Anyone got any photo question?

squid48
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squid48 7/2/2008 9:21pm
7/2/2008 9:21pm
I have a smugmug account as well...

Heres how i run things...

I post flyers and put cards at select vendors(and sign ups) at the races...

My cards have all my info on them...

Im sure i lose customers... but i find the customers instead of the little kids this way...

I have them email me their Class, race #, and Bike #.

Once i find their photos i post them to my site with a watermark etc...

This way i find the people who are willing to buy photos.

If it is a kid who just wants them for myspace, i can easily find them. If they do steal them, i politely ask them to take it off their myspace. If they dont, i let them know that i am no longer taking photos of them for stealing copyrighted images.

I honestly get quite a few emails because decent photographers that sell photos cheap are few and far between.

Anybody got any ideas to help improve my program? Or comments?
russerbe
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russerbe 7/3/2008 5:48am
7/3/2008 5:48am
jbomx363 wrote:
[i][b]Are you sure all those hits aren't from kids looking for pics for their myspace or vitalmx pages?[/b][/i] That's my guess. Why the heck shoot RAW...
Are you sure all those hits aren't from kids looking for pics for their myspace or vitalmx pages?

That's my guess.

Why the heck shoot RAW for amateur stuff anyway? Too much work, shoot straight .jpg

I use smugmug also. The only thing that ticks me off is their shipping costs. It keeps a few people from buying.

Disabling right click keeps the honest, honest that's it. I can take any photo I want, right click protected or not, easily done. Kids will take them anyway and I have resorted to a LARGE watermark now. Makes the pics ugly as sin, but thats the only way to keep these lil asshats from stealing them.

Don't get too excited about selling. You'll spend all day at the track, more than your fair share at home sorting/uploading, etc... and then learn that you "made" $75.00. Which means, you lost money if you figure your time in.

I keep doing it because I like to shoot moto and the little money made pays for the site, and if I save it, goes towards better equipment.

Good Luck to you!
Yea, I think I made a mistake by shooting RAW. It's just habit you know. I'm shooting jpg next race for sure. I did find an very easy way to convert a whole folder of raw images to jpg in Adobe Bridge. Man that was a good find.

I guess I will make a watermark and apply them to my images. I'm definately not shooting races to make money. I'm doing it because I love moto and I love photography. And when a track owner will let you have full track access and a magazine will use your pics, should they be good enough, well I couldn't ask for anything else. If people buy photos from my site, well that's just icing on the cake.
russerbe
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russerbe 7/3/2008 5:55am
7/3/2008 5:55am
squid48 wrote:
I have a smugmug account as well... Heres how i run things... I post flyers and put cards at select vendors(and sign ups) at the races...
I have a smugmug account as well...

Heres how i run things...

I post flyers and put cards at select vendors(and sign ups) at the races...

My cards have all my info on them...

Im sure i lose customers... but i find the customers instead of the little kids this way...

I have them email me their Class, race #, and Bike #.

Once i find their photos i post them to my site with a watermark etc...

This way i find the people who are willing to buy photos.

If it is a kid who just wants them for myspace, i can easily find them. If they do steal them, i politely ask them to take it off their myspace. If they dont, i let them know that i am no longer taking photos of them for stealing copyrighted images.

I honestly get quite a few emails because decent photographers that sell photos cheap are few and far between.

Anybody got any ideas to help improve my program? Or comments?
Definately sounds like a much easier way to do things. However my goal isn't to just to make money by selling pics. Right now I'm just trying to make a name for myself. To be seen and known for shooting MX. I don't want to give my pics away, but it doesn't bother me if people just want to look at their pics and not buy. As long as they know I'm around and I have a website, there is potential there.

What are your prices for your mx pics for say 8x10, 5x7, commercial download and private download?
squid48
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squid48 7/3/2008 4:21pm
7/3/2008 4:21pm
Cheap... 8x10 are like 10 and 5x7 are 7 or 8...

I dont eve know what my download are set for... i know they are cheap though.

The Shop

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Darren@sx
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Darren@sx 7/4/2008 5:09am
7/4/2008 5:09am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 7:29pm
The only way i managed to get by spending all day at the track, sitting at the comp for 2-3 hours after and then only making a few sales was ask the riders to send me the race # and class they were riding, email a couple of small res images and then they can buy a cd for £15 +p&p for 10-15 A4 size at 92 dpi or £25 for the same in high res. If i dont have 10-15 images they are offerd a free A4 print if they bought the small res or an A3 for the high res.

May sound a bit complicated but there are no images stolen and it cover the amount of time sat at the computer sorting and finding there images.

Works for me.
russerbe
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russerbe 7/7/2008 6:42am
7/7/2008 6:42am
Paul Buckley wrote:
Are you sure all those hits aren't from kids looking for pics for their myspace or vitalmx pages? Find a template that will allow you to...
Are you sure all those hits aren't from kids looking for pics for their myspace or vitalmx pages?

Find a template that will allow you to automatically create a web page where people can order the photos online and pay you via Paypal and CC. Photoshop can batch convert the raw files to make you a web gallery.

Put some kind of watermark on them and don't make them too big or riders will just print them themselves.

I charge 15. for an 8x10 and offer a rebate for orders over 50.
russerbe wrote:
Ha, you might be on to something there. I have a pro smugmug account and just registered my own domain name and applied it to my...
Ha, you might be on to something there. I have a pro smugmug account and just registered my own domain name and applied it to my smugmug account. That way people can get to my site via my smugmug name or by my domain name. They take care of all the ordering, printing etc... I just had to add my prices. I went with $12 for an 8X10. I thought that was a fair price. My smugmug account allows me to disable right click on all of my pics so, the only way to get them is if I post them on a forum or they buy them so I think I'm covered there.

Today the wife gave me the green light to do a major upgrade on my camera body. I'm going from the Nikon D40 to thhe Nikon D300. I just can't decide which lens to get with it. Now, that I'm getting track access, I don't really need a big lens. So, I'm trying to decide if I should go with a Nikon 55-200 f/3.5 or a cheaper brand lens so like a sigma or Tamron so I can get an f/2.8 lens. I've got to keep the price around $600. What would you suggest?
I ended up getting the D300 and a used but in pristine condition Nikon 35-70 F/2.8. This lense should get me in there close with my flash and also be fast. So, Hopefully my images will be better now.
squid48
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squid48 7/7/2008 8:54pm
7/7/2008 8:54pm
oooo maybe you can answer this one paul...

I saw a photo a few years ago of EF10... sitting on the starting line at a supercross.

EF10 was clear... but everything else around him was in like a flash in one direction.

Any tricks on how to do that?

Or is that PS or something special?
Paul Buckley 7/8/2008 4:30am
7/8/2008 4:30am
Hey Squid do you have an example of that photo that you could post here? I'm not sure what effect you're talking about.
squid48
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squid48 7/8/2008 9:11pm
7/8/2008 9:11pm
haha. I was looking for one for a couple hours the other day... and couldnt find it...

But tonight i remembered i had it on my photobucket account... haha.

Paul Buckley 7/8/2008 10:29pm
7/8/2008 10:29pm
Ah the old long exposure zoom in shot. Takes care of cluttered backgrounds in a single zoom.

Set the shutter speed way down, maybe an eighth or so, set the aperture so that the ambient light in underexposed by a stop or so. Then shoot and start zooming in at the same time. Works best at SX where it's dark enough for a long exp.
gp
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gp 7/9/2008 5:48am
7/9/2008 5:48am
The zoom thing is fun with a Christmas tree.

If you want to make any money selling pictures to riders and their families you have to shoot and sell at the track. Instant gratification. It's a lot of work though and it pays off, sometimes.
jbomx363
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jbomx363 7/9/2008 7:14am
7/9/2008 7:14am
gp wrote:
The zoom thing is fun with a Christmas tree. If you want to make any money selling pictures to riders and their families you have to...
The zoom thing is fun with a Christmas tree.

If you want to make any money selling pictures to riders and their families you have to shoot and sell at the track. Instant gratification. It's a lot of work though and it pays off, sometimes.
I've been thinking of that... but I don't know how the heck I can be out shooting, get the photo's to the tables, edit, sort, and print them to be able to sell. How in the heck does one do so?

I was thinking of doing something like this.

Get my son to be a "runner".

Take a couple moto's and hand him the CF to take back to the table.

I have a Canon printer that will print straight from the card. I was thinking of printing out all the photo's in sheets and seperate them by class. Then the riders can look at the sheets and pick out the photo number they wanted and then I could take their order and payment and ship it to them, or if they wanted to wait til I was done shooting the 1st moto's, I could print it up right there or train my wife to edit and pshop and she could print while they wait.

Seems like LOTS of work and I'd hate to pay for all the equipment needed and find out it doesn't make any more money than by shooting, going home, and letting them order off the net.
SteveS
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SteveS 7/9/2008 8:11am
7/9/2008 8:11am
The company that is doing our state pitbike series has two guys. One is shooting, the other sits under the EZ up. They run two laptops and the printer. The photog brings the card in after shooting, then goes back out to keep shooting. They run a slide show of the photos on a monitor facing out, and then when someone comes to look, they can find the photos on the monitor to print.
squid48
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squid48 7/9/2008 9:24am
7/9/2008 9:24am
Thanks Paul! I had a feeling it only worked well under the lights.


Both these examples above cost waaaaaayyyy more than my budget. I plan on doing that someday because i know it is effective and you do make a lot more selling at the track rather than online. and you dont have to worry about people stealing them.

But you do need:
Computers
Programs for Computer organizing
Printers
Ink
Paper
1-2 Employees(wife and kid in most cases)
Trailer or car(to print clean photos in)
A couple memory Cards(What photog doesnt have a couple tho)

Anything else you wanna add to this??

I think id rather just stick to the smugmug...

Give me 10 years and ill do this process!(I Just turned 18) haha.
jbomx363
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jbomx363 7/9/2008 2:17pm
7/9/2008 2:17pm
SteveS wrote:
The company that is doing our state pitbike series has two guys. One is shooting, the other sits under the EZ up. They run two laptops...
The company that is doing our state pitbike series has two guys. One is shooting, the other sits under the EZ up. They run two laptops and the printer. The photog brings the card in after shooting, then goes back out to keep shooting. They run a slide show of the photos on a monitor facing out, and then when someone comes to look, they can find the photos on the monitor to print.
And does that look like a brisk business to you? Are they printing any larger than 8x10's? I would figure a ton of 4x6's sold.
squid48
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squid48 7/10/2008 9:52am
7/10/2008 9:52am
The people that do it at our races KILL IT!!!

They charge a fortune.....

and sell all day!

On top of that... their photos suck!
jbomx363
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jbomx363 7/10/2008 10:08am
7/10/2008 10:08am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 7:34pm
HMm... charge a fortune.. tell me more! HA.. really though, what is their setup like?

Pictures sucking.. we have a lot of those types over here too. The main reason I started shooting. They didn't care about PQ and the riders got crap photo's of themselves.

There is a big race in September and I was wanting to get a setup done for that race. Just trying to get all the info I can to see if it's feasible so that the PQ doesn't "suck" while we rush around trying to do this.
bmoto816
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bmoto816 7/10/2008 6:44pm
7/10/2008 6:44pm
jbomx363 wrote:
HMm... charge a fortune.. tell me more! HA.. really though, what is their setup like? Pictures sucking.. we have a lot of those types over here...
HMm... charge a fortune.. tell me more! HA.. really though, what is their setup like?

Pictures sucking.. we have a lot of those types over here too. The main reason I started shooting. They didn't care about PQ and the riders got crap photo's of themselves.

There is a big race in September and I was wanting to get a setup done for that race. Just trying to get all the info I can to see if it's feasible so that the PQ doesn't "suck" while we rush around trying to do this.
Down here in Phoenix we have a couple that come out to the track(s) on practice and race days with a enclosed trailer set up. It has a computer set up inside w/two printers.
the guy shoots and then his wife puts together a thumbnails page everytime he comes in with new photos, then they put it into a binder and set it out on a table. you look throught and find yourself , if you want it he prints it out for you right there. sizes up to 8x10 at the track and larger ones by order only. and he charges $20 for 1 8x10 or 2 for $30-35. I have never hade a photo of me riding so I was amped to buy one there, almost as amped as the wife. pretty cool set up for sure ( Power, AC, tunes)

Pit Row

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bmoto816
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bmoto816 7/10/2008 6:50pm
7/10/2008 6:50pm
Hey Paul,
I was just wondering, I know you shoot canon but I am getting ready to buy my first real camera since the film days (been out of it a while). I am looking at the Canon 40D w/70-200 f2.8 or pay alittle more and go with the Nikon D300 w/same type of setup. what are your thoughts? thanks for you input and this killer thread.
Paul Buckley 7/11/2008 8:10am
7/11/2008 8:10am
bmoto816 wrote:
Hey Paul, I was just wondering, I know you shoot canon but I am getting ready to buy my first real camera since the film days...
Hey Paul,
I was just wondering, I know you shoot canon but I am getting ready to buy my first real camera since the film days (been out of it a while). I am looking at the Canon 40D w/70-200 f2.8 or pay alittle more and go with the Nikon D300 w/same type of setup. what are your thoughts? thanks for you input and this killer thread.
That's a tough call for me anyways, I don't have any experience with either camera. Try to find out which one has the faster AF system and which one is sealed better if you're going to be taking it to a lot of MX tracks.
jbomx363
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jbomx363 7/11/2008 9:59am
7/11/2008 9:59am
Thanks bmoto... that's exactly what I was going to do. I can have my son hand the wife the CF cards, plug straight into printer and print out thumb sheets, binder them, then let people order from there. I may just have to give it a shot and see what happens. As far as the 40D goes.... I had the same thoughts.. but I really wanted a 1D camera and found a great deal on a 1DMarkII. If you are shooting a lot of MX or need fast focusing, that seems to be the better choice if you can live with used. I saw a buddies D300 and it took some nice photo's. The LCD is huge and it is live view so you can use that instead of looking through viewfinder. I think he said the fps was 3 but with the right lens you can bump it to 6fps?

Dpreview.com though is your friend.
bmoto816
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bmoto816 7/11/2008 6:29pm
7/11/2008 6:29pm
Thanks Paul and jbomx for your input. I'm still going to have a hard time. My best friend has been shooting a few years now and he runs the D300(s) he likes them so much that he sold his D3 to by his second D300 and a 400mm lens, but at almost $6k for the lens its alittle bit out of my range I'm sure the wife would throw me out over that one! I guess what it comes down to is her, shes ok with the 40D + 70-200 lens but I will try to get her to go for the D300. Thats the one I would like, but trying to justify the extra $$$.
At any rate this is the best forum I've been on, everyone seems realy cool.
Thanks Again
Bmoto
bmoto816
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bmoto816 7/11/2008 6:33pm
7/11/2008 6:33pm
the problem with Dpreview.com is that if I go of it I will be buying a D700, they say it fills the gap between D3 and D300. at almost a grand more..... ouch
bmoto816
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bmoto816 7/17/2008 6:45pm
7/17/2008 6:45pm
OK so I'm a bit retarded when it comes to this whole computer thing! could you guys explain to me how to post pics here, I know it shouldn't be as hard as I'm making it.
Thanks ahead of time.
bmoto816
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bmoto816 7/17/2008 7:30pm
7/17/2008 7:30pm
Paul...... can I get some words from the pro himself on this pic
motox424
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motox424 7/20/2008 4:42pm
7/20/2008 4:42pm
bmoto816 wrote:
OK so I'm a bit retarded when it comes to this whole computer thing! could you guys explain to me how to post pics here, I...
OK so I'm a bit retarded when it comes to this whole computer thing! could you guys explain to me how to post pics here, I know it shouldn't be as hard as I'm making it.
Thanks ahead of time.
Upload your pics to www.photobucket.com
Then you can copy them from there to any message boards out there. Yes it's free to use too. The site explains everything to you and is easy to use.
bmoto816
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bmoto816 7/21/2008 1:21pm
7/21/2008 1:21pm
bmoto816 wrote:
OK so I'm a bit retarded when it comes to this whole computer thing! could you guys explain to me how to post pics here, I...
OK so I'm a bit retarded when it comes to this whole computer thing! could you guys explain to me how to post pics here, I know it shouldn't be as hard as I'm making it.
Thanks ahead of time.
motox424 wrote:
Upload your pics to www.photobucket.com Then you can copy them from there to any message boards out there. Yes it's free to use too. The site...
Upload your pics to www.photobucket.com
Then you can copy them from there to any message boards out there. Yes it's free to use too. The site explains everything to you and is easy to use.
Thanks motox424 I did it from flikr but I think photobucket will work out better. when I first uploaded this photo for Paul to check out, it let you click on it to enlarge it know I can't get it to do it?
Oldschool
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Oldschool 7/22/2008 7:06pm
7/22/2008 7:06pm
I created a logo in CS2 on a white background and now it needs to be a transparent background !?

Is there an easy way ?

Thanks
Tony
jbomx363
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jbomx363 7/23/2008 8:19am
7/23/2008 8:19am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 7:44pm
Depends on the colors of the logo. If it's a white background, choose your quick selection tool (maybe magic wand in CS2?) and highlight the white.....then right click and choose INVERSE... this should highlight your whole logo. Right click on the highlighted logo and COPY it. Then hit File, OPEN, NEW, and choose transparent background and paste your logo in it. Done deal.

Email it to me if you need help and I'll see if I can do it if you can't. motoximages@cox.net
Paul Buckley 7/23/2008 12:58pm
7/23/2008 12:58pm
Paul Buckley wrote:
Post them here and I'll try to answer them as best I can. Anything from camera set-up to Photoshop sharpening settings.
Looks nice, a little contrasty maybe, what's the original out of the camera file look like?

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