One of my first money making SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY shoots was the Centerville Wee Elks and my good friend Mark Deddens of Centerville Ohio.
I had just gotten a new NIKKOR lens, a 80-200 f2.8, and wanted to test it out on my NIKON D200. I
n my early days of shooting sports photography in CINCINNATI and DAYTON, OHIO, I gave a lot of pictures away. This day was no exception, as I shot a ton of my friends two kids and along with that, I shot a bunch of his friends kids.
After he took the pictures and gave the 4x6's to families of the WEE ELKS, I started getting calls to come and cover individual players and then the team as a whole.
After all was said and done, this one day brought in about $450.
When beginning a sideline in SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY, you may have to give away quite a few pictures to establish your brand and reputation. Centerville just happened to be one of those communities where the parents are not cheap and I knew it was good soil to sew into.
Most photographers fail because the try to build a business while building their reputation and brand simultaneously. Photography being such an easy field to get into, especially with today's cameras, there is not a high enough profit margin in the beginning. In my opinion, if you have a desire to be a sports photographer in CINCINNATI, DAYTON or with the CINCINNATI REDS, go build your name first, then instead of chasing the money, it will begin to chase you.
In this simple picture, I just positioned myself knee level, about 20 yards from the arches and got lucky to catch the first kid sprinting through the tunnel.
Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295
