Play Within Your Game

Stephen Strasburg of The Washington Nationals vs. The Cincinnati Reds by Cincinnati Photographer Vince Rush

Playing within your game could also be interpreted as staying within your niche. When I was playing men's softball and traveling with a team every weekend, I never tried to be more than I was.

Out of 12 guys on the regular roster, I was probably the 8th or 9th, maybe 10th or 11th (depending on who you asked), best on the team. I was not a home run hitter and I didn't have a cannon for an arm.

What I was however was a .650 right handed hitter that made my living by hitting the ball to right center and painting the right field line, I was fast and I wouldn't embarrass myself in the field. I was also willing to be the ultimate support player for the team by playing some catcher and riding the pine without throwing a fit or pouting.
All of those qualities had earned me a spot on an A level team that played about 200 games a year, so when I got to that team, I never tried to be anything other than that.What's that detective Harry Callahan said, "A man's got to know his limitations"?..Well I knew mine.

to the contrary, occasionally we would see some talented, young, up and coming ball player and invite him to play a tournament with the team. Inevitably, that player would, more times than not, forget what his game was and why we wanted him in the first place, and try to play outside of his game by swinging for the fences and attempting to do things he was not equipped for. The end result was, that he would be with us for a brief time and then we'd never call him again.

In photography, if you want to succeed and make a decent side income or one day a living, you've got to know your niche and play within you game.

My niche is sports photography. I can shoot wedding photography, portrait photography and industrial or landscapes, but I know that in CINCINNATI or DAYTON, OHIO, when it comes to that type of photography, I'm very good at it. In fact I feel I'm the very best at it. I'm also good at marketing and promoting what I do as well as  learning more every day.

I have many friends in photography who are skilled at various disciplines and do quite well in say PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY, SENIOR PORTRAITS, WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY and then I have friend's that are highly skilled at PHOTOSHOP and various forms of post photo processing. They tend to make a nice living at it.

In fact, I know a guy in West Chester by the name of Russ McLaughlin, who is one of the very best family and portrait photographers in the world. The guy has become extremely prosperous at taking family and senior portraits. He demands the highest price and always gets it.

As a photographer, you have to know you game and stay within that game to succeed. When you have mastered that discipline and own that niche, then broaden your horizons and master another one.

To be financially successful in photography it is my opinion that you can not afford to be a "jack of all trades and a master of none". When I started Cincinnati Sports Photography I was on a mission to establish myself as one of the premiere sports photographers in Ohio. I knew that other work would come from establishing my reputation in that field.

Most people that try to scratch out an income as photographers, are never quite sure what kind of photographer they want to be.

In one of my next posts, I'll talk about branding and being selective on what pictures you choose to post on your online portfolio. Every picture you post in a gallery or on a web site is part of your resume and also represents the quality of your work and your attention to detail.

I believe that I get the jobs I do, from exotic sports car photos to senior and family portraits because of my sports photography.

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://cincinnatisportsphotography.com/

What They Don't Teach you in Photography School

Cincinnati Reds Photo by Cincinnati Sports Photography and Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush



What they DON"T teach you in photography school is how to become a successful photographer. Technique is only a small percentage of what it takes to succeed today. A book I read a few years ago and about 12 times since, "The Magic of Thinking Big" said that "Success is 2% mechanics and 98% attitude.

As an Ohio sports photographer who has been having good success in the Cincinnati Photographers market, I get asked quite a bit by the guys at the local camera store where I do business, "How do you keep getting so many cool jobs?"

First of all, let me say, that with the exception of sports photography, that I know that there are better photographers than me.There are better much, much better Photoshop specialists than me and there are also those who have more expensive gear, fancy studios, slick websites and even those that belong to "professional membership, dues paying clubs"

However, with all of that said, there are not a lot of photographers getting paid or at least paid what they're worth.

Part of that is naturally due to the supply and demand of today.

Demand is down because of the economy.

Supply is off the charts because everyone that has a digital camera now is a "photographer". You also have the large number of people that give away everything and collectively drive the market down.

I know of one such company that will shoot an entire year of high school football action and sell a DVD of a gazillion images, 20% of which are quality action shots and 80% garbage pics lumped in together, for $40.00. In a desire to be "liked" in their community they not only devalue the quality of service of a professional photographer, but in the long run, devalue themselves.

In today's world, marketing and networking is everything. A young photographer has to know how to self promote, network and make connections, along with providing outstanding customer service that goes above and beyond a 10% discount.

I recommend every photographer pick up a copy of Jeffery Gitomer's book, "Customer Satisfaction is WORTHLESS, Customer Loyalty is Priceless.

It seems to me that the one thing that many aspiring young photographers lack is self promoting skills, people skills, self image and confidence and the ability to create a brand.

Another pet peeve of mine is appearance. If you're on the sidelines and you look like a bum or if you show up to a consultation looking like a slob, you don't inspire confidence. You should treat every interaction like a professional job interview, because as a photographer, every job is an audition...for your next one.

Most of the photographers (Not all of course) in Cincinnati, that I meet, are either social wall flowers, arrogant and lacking people skills and have no real world business sales experience.

When young or struggling photographers ask me for advice, I recommend books such as , "How to Win Friends and Influence People", "Think and Grow Rich", any Jeffery Gitomer book and a series of other sales experts.

At the end of the day, no matter how good you are with PS5 or HDR techniques, it all comes down to personal marketing and personal branding.

When I began shooting sports photography a few years ago, I'll admit, I gave away a lot of 4 x 6 glossy action photos, to get my name out and introduce my brand to people.

The second year, I set up a site through SmugMug and started selling the pictures at the minimum prices to continue to establish my brand.

The 3rd year, I doubled the price of everything and the 4th year I doubled again.

Now that my brand and style are established, and making decent money and getting a lot of calls for family photos, senior portraits and team photos.

I have also read a half a dozen books on social media marketing, SEO, Search Engine Optimization and hundreds of books on sales and business leadership skills.

It's not enough to have a nice camera a couple of lenses and friends and family telling you that you are great. You have to earn the respect of your profession with diligence, ethics and talent along with dynamic people skills.

On a closing note for all young photographers coming out of school and hitting the streets; Your generation, while the most technically connected generation in history, is the most socially disconnected generation in history as well. If you want to succeed in any business, there is a wide open market for the young professionals that master the art of interpersonal interaction. You know, weird stuff, like eye contact, hand shakes, verbal communication and the art of making people feel better after they leave you than they did before they got with you.

The average social weakling believes that they will be able to Twitter, Facebook, Text and email their way to success. That mentality is creating a void in our society, that if you learn how to differentiate yourselves in this new so called "connected" world you will raise your value in it as well...and that when you start getting PAID!

In sports photography, people pay me what they pay me, because I can do what other cant, in a way that other don't. And for now that remains my secret.

Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography, Monroe Ohio.


Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com

Photoshop and Sports Photographs

I have to admit, that while Photoshop has allowed me to touch up my sports photography, it has caused me to spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen.

I have too many options of what I can do to pictures now, versus just crop and load onto my site which is hosted by Smugmug.

I have often been critical of many part time sideline shooters that think they are sports photographers simply because they have a decent camera and a long lens. Many of these people are lazy and will not work during the game and will not put forth a decent effort before loading the pictures onto their sites.

They simply dump and load the majority of their memory card, giving the prospective customer 600+ images to sort through to find the "money shot" of their favorite superstar.

The Mom or Dad that is browsing the pictures has way too many choices to sort through, from little Bobbies backside running to some apparent destination to an awkward body contortion that resembles a marionette puppet rather than a champion athlete.

Simply catching a high speed stop action shot does not make a good sports photograph worthy of hanging in the Man Cave at home.

Now I will admit, that I am not a big fan of the picture I use as an example here, mainly because I got tired of messing with the ball and trying to make it look natural. I wasted an hour working with this shot and failed at my attempt to avoid making it look altered

But had I done the ball right and if I ever re-try to work with it, I will have taken an average stop action shot of a pitcher on the mound and turned it into a world class sports photograph.

Photoshop can turn average looking, run of the mill pictures and turn them into eye catching sports photographs that will sell.

If you want to seperate yourself from the herd of "GWC" (Guys With Cameras) and establish a brand, you have to be willing to work at it.

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

Photoshop and Sports Photography

My Photoshop CS3 skills are beginner level at best but I do like the things that it allows me to do. Right now I am good at removing pimples, whitening teeth and sharpening eyes. So I am the last photographer to attempt to give a tutorial on the magic of Photoshop.

On Friday I received a Facebook request from Cincinnati Reds Outfielder Chris Dickerson. I've sent Chris some sports photographs in the past and did some selective color on a couple of his action shots from a Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates game. Chris happens to be one of my 11 year old sons favorite players, due to the fact he's a lefty and he has hit a homerun each time Zach has went to see the Reds. Chris appears to be one of the genuine good guys in Major League Baseball as well, taking time to greet fans with a smile and sign autographs.

Sports photography has always been a passion of mine and I enjoy covering the Reds. I hope to have the opportunity to work as a contract or full time sports photographer for the Cincinnati Reds one day. If anyone ever wants to put in a good word with Ralph Mitchell for me, I'll send you some eggs from Farmville. (I don't play Farmville, Yoville, Mafiaville, Hoville or any of those games, just to set the record straight)

Chris had been on vacation in Cabo, (Dude goes everywhere) I believe and took a picture of a skate boarder and wanted me to use selective color on the underside of the skate board. I first converted the whole picture to black and white, then re-added the color to the board. Too many beginning sports photographers spend so much time admiring their action shot that they forget the details that can turn a good sports picture into a great one.

After doing that simple task, I started messing with the image and taking out all the distractions and tweaking contract and brightness.

The results are the 3 images that follow.

Photoshop can take a very average sports photograph, in this case a cool captures of a skate boarder and enhance it into a very nice action shot that puts all the focus and attention on the athlete. I'll check back in when I find out which one Chris liked the best.











Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295