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spidge

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I have just read and contributed to the catering thread. As a full time equine photographer, whilst I prefer to regard our product as somewhat above fast food, I am of course aware that we are a service industry just as the caterers are , not a necessity and no, I'm not a diva.

So my questions are:

1: Do you buy pictures from an equine photographer at an event based purely on their good reputation and if so why?

2: What do you love about your favourite equine photographer and why?

3. What do they not offer that you would really like to have available?
 
First my other half is a photographer so my answers are not totally the normal person but here are my thoughts

I would not buy of one of local to us cus they are so rude and stroppy when your looking at the and the team quite openly fight infront of people looking a pictures, few years ago at PC champs we were looking at pictures and one of the staff a young girl was so rude I walked away even though I wanted it.

Alot dont pick the right fence or angle at the fence.

Some of the very big names pay young people to sit at a fence and you don't always get the shot you want.

I will not buy if there alot of money but that's mainly cus I get loads anyway from OH

I would buy a shot that is the right fence with the right timing and has the wow factor.

Think that it's a hard job to balance making money and selling pictures and putting the right price to sell etc.

Think the word quality of shot is top of my list and don t care who has taken it.
 
I think photos at events can be really expensive but I buy them as I don't normally have anyone there to take photos for me. I'd like it if they did a cheaper price to buy a few. My main frustration is that they generally pick an easy fence presumably to make sure the majority of people jump it to maximise potential purchasers but I'd rather they pick a more impressive looking fence for the photo.

Also one of the photographers covering BE events in my area doesn't have a website which is really annoying. You have to queue up at the end of the event to view photos on 1 computer!
 
I don't buy many photos because we usually take our own, however, we can't be at every XC jump and we can't take good photos indoors, so then I am likely to buy from a pro.

In answer to your questions:

1. I suppose the only notice I would take of a pro's 'reputation' is whether they are tardy in delivery of an order - if I know an image is not likely to arrive until 3 weeks after ordering then I probably wouldn't bother.

2. My favourite equine photographer listens to what his customers want and provides .jpgs at reasonable prices, puts his proofs online quickly and delivers images speedily. ;)

3. Just a shame his website isn't the easiest to use!:cool:
 
I don't care about rep I just want a decent image at a decent price. I will not pay £15 for a photo which is not in focus or badly timed or bad background etc. Often my OH comes with my dslr camera and often (with no training) takes as good as if not better photos for free!!

I also now won't buy from one local photographer through principle as one of their guys was hiding in an utterly stupid position at a BE event causing my horse to have a near melt down and the resulting time penalties cost me a good placing.

My main problem is I just dont see the quality if images I expect and although I may have still purchased them for a reasonable price (say £5) I won't pay £10+ especially when I know I can do a better job myself and I'm no pro!!
 
1: Do you buy pictures from an equine photographer at an event based purely on their good reputation and if so why?

I don't have a favourite photographer- i buy solely on the shot they have taken at that event and don't normally even register the name of the company.

2: What do you love about your favourite equine photographer and why?

As above- don't have a favourite.

3. What do they not offer that you would really like to have available?

please make sure you pick a fence which is a decent size with a nice clear background.
at numerous events this year i have had jump stand trailers in the background or the commentary box or even telegraph poles growing up out of my head! I'm not going to buy these photos.

on the xc you may get more people clearing the simple hanging log but you will get more buyers for the photo of the socking great table or the skinny triple brush.


I like companies which make it easy to find your photos- preferably by competitor number or horse name as trawling through 100's of photos to find my bay horse is very tedious.

An easy to read and navigate website which allows you to link directly to your photos- i like to show my mum in particular the shots by email and can't do that on websites like photosynergy.

Offers on multiple buys or jpeg images are great but only if they offer value for money- a 5% discount over 3 images doesn't really do it for me.
Also on the jpegs a better quality would be nice. i want to put them on Facebook but don't want fuzzy ones and if i scan in high res ones the photographers complain so i can't win!
 
Thank you for all the responses so far, some very interesting thoughts there. Good to hear that we are listening and delivering TGM and I shall look again at changing my gallery software. Cross country events are a small but increasing percentage of what we do, I do take the point about unsuitable fences and often hear that criticism levelled at photographers.
Sometimes there is absolutely nothing you can do about backgrounds, well certainly at the time. As we personally print and fulfill 90% of our web orders, I often spend just a few minutes removing vehicles poles, buildings, pylons, other horses, spectators etc from a picture before we print and deliver.

The challenge for any event photographer is to get either a better quality picture than the consumer or from a position that they cannot get to. There has to be a reason to buy that photo, we know and understand that.

As a company we choose to spend time with our young photographers, training, reviewing, course walking, allowing them time to spend on the sales stand so that they understand what the customers want, like, dislike etc. This time spent with the customers is I think vital to their development as successful equine photographers. I have just spent the last 2 event days training one of our young photographers as I wanted to ensure that he would be competent and comfortable working in indoor jumping arenas. At the end of the day it is our business reputation that matters to us and we think this will ensure long term success.
 
1) Nope, if it's a good photo, I don't care who took it!

2) Sort of similar to above, I don't really have a fave, but I went to a local dressage comp and the photographer there (who did it sort of on and off) took the most amazing shot of us, and they were only about £3! We were so chuffed at the price we bought several!

3) As mentioned above about challenging/impressive fences, it's so disappointing when they didn't get one of you over the last spread for example, but one of you over the first small upright! Also I think that photographers charge a lot for a photo. I understand entirely that this is their job and they need to make money and it takes time/skill to take a good photo, but I personally (and sure many others would too!) would be much more enclined to buy one or two good photos at £5, than none at £11!

Hope this helps, good luck! :) xxx
 
I'm basically saying what everyone else has said but anyway!

1: Do you buy pictures from an equine photographer at an event based purely on their good reputation and if so why?

Normally I just buy a picture because of the "wow" factor but having brought one this year and not been that impressed by the print quality that I got (and I was too scared to say anything about it) I have not brought another from this company though there is a nice shot of my young horse doing a lovely double clear which I may end up buying.

2: What do you love about your favourite equine photographer and why?

I like varying shots as I've had my older pony for 5 years I rarley buy one now as its pretty much the same as I already have. As everyone has already said, go for a different jump, get a different angle (a friend got one of a horse at Withington Manor taken from the bottom of the hill looking up to the horse jumping straight down from on top, so only "air" as the background so looks very imprsseive!). Offer to print in black and white and photoshop so just cross-country colours are still in colour or sepia etc.

Also when taking "a" photo over a fence take several as what you think looks nice somebody may hate and wished they had it a fraction earlier or later.

3. What do they not offer that you would really like to have available?

Again, I will happily buy more if I think I'm getting value for money for multiple buys but often don't even look it they cost over £12 each with no discount.
Also if I can't find my pics easily I won't bother to look (lazy I know!)

Good luck
 
its very rare that i buy comp photos- they are just too expensive. i'm fully aware that it costs a lot to have all the skill/equipment etc etc but i can't help but think that more people would buy pics if they were cheaper- £10 for a pic in a crappy cardboard frame is expensive to me- if its an awesome shot over a HUUUGE jump then i'll buy it- but otherwise i won't. echo what the others have said about photogs taking pics over the boring log rather than something huge- also like it when they angle the pic to make the jump look even bigger (one that springs to mind is the broken bridge at eland- i have an awesome pic over this from a few years ago that looks amazing).
also echo milltiger- its really tedious searching for a dark bay through pages and pages of photos!
 
I haven't bought an photo at a show for ages.

1. I don't have a favourite photographer, just I'd just go to whoever is at the show and have a look at the pictures. If I like them and they aren't too expensive I will buy, especially if they capture something I particularly want to remember.


2&3. I guess options to either buy at the show or via the website would be good. It is frustrating if there is no back up option of buying online if you have run out of time or cash, or if you can't make up your mind! I like the idea of being able to buy a digital copy but have never seen it offered. Multi-buys aren't a huge attraction for me so they would have to be pretty good value to get me to buy several. I'm not bothered about the school photo style mounts. Either put them in some nice mounts (a decent framer can do them VERY cheaply in bulk) or sell them just in an envelope and I'll decide how to present them.
 
^ agree, dont bother with the rubbish cardboard mounts. They're pretty hideous!

I know it's difficult as you have to take in to account the lighting, composition ect.. but the angle really makes a huge difference. My pet hate is when they take a bog standard side on view. I did a HT a few years back, most of which was over a pre novice course but there was a big novice trakaner towards the end that I was really worried about. My horse was going well and I thought sod it, we'll give it a go. Horse jumped it wonderfully and I was dead pleased that there was a photographer on that jump. Went to go and look at the photos later and they just made the jump look like a 2'9 hanging log. If the photo had been taken from the landing side it would had looked really impressive, with the big ditch in clear view and a big drop on the landing side.
 
1) I just check out the photos from the particular show I go to, I don't go for high reps. Although I do have a favourite.

2) My favourite photographer loves my horse so takes loads of pictures of her :o and she's happy to alter any photos for a small fee.

3) Sell JPEGS! My favourite does sell JPEGS, but many others don't. At an XC competition the photographer was dead set against selling digital images as it was 'like giving away blueprints' (i'm not asking for the RAW image!!) so we bought a photo, but it's been lying in a drawer ever since.
 
I don't really have a favourite photographer, one that was at Beckwithshaw had a really nicely organised website (although you can't send a link direct to the photos which is a shame) but some of the pics were from too far away.

One other photographer locally takes loads of pics - I think I had about 11 from one showjumping round, that was great as there was a better chance of having one I liked, not sure if he was lucky with the course but I din't notice him moving either!

I don't mind if theres 3 or 4 at one fence to chose from, its possible that I won't have a dreadful position or my eyes crossed or something in one of them then.

I don't look at the photos at the show ever, I'm more bothered about looking after my horse and not fighting the scrum in the van, so I prefer the ones that just turn up in a car with a camera as they tend to be cheaper without the overheads of the van/staff etc
 
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My favourite event photographer is Trevor Allen- www.eventsphotos.co.uk
He has taken some truly fab shots of my horse and I over the years, and some superb ones of my sister too. He has a really nice, easy to navigate website and is so prompt at putting photos up. Yesterday he was at a training day from 9 till nearly 5, and all the photos were up on his site by that evening! He waters the colours down and puts a big watermark over them, but you can tell they're usually really good photos.

For me to buy a photo it has to have a decent background, and be a big/ technical fence. Just because it's an easier photo, please don't take ones of us going over the smallest rolltop ever... I really won't buy it! Also- take lots! Because if I get a dodgy stride at one fence where the camera is that's the opportunity for that photo sale gone...

Equally, don't kick up a fuss about people stealing photos for fb- I do this, with the tagline "Which to buy?" because then I can get lots of opinions (I'm too indecisive on my own). Once I've seen them for a few days, and people have commented, I'll go off and buy the recommended images. This way, you often get 3/4 pics I'll buy rather than just 1/2! And it's free advertising, as I always credit the photographer...

I would like the option to buy a CD of lower quality JPEGs for say a £10 for the photos taken- you can get CDs for about 85p round here...
 
I buy ones which are good quality photos and a good jump, I am more than happy to pay extra for quality and will buy more than 1 if there are several good ones but I do think once I have purchased the image I should be able to put it on here and FB provided I acknowledge the photographer :).
 
1: No - I'd only buy one if the photo itself was nice, not just because x, y or z took it. Although there is one photographer round here who completely oversharpens their photos and so I may well avoid them!

2: There's one guy who always gets the shots just right, and when they were printed they were always really clear and just right. Been putting off ordering the old photos of Bronson off him, but think I might be able to cope with it now and really ought to...

3. Get rid of the naff cardboard mounts to save money - if posting just stick them in a cradboard backed envelope - and do them a bit cheaper. I don't know quite how much it costs to run a photography business, but £15 for one photo does seem rather extortionate - surely if they were a bit cheaper more people would be tempted to buy them? And ditto about the choosing of bad fences - especially when they spend half the day at a 'good' fence, then move and take one of you as you go past over a tiny palisade or similar :o
 
I agree with others especially on better fences and angle. In showing/dressage learn what people want, ie extended trot, nice outline etc

Most are too expensive. Wouldn't pay more than £10 and would only buy one, whereas if they were £7.50 I'm likely to buy 2 good photos
 
Hi,

I have only ever bought one picture of myself at a local dressage show. The picture on the photographers website looked good, but when I was sent the print the colour was just horrible, with a green tinge and made the horse who is black and white look brown and white. I sent the pics back, and was sent an equally horrid set of replacements, so complained and asked for money back, it took ages, the chap was a bit unpleasant, and quite frankly it put me off. I have lots of pics taken by OH.

However, we recently went to a Brands Hatch Track Day with our car. The photographers were brilliant. There was a huge stand with three screens and mice (or should that be mouses?) to select your pictures, and the photographers not only offered prints, but also 5 pictures on a memory stick - which we bought. They were really nice and actually a lot more approachable and human than many photographers at horsey events.

Perhaps you could try the memory stick thing? Lots of other people seemed to be buying them too.

Apologies for long essay!
 
Although I am only a lowly would-be caterer(!!!), I also show ponies and have the following comments: -

1: Do you buy pictures from an equine photographer at an event based purely on their good reputation and if so why?

Don't mind who the photographer is, I'm more interested in the quality of the photos

2: What do you love about your favourite equine photographer and why?

Don't have a favourite, might only come across the same photographer a few times a year, so haven't really thought about it, although Real Time Imaging tend to be good, and I came across one this year called Emmpix which I really liked as they took interesting photos, not just the usual standing/trotting/jumping, they took some photos which really showed the character of my pony, one of him in the line-up shaking his head and pulling a face was fabulous - which reminds me I must go on her website as I haven't bought it yet!

3. What do they not offer that you would really like to have available?

Often only get chance for a quick glance at the photos at a show, or don't bother if there is a queue, so a good, clear, easy to use website without daft over the top postage charges is very important to me.

Hope this helps?
 
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