Fun ride photo prices ... your thoughts?

Antw23uk

Antw23uk

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 October 2012
Messages
4,056
Location
Behind you
Visit site
Hi all

Went on a great fun ride with friends yesterday but checking the photographers website today I noticed, to buy the photo of myself on my horse as a High res Jpeg file is £50 and to buy the same file copyright free is £60 ...... So with a laugh I messaged the photographer to say there was a typo on his website ... surely he meant £5 and £6 ... Nope!!!!

This cannot be right surely?
 
It's normally £25/30 for a high res jpeg, so that does sound on the expensive side.
His loss! I'd just go for a print if you like it
 
wowsers, that's really off putting! I prefer a jpeg to a print these days but when they only do hi-res jpegs it does tend to work out cheaper to get a print.
 
The thing is none of the pics are particulary good. Yeah it was a hot day but we found him sitting in the shade with the camera on a tripod ... not exactly making much effort! I would have loved a token pic but nah, not for the price!

It was a BHS ride as well, I might complain but doubt it will do much! Just feel disappointed!
 
Prices vary here but none are as expensive as yours OP.

My greatest moan about photographers at events is that the smallest print is either 5" x 7" or 6" x 9".

I know I live in the Dark Ages technology-wise and I am not interested in having my pictures on my computer.

After many many years of owning horse only the VERY best are displayed and the hundreds of others bought "for the memory" are in albums and for this they need to be 6" x 4". I end up buying the occasional picture and then photographing it and having it developed as 6" x 4" !!!!
 
Send him a message. I had a similar sort of thing, but when I emailed him and told him the resolution I needed ( to make a 6x8 print) it was much cheaper.'
 
If he's selling the JPEG itself in high resolution then chances are the photographer has upped the prices because they'll only sell one JPEG which in turn will be printed by the new owner. So instead of making a few print sales the aim is to make one JPEG sale.
 
I would love to speak out in defense of those who make a living from this type of opportunistic photography. I did when I was at University, and I have friends who still do.

In fairness it is a pretty tough way to make a living. People photograph the screens at events which is basically stealing. You put the copyright images up on your website - which you have to do to sell - and they steal those too. You see copyright images all over social media - even used in for sale adds. If the wholesale theft of images was not so socially acceptable perhaps photographers could make a reasonable living without prices this high. But on the other hand putting prices quite this high does seem to encourage theft.

Good equine photography is quite a skill. The kit isn't cheap and at a large event you may employ 3 or 4 staff to man the stall, run SD cards back and forth etc. Plus insurance. All that needs to be paid for.

I can't say I could justify that for a .jpeg. And it would have to be a truly stunning image before I would pay that. But do also spare a thought for folk who make their living this way.
 
I think I know the photographer you mean and dread it when he is covering an event. In comparison, I went to a show the other week which was covered by a few photographers under one company and was able to buy photos for "social media use" for £4 each. Ended up buying most of my photos as it was such a reasonable price. No they may not be able to be blown up in into a big canvas or what not but they are beautiful. This chap you are talking about covered a sponsored ride I did and while it's a lovely photo I still baulk at the cost compared to other events I've been to.
 
What! I just paid 40euro for all the photos the photographer had of my horse (even those she is just in the background!) and it also included a printable montage that's my avatar pic!
 
I absolutely know they need to make a living out of this and I hate it when I seen people have stolen them, it drives me crazy and I always call them out for it! But the photo's arent even very good and I'm shocked that for the click of a few buttons you get to pay the pricey sum of £50-£60 for the privilege!

I will give feedback to the event organisers and I think that's the best I can do but I wont even be tempted to buy a print out of principle now!
 
Shay I think most of us know the difficulties that photographers have to make a living. Can't help thinking he is making it even harder at that price point especially at a fun ride so not a great competitive achievement that you will want a picture for regardless, might as well spend a bit more and get a personal shoot for that!
 
That is pricey and I wouldn't buy . The photographer at the events I attend does images or prints. You can pay £20 and he will send you all the images he takes of you for sharing on social media . Prints are around the same and I think this guy has it about right. I usually pay my £20 and get my images , he is not there every time. If there is a really good shot I will have it printed. He is also a really super photographer and his images are worth buying ....
<<<<<<<<<

Although my request for him to make me look a size 12 has never worked ;)
 
That seems obscene?! surely he would make more sales at £5/jpeg. If the pics are cheaper people are more likely to pay. It's tough to hit the right figure to cover running costs etc but surely at that price, if the pics aren't that great quality he'll make no sales at all ...
A local photographer charges a small fee for low res and a higher fee for higher res. I liked a couple of pics but only wanted to print one of them myself so asked for it to be high res and the other to be low res. Very kindly, I was emailed both high res!
 
Ah was at the same ride. Just looked at photographer's site and yes I think he is expensive. Not sure why, but he seems to charge a fair whack more than the companies I usually buy from.

I often do buy event prints, and nearly always buy a few low res downloads. However, not at those prices! If the low res pics had been a fiver I would buy 4 or 5. But not at £8 each.
 
I'm a photographer myself and I think that's a little steep. I sell Facebook quality Jpegs at £4 each and offer printing starting at 6x4s. It does surprise me that others don't offer the smaller sizes!
Though I do understand how difficult it is to make any money from it really.
 
equi said:
What! I just paid 40euro for all the photos the photographer had of my horse (even those she is just in the background!) and it also included a printable montage that's my avatar pic!
Click to expand...

Yikes, they wont be in the business long then charging such little prices - unless they do it purely as a hobby with a rich OH!

I work in the photography industry (not horses, everyone steals event pics so I cant be bothered with the effort and not enough money in return anyway). I charge similar prices but thats for a portrait session in my studio so I have a lot of outgoings (studio rent, lighting, insurance, equipment etc.). I would never ever offer "copyright free" though, and I know NO other professional photographer that would ever do that - that to me suggests they havent been doing it long...? Basically a photographer ALWAYS retains copyright as they took the image, doesnt matter if you buy it. By buying a digital though you can do what you want with it with regards to getting it printed in any form (framed, canvas etc.) and on social media. The only thing you cannot do is make money off the image (using it for commercial use) or make your own changes to the image. Ive not met any client who has ever questioned this.

I would say that photography is a very expensive business to be in and to be honest I dont know how most horse event photographers make any profit for the hours they put in (for under a tenner for a digital which seems the norm round me). But at the same time your one DOES price herself well out of the normal market... She's silly only offering a high resolution image (which should be pricier as you can effectively have it printed massive for your wall), she should offer a cheaper social media option since thats what most people seem to want these days. Wonder how many sales she gets!
 
Last edited:
We did a BHS fun ride last year and the photographer charged nowhere near that! £5 for low-res digital (or 3 for £12), £15 for high res or £5 each for 6x4 prints. She was fab too - took some down on the beach and then met us again partway round on a galloping stretch.
 
Dubsie said:
If it's the photographer I'm thinking of, the price includes editing anything you don't want in the background out, re sizing it so you are centre frame etc etc so the actual finished print is of super quality.
Click to expand...

And if you dont want any of that doing?

A friend spoke to her photographer friend and she will charge £15 for high res, £4 for a Facebook type .... that sounds more realistic to me. I would rather sell twenty pics at a lower price and make more money than chance not selling one and making no money because the price was too high!
 
Antw23uk said:
And if you dont want any of that doing?

A friend spoke to her photographer friend and she will charge £15 for high res, £4 for a Facebook type .... that sounds more realistic to me. I would rather sell twenty pics at a lower price and make more money than chance not selling one and making no money because the price was too high!
Click to expand...

I agree. At a fiver each I will buy 4 or 5. At his price, none.
 
I completely understand photographer need to make a decent living that reflects their talent however pricing yourself out of the market does not achieve that. I bought two jpegs from the last fun ride I went on which probably cost e £20 each but would have felt a bit conned if they had been priced at £40 and wouldn't have bought any. The one image is an amazing shot of me riding through water with it all splashing up and looking like diamonds - it's my work screen saver to remind me why I need to be there!
 
Frankly I'd expect any photographer to put me in centre of frame before sending me the image or even uploading it and most will do small edits for no charge or a small extra, if not I am quite capable of doing that myself if I want to print it. Basically if I ever went to HOYS etc I'd pay whatever for a pic, a BHS funride doesn't have the same draw.

And although we say it is difficult to make a living at the sheer number of people doing suggests it can't be too bad, there are people taking photos these days where they never would have been 10 years ago.
 
Christ! £20 is my absolute max as I only purchase digital files. There was a photographer charging £35 per digital image at a fun ride I went to a while a go, thankfully nowhere seems to be using him any more! Perhaps you could talk to the organisers - it's not like photographers are rare and for their official photographer to charge rates like that isn't good look for them either.
 
That's daft. I'm all for buying images and supporting photographers, but they have to be decent images at a sensible price. I generally want images for social media use - rarely I may buy one to print, but mostly just for SM. No way in hell I'd be paying £50 a shot. I might consider buying half a dozen low res shots for the same price though...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top