a little put off pictures with parked vehicles / signage etc in the background.
 
I love buying photos at the event. I will buy them afterwards online but I'm impatient and would much rather buy on the day.
I like viewing them on the laptop, choosing the one (or two or three ;) ) that I like. Having them printed, and being able to pay by card as I don't always carry that much cash eventing.
I also don't like waiting in a queue (who does) so having a couple laptops set up for viewing is a good idea imo.
Oh also a nice friendly face in the tent or caravan is always nice especially as I normally dither trying to decide which image of my precious I want ;).
Oh and also not too expensive! I'm not going to pay more than £10-£15 for an image and I think discounts are good to encourage people to buy more. E.g buy two get third half price or something. I'm photo mad though and always want them all ;).
Oh and FB rights!!! I always ask about FB rights and I'm happy to pay an extra fiver or something to be able to post online :).
 
More about us then, we offer low res FB prints for £5 with no watermark, also medium and high res both onsite and online with instant download. Any prints bought have the offer of complimentary low res jpegs via email, often during the event, occasionally after. We offer multi print discounts both onsite and online plus offer prinst only, prints plus jpeg or jpegs only online. Our events are always loaded same day wherever possible, even during a Hickstead show where we may have 15000 images per day to upload. We are relaxed about use of purchased images on social media, do offer slightly higher priced and higher resolution options with commercial usage permission. Where we get antagonised is when see a watermarked image in a for sale ad ( shock horror) or wholesale harvesting of our watermarked images into neatly arranged social media galleries ( we all know this happens!)
 
For what it's worth, your company is one of my favourites in terms of ease of use, quality of pictures and i would be more likely to visit your stand with the expectation i would find something worth buying. There are a few i often don't bother looking at because the chances of getting a decent photo are slim.
In general terms, having photos online that are clear even with the watermark. If i can't see what the photo looks like under the watermark i am not going to take the risk of buying it 'unseen'. Similarly, being able to open one photo in a separate screen and then click through to the next one on the same screen makes it a much easier viewing experience for me than having to open each photo individually...or worse, not being able to expand the thumbnail at all!
Offers such as buying a print and getting the low res download file free are quite attractive.
I echo the other comments of having a decent fence, and also (if resources allow) having photos of more than one fence, although i can see this isn't possible if you only have one 'tog on site on a given day.
Timeslots or individual competitors folders are great
Most importantly, get them up on the website quickly! If i haven't bought one at the show, i definitely want to look at them the next day while i am still thinking about that competition, rather than a week later when i am thinking about the next one!
 
In regards to the actual pictures, im quite picky; if its jumping i like side on to a certain degree, i dont like bum shots and I hate head on shots, have never found a good one and they always show a multitude of sins! but anything showing a bit of side is much more pleasing on the eye!

As others have said i dont like pictures of small jumps i want the photographer to be at the biggest beefyest jump on the course and will usually buy that picture regardless, it will either show me getting over it in some fashion or falling off! either way its a good keepsake!

most photographers i come across always sit at the water jump - i also dislike with a passion water jump photos 1) because any jump involved is tiny compared to the course, or just a picture trotting through a big puddle and 2) my horse doesn't like water so all the pictures are horrific because im having to be very 'determined' and its not always that pretty!

Lastly i dont get lazy photographers! i was stood next to the photographers at one of the BD regionals this weekend and there were two of them and in total they got 6 photos of my friend riding! the test was near on ten minutes long and of the six there was nothing decent they literally had one photo of each pace on each rein - Disapointment would be an understatement! when you work so hard to get to a competition like this you want a photo regardless and to be riding for near on 10mins and only get 6 pictures was appauling - what made it worse was that she got a top 10 placing and nothign to show for it :( tehre really is no excuse especially in Dressage not to get one decent photo between two 'togs!
 
Echo others -
- make pics easy to find. Big dark bay mare now goes XC in white boots so I don't lose the will to live trying to find us in pics! Ordering by rider number is super helpful :). Similarly make sure pics are easy to see online after event, I understand need for watermark, but some websites pics are far too small to see what you are buying!

- pick interesting fences to photograph. I won't buy photographs over the more basic fences usually as I have enough of them already now.

- pricing does play a role, multiple pic deals are often appealing.

- a decent amount of computers to look at pictures on, and set up to be easy to see - as a tall person I often struggle stooping over stand up booths and prefer sit down set up so I'm at right level for screen. This wouldn't be a deal breaker however.

- allowing you to take a photograph of your bought print to use on social media or even better providing a free low res jpeg is a BIG selling point for me. I have no qualms about buying a good quality print, and indeed have been known to buy several of same shot as presents for grandparents etc, but I do dislike having to buy a jpeg of the same image to use on social media too as this can add up quite a lot if having bought multiple prints and wanting to show them all off to friends!.

- I also think its quite nice to have printed on pic/ at bottom of frame the event and ideally the class level too :)
 
Last edited:
I like Showground Photography where you can make a folder of your photos from the show - handy at a 3 day.

I don't mind buying online - especially if it is instant download.

At eventing maybe ask a few riders which fence they are worried about the most and go take photos there!

I also like your sales :)
 
Good point about the water marks. It's annoying when there is no stand at the event but they say their pictures are online however have huge watermarks on and I can't see my face/his ears or anything which then makes me not want to buy it when I 90% would have on the day!
I like it when they have the computers there for us to look through our own, and the way when you buy on the day you can crop/edit etc which feels more personal. However the computers and this could cause more of a queue which puts me off
Good fences are a must! But then you probably know that!
Also like the idea of the class/event name written at the bottom of the pic
 
I think in regards to deciding which fence to take photos at, I'm more concerned with the quality. Yes I would obviously like the photo at the biggest fence but my favourite photos of my horse are not always the shots of the biggest fence but a fence that is at a great angle and with a really nice background and opposite the sun so my horse is nice and shiney. They are sideways shots as well. There was one photo at an event I did that I didn't buy as even though it was the biggest jump on the course it was a head on shot, the scenery and light wasn't great and my horse was doing a star jump with his mouth wide open... Instead I bought the picture a couple of fences on where he was sideways jumping a simple table against a background of green trees, he had the sun shining on him and he looked beautiful. So to me the biggest and scariest fence isn't always where the photographer should be IMO, they should be where they can get the best and most flattering shot of people?! I also like the random shots that some togs manage to capture on the day like people flying over the finish line grinning like maniacs and the cute kid kissing her pony that sort of thing. If there was a shot of me like that with my horse I would probably be a sucker and buy that one too :p :D.
 
I agree with pretty much everything already mentioned. A local photographer to me has a really good system where for £25 you get 3 images put on a memory stick which has their logo and website on. At future events (if they are the photographers) you can get photos added on to this memory stick for £5 each (it has to be their branded memory stick). They take some lovely pictures, so I generally buy at least 1 but often more. I keep the memory stick in the lorry, so I don't forget it.
 
I'm obviously in the minority here in that I prefer to buy prints online.

I am nearly always by myself and often are a fair distance from home, so I want to crack on once I am finished.

Also there always seems to be a queue at the event - however I do usually buy at least one picture. I would buy more from the x-country but often the pictures are taken at a boring fence!
 
TableDancer said:
We are far more likely to buy on the day - just fact of life, things move on when we get home so likely to only buy if exceptionally nice...

Conversely I am put off by long queues and/or waits at the stand, so enough screens to view quickly and comfortably are a must. I would be happy to view and order on the day and have prints sent out later, if service were efficient and not too slow.

I have to say probably biggest factor in purchasing choice for us is usually choice of fence(s) you do get some photographers who are either dense or lazy or both, who take photos at the most innocous fences, rather than taking the time to find something which will make a good, specatcular photo: big spreads/drops/ditches all good; there are far too many water shots around and unless there is a big drop into water the fences in and out are always small and innocuous in the context of the course - I don't want a photo over them! Ditto a combination, just because one photographer can take several photos over different elements doesn't mean I am likely to buy several photos (unless it is a brilliant sequence) I am likely to buy none as the individual photos will not be as exciting as one over the big table or ditch pallisade... A big bugbear of mine, photographers please note!!!
Click to expand...

This sums it up!!!!!

Also though consider colour. I have a pic over an average orange fence but I bought because the colour makes the pic look very good.
 
My preference is to buy online as I don't like leaving the horse alone. However there is only so many horsey pictures you can have up so I would prefer an option to buy low res ones for facebook as I am more likely to buy them.
 
I have got a new pony so will need some nice prints of him, however I love having a nice pic of an event anyway, but like the low res fb ones mainly. I brought the world most horrible sequence the other year as the fb images were £3 each and it was very funny!!! I however would never have got that in a print!!
 
I like to buy there and then if possible. The last BE event I did you could only buy online however they were up by the Monday afternoon so didn't exactly have to wait long.

It is nice though to be able to by there and then and take something away on the day with you. I agree with some comments that you never get round to buying online. I did a working hunter and showing show and there is a stunning picture of J in the in hand veterans, if I could buy on the day I would have bought it but it is only available online - I still haven't bought it! (I will get round to It eventually, the show was in August!)
 
I also like the Facebook pics and will buy a few if reasonably priced (ie no more than a fiver). I also think it's a great shame when the smallest/most boring fence is chosen (not the I event, only do the odd hunter trial). I also dislike greatly the watermarks that prevent you from seeing the pic properly, if I can't see whether or not I'm pulling a nasty face I won't buy.
 
I always hate it when the photographer takes pictures at the smallest jumps on the course, I am much more likely to purchase a photo if it is of a decent size/ scary looking jump.
I also much prefer it when the photographer has a stand at the event, and also when they organise them by your number as i often forget the time of my round.
hope this helps :)
 
I agree with Firewell, one of my favourite pictures of my horse is us coming across the finish line at our first event! I know that my mum has also roped in the photographer to take a specific photo, so a stand on site is really helpful. Having said that, I often go online afterwards as well.

The main thing I look for is customer service - in November, I was compiling a photo montage to give to my horse's then owner for Christmas, and remembered that there was a stunning photo from an event in 2012 that I (stupidly!) hadn't bought. Emailed the photographer, they sent over a link to all our photos from that event. Ended up buying 4 :)
 
Agree with what others have said. One BE event last year gave us a memory stick with the photos on as well as the prints so we could use the photos wherever we wanted as effectively buying the prints gave us the copyright (bought 6 prints as the 3rd & 6th was discounted).

Friendly staff in the booth are always a bonus and I'm lucky my boy's grey so usually stands out amongst all the 'brown' horses ;-)

Also like photos which are different - not just the ubiquitous scary fence but those that show emotion at the XC start and finish for example. Obviously realise that you can't have 10 togs out on course but it's great to get a photo that's a little bit different.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top