Action Photo - Rip Off???

[Stretch]

Shocking!

sure you can do some post processing - blah blah blah fishcake - but would they put that photograph next to their tagline of "Leaders in Sport Photography"

 

Personally - I wouldnt touch event photography with a barge pole but having seen the quality of some commercial event photographers of recent times, I would have expected Sani2C to use the best...and in my opinion ActionPhoto is not the best. Do you agree or disagree with that?

[sometime]

sure you can do some post processing - blah blah blah fishcake - but would they put that photograph next to their tagline of "Leaders in Sport Photography"

 

Personally - I wouldnt touch event photography with a barge pole but having seen the quality of some commercial event photographers of recent times, I would have expected Sani2C to use the best...and in my opinion ActionPhoto is not the best. Do you agree or disagree with that?

 

What's the best car? What's the best XC bike? What's the best suburb in CT? What's the best pair of jeans? What's the best whiskey? Each question needs a set of defining parameters before you can attempt to answer it and even then you're not going to reach any consensus.

 

But I've been cycling for 25 years and looking at photo's of my cycling for a very long time and for me, on balance, ActionPhoto are the pick of the bunch and I think Sani made the correct choice. Like I've said in previous posts - they may be more expensive than others but for my money the premium is worth it in terms of the overall product and service offering. You of course have a different perspective and that's your choice - you don't want it, then don't buy it.

[Cycho]

Ok, so as someone that shoots professionally part time, here's my 3 cents

 

1 - What is required to shoot large scale scares the living daylights out of me, and now will only do so with hesitation, but tend to avoid it due to time vs reward. Shooting an entire event from the event perspective tends to yield between 100 and 200 good (usuable) images (if trying to be at all creative) - so to try keep 15 000 odd people happy is an extreme challenge.

 

2 - this being said, due to a shortage of good photographers on the sports side of things, sometimes these companies desperately seach for individuals willing to work for non-professional rates. So companies like action photo really need to look at who is shooting for them (AND processing the images!) - maybe they would benefit in all ways by being more selective of their photographers / staff that they hire? Because at the end of the day, the argument is not really about price - its about quality of product!

 

3 - @ Morewood Mad - there are far more good photographers out there besides the ones you mention. There are constantly new names popping up and I really have to keep on top of my game and constantly improving just to build some kinda reputation (and believe me it is not easy no matter how good your images are!). Hopefully some would consider me even having small toe into the category that guys like Kelvin, Jacques and others are in (even a toe in that category is a complement amongst some that are the top in the world!)!

 

So my views - use or lose as u wish

[geecee]

i really do not like acion photos pictures.

 

i had considered covering some events that actionphoto havent been covering, but ill give them this. you will never keep everyone happy. in these bigger events everyone wants to have a pic even if they dont buy. to get pictures of everyone. in different places, either you have to be flash gordon or you need multiple photographers. If you follow the recommended base usage rates for a full time photographer, thats R600 an hour, that was calculated by appa.org.za (as far as i know). i doubt action pay their people that much, and i know a few straight out of schoolers that have shot for them before and i know they have VERY limited photographic knowledge or ability.

 

i chased the shova last year as i had to cover a corporate team. (non prof cyclist) to get photos of the front runners and the back markers from the same company was impossible, i was on the run all day and actually missed the front few guys as i couldnt get far enough in front again after getting shots of the slower guys.

 

R50 for a timeless memory? i dont think its all that bad... the quality of pics from actionphoto however is terrible.

 

I would love to make a profitable income from covering some of these events. but bitching over 50 bucks its clear its not a viable option.

but i hear you in terms of quality.

 

if you were getting good in focus images that may have some artistic value, what would you feel a fair price is for a photo?

[Stretch]

you don't want it, then don't buy it.

im leaving it at that. although i will agree to disagree - as i said - i dont know why i am fussing, but, iit would have been nice to have a good quality, well taken photograph as a keepsake - and i didnt get that - so along with the general sentiment here, i will choose to not buy

[geecee]

Cycho haha same thing i was trying to get across

[Stretch]

if you were getting good in focus images that may have some artistic value, what would you feel a fair price is for a photo?

thats what i am trying to get across - id pay R150 bucks for that - 3 really good shots is way more beneficial than 13 mediocre/crappy ones

[geecee]

thats what i am trying to get across - id pay R150 bucks for that - 3 really good shots is way more beneficial than 13 mediocre/crappy ones

 

i agree with you wholeheartedly, i got shots from the argus last year and they really were terrible. exposure and focus was all off. But i can imagine how hard is is getting photos of every cyclist in a race like that.

[Stretch]

i agree with you wholeheartedly, i got shots from the argus last year and they really were terrible. exposure and focus was all off. But i can imagine how hard is is getting photos of every cyclist in a race like that.

the photographers will probably shoot me down - but why not choose 3 good spots - get the lighting etc right - and have two or three guys taking shots from that same spot - instead of one trying to get everyone in

[geecee]

the photographers will probably shoot me down - but why not choose 3 good spots - get the lighting etc right - and have two or three guys taking shots from that same spot - instead of one trying to get everyone in

 

i agree with that method. action photo has multiple photographers. but they just seem to fire off shots without to much thought. quantity over quality.

[Danger Dassie]

i agree with that method. action photo has multiple photographers. but they just seem to fire off shots without to much thought. quantity over quality.

 

Comes down to the event. MTB races will have photographers in two or one person formats, spread out over a number of locations.

More often than not there isn't a spread of riders on the trail, so having three guys on the same spot just increases duplication and adds to the turn around time. So that will be neither here nor there in terms of quality.

[Hairy]

Comes down to the event. MTB races will have photographers in two or one person formats, spread out over a number of locations.

More often than not there isn't a spread of riders on the trail, so having three guys on the same spot just increases duplication and adds to the turn around time. So that will be neither here nor there in terms of quality.

 

You could most likely get away with one click happy photographer per spot at an MTB event, due to the very nature of the sport where you are generally well spread out and when riding on the ST would be a "one on one" with the rider and photographer.

[kandui]

Action Photo took pics at the Sani Trail. I got a whopping 6 images for 3 days of riding! If I want all of them, I have to pay something like R 250.

None of them are spectacular , but what do you expect from 6 pics which have to represent over 200km of riding. One image was from the Finish, so it's 5 pics from the entire route. A bit disappointing.

[Wheelsuck]

Guys, please tell me what u do with the Photos? I got a couple once for the Mrs to scrapbook with....seems the pets make better Scrapbook subjects. So now I don't waste my time. and If u cant remember it it's probably really not worth recording.

[HowellingWulf]

Usually I don't buy their phodies but they got a couple of good shots of me doing the Adventure. Considering I spent a lot on entry fees, about R340 on toll fees, R2300 on fuel and then some more money on beer, accommodation and sundry items and 1980km of travelling; R320 does not seem too excessive for some good quality pics. 9 in total. All the pics I took was in the race village and of my mates riding - nothing of me. Happy customer this side!

Edited May 28, 2012 by Ricky Bobby

[Griffin]

Excellent so the photos are much cheaper. But now I must go through 1116 photos taken at Karkloof to find pics of me and my family at that race. Thanks but I'll pay a little more for photos I can identify in 5 mins, save myself 2 hours of mindless mouse clicking on quickpix website and my family can skip pizzas one night this month to pay for the extra cost of the Actionpics photos.

 

@ sometime

 

1116 photos...quite correct. I would however assume that you do remember WHICH of the Karkloof events you took part in. That would reduce your search quite dramatically. That is my assumption though...I could be wrong Maybe you dont have an idea..

 

QuickPix does in fact give the option to search per your event number..see the "Search" option at the top of the page ? I must admit that I havent entered numbers for every event yet as its a pretty time consuming manual photo-by-photo process and editing and getting the images uploaded takes priority.

 

You might also notice that when there are multiple distance/events on the same day, I concentrate on the shorter and more junior events. This is simply because that as far as I can decuce, the person who is riding a 60km event already has enough photos of themselves and is less likley to want another. Obviously this principle excludes high priority events like Sani2C.

 

Heres an option. Next time you (to use your words) sitting mindlessly at work or home, rather use the time to have a look through whichever gallery you like..have a smile or 2 remembering the ride..laugh a little at the memory of how you (almost) fell. You might just find it helps. Hope the family enjoyed the pizza.

 

@danger dassie

 

I do appreciate you seeing the different business models and obvious difference in budget between small time one-person-only operations such as QuickPix and bigger operations such as AP. Whilst limited resources and budget is not an excuse for a cr*p photo, there is a lot to be said for having more that one photographer out on a course. Thats over and above the fact that very few of the photographers actually earn enough from photography to sustain a living (myself included)..we all have jobs outside of photography and have to factor that in. As you have also said..and talking from experiance...it is HARD work and not simply a matter of pointing the camera in the right direction and hitting the shutter button.

 

@ Stretch

 

Again...fully in agreement. The memory of an event is always better than a photo. There are going to be things that stand out for you when there was no photographer in sight and even if there was, you might find that you prefer that the memory remains yours and yours alone.

 

The OP was about the fact that pricing was not in relation to what you were getting offered..and I think that principle still stands.